Fish-Hawk.Net

Say one day i do hook into trophy fish and think about mounting it

what are the cost of replicas versus the real thing

last time I checked it was ~ $10/in for the real deal or $15/in for replica

It may cost more to get a replica done , however the benifits out wiegh the cons. Aside from the obvious , you can release the trophy , a replica will not fade out over time. It will always look fresh , (fresh???, ya know what I mean, I hope)
There are lots of places to get 'em done now . A few good photo's and the measurements and it's done . You can also get a picture placed in the back ground as well
This would be a good time not to "keep it real"

I think we should go get a wall mount RIGHT NOW

Then youl realy decide what your ganna do with it!!!

PARADICE HIDDEN UNFISHED (maybe frozen) LAKE!! here we come!!

You had a chance for the wall mount this ....remember the smallie

you brought to the surface, then she winked and said bye bye

YEAh my PB just swam away gently! slowly! sadly!

I love it when guys trumpet graphite mounts but don't own one...

I have 5 mounts...all skin...as far as price I can't compare as I always great a price break due to the amount of business our group has sent to this taxidermist...he does amazing work...

I did get a quote from Advanced Taxidermy for 2 fish awhile back out of curiosity...and I nearly had a stroke....and it wasn't 15 bucks an inch!

It's a personal preference really....I'll never get a graphite mount myself...they all have a toyish look to them...again my opinion...

And for those who denounce skin mounts as they will fall apart over time....maybe your grandpas old crap mounts will....but my 14 plus pound walleye still looks the same as it did when I picked it up 8 years ago....

I love my mounts....they are amazing conversation pieces in my home...and everytime I look at them I can remember that day like it was yesterday...

RJ

hi rj.

for myself i dont have a sysntec one.but we do have about 5 fish and 4 bird at the cottage..some not that old and some old....like 30 years old...and they do change in color etc.

mabe the new stuff is better i dont no..your do look nice wen we saw those picture,,but are they 25 years and older..so we will see in 25 to 30 years.. .

did saw a huge one a muskyicanada member had a huge musky he had the real thing and he got a replica.wow was it nice.

and saw a lot off them in some shop in toronto ans some store and 2 taxidermia shop again in toronto..and they did look very real.

but again it depend WHERE you go to make them stuff or replica..

i saw some taxidermia that do(real stuff) some and they are so ugly.... they look like so animal that been hit by a car.. .


its a personal choice.

real are nice.not all off them.

replica is nice and again not all off them..
you got what you pay

and one good thing to do again..its homework.where other guys did there stuff done were they good etc etc.


joco

Where you have them hung...how much sunlight they see etc. plays a big factor in what they look like over time....

About the only fish I wouldnt mount is a muskie....unless I cant get it to go....everything else is fair game...

rj you are right......

my dear head is not far frome my main window at the cottage.not good at all.

day light is bad for them.and smke frome the fireplace.. .


that musky was huge..and dead because off an accident...or something like that..so it was send for some researche..and he did made a replica off it.and its is just a so nice job.to bad i dont have the picture off it.

joco.

Most good taxidermist price them the same these days as the availability of the molds is greater.

As for quality I can say from experience that weather it's a skin mount or graphite if the taxidermist is a great artist he will make them both look great.

The guy who did my muskie replica does a lot of skin mounts but my replica looks better then any skin mounts I have ever seen. And best yet it was easily repaired when I accidentally dropped it. It just too bad the idiots who work at UPS dropped it even worse before it was delivered to me after repairs and paying their rip off fees. Now it was returned to them for inspection and they lost it. GRRRRRRRR I guess I'll have to wait a year to get another one.

BTW like everything else you do get what you pay for, when I got mine done the going rate was $12 an inch and I paid $15 because I believed I got the best taxidermist to do mine and I was not mistaken as it was even better then I imagined. Also expect to wait 6 months to a year for it, anything less mean the taxidermist isn't busy or mass produces them more like an assembly line vs. one at a time or 100% custom.

You have to remember this replica will last a lifetime so it better be a great one.

P.S. I made a mistake of killing my 6lb 10oz bass as it could not be used because or cancer and I ended up with a replica anyways. You never know she may of spawned just one more time.

RJ wrote:
I did get a quote from Advanced Taxidermy for 2 fish awhile back out of curiosity...and I nearly had a stroke....and it wasn't 15 bucks an inch!


RJ

Hey RJ....I didn't pull that $$$ amount outa my hat ....here's a sample from one of the local Taxidermists....

http://www.whitetailtaxidermy.ca/PRICELIST2007.pdf

Whitetail Taxidermy-Carp Ontario 613-839-6145 PRICE LIST-YEAR 2007

FISH
Skin Mounted: $10.00 per/inch, starting at $200.00
Reproduction: $15.00 per/inch
Choice of wood slab or driftwood backing.

50% deposit required to start, balance due on completion
www.whitetailtaxidermy.ca

I realize you didn't pull it out of your hat fella...but would you pay someone to create this for you?...I sure as hell wouldn't..

I have 2 skin mounts that were done 22yrs ago by a guy that I worked with that was learning from his uncle who was the Taxidermist for the Museum of man.....they're not the greatest but they were done for free and are still intact....

I'd never get a plastic mount big guy

Some times they are worth mounting