mounting size

[Ely Lake Expert]

How big do you guys think a fish has to be to put it up on the wall? Length or weight?

1. walleye

2. crappie

3. northern

4. anything else you would put on the wall.

Thanks for replies,

Ely lake expert

[Surface Tension]

1: got a 32 in. on the wall
2: 19 in.
3: 56 in.
4: got a 39 in. 28 lb. hooked jaw male inland lake Lake Trout on the wall. Ive caught bigger in lake sup.
Brook trout 19 in.
Stealhead 22lb.
These are some fish and size's I would mount. Im not saying there should be a minimum size for you. A trophy is I the eye of the beholder.

[Guest]

If you have your taxidermist's phone number on speed dial..........you might be a redneck.

I don't think there is any reason to have a fish mounted. Spend the money on some decent camera equipment, and share the photos with others, have enlargements made and framed for the "wall". Using quality photographic equipment and techniques, your "trophy" will be available for generations to come to view, long after the mount would have crumbled to dust.

[This message has been edited by coldone (edited 04-10-2002).]

[Guest]

a 19" Crappie is 4.25 pounds....

I'll mount one @ 16 inches. That's about 2.5 pounds. If I ever get one 19" long...Well, never mind cuz I don't think it will ever happen.

(I wish it would though :-))

[Surface Tension]

coldone I take picture's too but that wasnt the topic. If you have a response about killing large walleye's let me say I rarely keep any over 19 in. For my own reason's and not from presure from anyone. Ive released dozens of walleye's that would be a fish of a live time for many people.

[DUCKJ]

REPLICA'S LAST FOREVER, LIVE MOUNTS DONT.
MY CHOISE.

HAPPY HUNTING
DUCK

[jigglestick]

try mounting a replica duck, or white tail. or better yet try catch and release with either. just pull up your empty gun(it's safer that way)and say bang. a real mount will last my lifetime. after that who cares. i can just se my great great grand kid saying that plastic fish is just like the one great great grandpa got a couple hundred years ago. closer to the topic-- any fish is big enough to mount. depends what it means to you. good taxidermy is a work of art. better than any redlin to me.to each his own --------jigglestick---------

[Guest]

Ely lake expert,

My goal for mounts is :
Walleye - 30"+
Crappie - 16"
Northern -44"+
Right now I have only one fish mounted a brook trout from "The Pas".
To get a replica or have the fish mounted is up to the angler. I would say most lengthy battles with a truly large fish result in a high mortality rate anyways.

Good Luck

Ukes

[FreeFlySpy]

I caught a 12lbs walleye 15 years ago and was really proud of it so had it mounted. Now everytime I look at it I wish I had released it.Since then I take a picture, measure it, and then let them go. It is a lot more rewarding then any fish on the wall.

[Surface Tension]

I can see where this is headin and Im stayin clear.

jigglestick nice post.

Duck And Roll TEHE

[Guest]

I wasn't making any judgements on whether a certain sized fish should be released or not, I am simply trying to state my opinion, and possibly make a suggestion about preserving the memory of a trophy. So, to clear the air a bit; I know alot of guys who frequent the taxidermist, and have spent on the order of thousands of dollars on mounted fish, yet they only keep an inexpensive camera in the boat for taking pictures, the pictures they show are grainy, out of focus and the color is bad because they bought the cheapest film they could find. They use this to "capture the moments" of their friends, family, and own significant memories on the water, deer camp, after the duck hunt, etc. With the price of taxidermy nowdays, just foregoing a few mounts, and using the same funds to invest in quality photographic equipment, which will also last a lifetime with proper care. Perhaps taking a class or reading a few books to understand the basics of composing a good photo, will go along way toward preserving all of your memorable occasions on the water. By the way, it is possible to "catch and release" deer, bear, bald eagles, mallard, all game and non-game species for that matter, simply click the shutter instead of pulling the trigger. Taxidermy is is an art form that you pay someone else to do for you, and only a few individuals truly excell at. Photography is an art form that goes hand in hand with fishing, hunting, any outdoor activity, and produces excellent results with modest priced equipment and training, but more importantly, YOU are the artist. $0.02

[DUCKJ]

DR. MR. jigglestick,
pardon me for posting my opinion on the subject. sorry if i offended you in any way by posting MY choise, not your, not anyone elses for that matter but mine. i did not or will not, ever jump down on someone because there choise is not the same as mine like you did to me. everyones opinion is diffrent, but dose that make wrong because there choise is not yours? no it dose not. you are not wrong in your opinion, the other people that posted there opinions are not wrong, and i am not wrong.
there is a diffrence between mounting a duck or deer, you can stil eat them, you cant eatthe fish.

these are MY opinions
HAPPY HUNTING
DUCK

[DUCKJ]

SORRY, PUSHED THE BUTTEN TWICE

happy hunting
DUCK

[This message has been edited by DUCKJ (edited 04-11-2002).]

[Guest]

DuckJ,

The topic started is "what size do you think is big enough to mount". I don't think that Mr. Jigglestick was in any way shape or form jumping down your throat.
Coldone,
I agree with you 100% on getting a quality camera for the blind. But catch and release ducks and deer. A mans gotta eat.

Good Luck

Ukes

[jigglestick]

duckj,i don't recall stating your name. i do recall stating my opinion. not sorry you were bothered by my post, as it is my opinion. and it's just jigglestick not dear, or mister, just jigglestick. i'm as common as my name. oh yeah it's c-h-o-i-c-e, and d-o-e-s. hope this helps ----jigglestick----

[Guest]

yea and D-I-F-F-E-R-E-N-T unlke in form,
quality,amount, or nature,dissimilar
haha Now thats My .02 cents worth
It all depends how important the fish
the bear the deer or whatever is to you
maybe its your kids first fish sure
maybe its small but probably very huge
in importance to some. RR

Catch a Crappie

[Surface Tension]

Coldone I agree with keeping a good camera in the boat. A couple tip's on pic's. Pick your backround. Keep junk out of pic. Take pic's looking up at your subject. Put camera at water level when shooting release's. Take multiple shoot's at differant angle's. Keep your finger out of the frame.

[jigglestick]

ahhh...ya got me....

[Ely Lake Expert]

Hey guys,

I started this topic to see what you guys think for good mounting sizes not to start an argument on ethics. Catching and releasing is a good thing and so are replicas, so PLEASE reply to the original question if you want. Don't sit and argue if it is right or wrong.

Ely lake expert

[LaVoi]

This sure is a touchy topic. As far as weight/length, photo/mount/replica, everybody has their own thought and usually whatever someone thinks about this subject they have a pretty strong belief in it. As far as me, I have not yet had to make this decision, I have caught some respectable fish but not what would meet my standards of mounting size. I do take a camera everywhere I go and have many great pics. If I was to catch a true trophy on one of the lakes near my home, I would not hesitate for a second to put it on the wall. Only for This reason, I live on an indian reservation and I know that almost any large fish that I catch and decide to let swim away will most likely not make it a year or two without getting caught in a net. A buddy of mine was out on his favorite lake a few years back and he went out one morning and there were nets all over the lake!! Needless to say those nets mysteriously disappeared. For these reasons I leave the rez to fish over 90% of the time. Off the rez would take a little more thought, I guess it would all depend wether the fish goes on the wall or not or if I would get a replica made, or just take a good ol picture. Just my two cents. Good fishin, LaVoi

P.S.-Jigglestick and redrider, I checked my spelling just for you guys

[LMITOUT]

I did both...mounted a fish and took a picture.

[jigglestick]

limitout, who did the work. very nice job.hope ely lake expert allows this post, as i really want to know. i have a couple of craps to get done, and plastic just don't cut it for me.---jigglestick---

[LMITOUT]

Jigglestick-

A gentleman from Bismarck, ND did this work for me. He arranged for a carpenter to build the enclosure and then he does the fish. From the photo album of his work, I could tell that he knew what he was doing. The picture doesn't do it justice. I was really happy the way it turned out. He asked for pictures of the fish when I caught it so that he could match the colors when he painted it. I thought that was a good indication of a good taxidermist.

BTW.. to get back to the subject,
I'd mount a 8lb walleye if caught in the States, and a 20 lb northern. But they would have to look good and be worthy of a mount. This walleye above was a 12.5 lber, but caught in Canada. We caught some northern in the upper teens this past weekend ice fishing, but they all went back down the hole for next year.

[This message has been edited by LMITOUT (edited 04-12-2002).]

[Guest]

LMITOUT VERY VERY NICE
Wish I had one like that just gotta keep
trying I guess RR

[Guest]

What one does in the privacy of ones bodouir is their own business. As far as I am concerned.....ICK!

------------------
Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
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