mounting size

[Guest]

Ely Lake Expert-- For me, the weight is not a factor on fish mounts. Size does matter

1. walleye-- Over 31"... The "next" one must beat WALTER WALLEYE.. the 31" trophy on my wall!

2. crappie--15" or more. I don't have one of these yet!

3. northern--48" or more. Now I'm REALLY dreaming! I don't have one of these yet!

4. anything else you would put on the wall.

White Tail Deer: Must beat 12 point- 213 lb. WILBUR WHITETAIL currently right side of my fireplace!

A canvasback in flight would look nice near the beautiful mount of the full plumage RUDY REDHEAD I got in the "Halloween Blizzard" of 1991!

ELY LAKE EXPERT-- Nice fish & a GREAT way to display it!

"BEAUTY IS IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER"!!!

Later... Dugan!!!

[This message has been edited by Jozie-Dugan (edited 04-14-2002).]

[TRZ]

Good topic- too bad so many things on this site turn into an arguement!

Walleye- 30 -got one on mille lacs this year and am going to mount it

Crappie- 2 pounds

Pike- over 40 inches- released a 38 this year on mille lacs- got pictures

-Surface tension- you must be really great fisherman to expect a 19 inch crappie and 56 inch northern. those would both be near state records

[Surface Tension]

TRZ your right.

[hawgTime]

TZR
I agree.

Ely

I think you knew exactly what you were getting into when you started this topic. You've been on this forum long enough to know that if you mention anything about keeping, eating, or mounting any fish on this forum, you're going to get some extremist with an opinion about how we should all conduct ourselves.

FYI:
Walleye; 12 lb.
Smallie: 6 lb
Sunny: 11"

hawgTime

[fishtrap2]

I caught a 32inch/12 lb. 'eye on a launch trip on Mille Lacs (lucky?). Anyway, by the time the 30 or so people on the boat got done fighting over wether or not I should keep it... it was pretty much dead. It's on my wall. If I could go back in time, the fish would have gone right back in the water. Replicas look nice, if done right. I would never judge anyone for doing it either way. Catch or release, have fun and enjoy the great outdoors.

[Guest]

Personally, I don't mount any, especially the big girls, a picture is much cheaper. But I'd have to say what ever size you want to, go ahead and do it!! For some people a 28in eye is a huge fish, for others nothing short of the state/world record is good enough.

Why are debates always considered arguments? Without them no one would ever truly think about an issue??

"This isn't Russia. Is this Russia? This isn't Russia."

[kooba]

Muskie hunter, What are you trying to say here? I personally don't believe that the 10-15lb walleyes are the GREAT sponers anyways. Catching these fish is a catch of a life time for most fisherman and women. I agree with most of the people on the forum, take home a fish that you think is big for you and have it mounted. It is a conversation piece for everyone.

[musky hunter]

Kooba: Northern trophy walleyes are 25 to 30 years old. It did spawn the previous 20 years, and will probably go another 5 if you let it. Why would anyone want to be the last person to catch a fish like that? What more do you need to memorialize the moment than a camera and tape measure? The fact that big walleyes are going back in is the reason we can continue to catch them. Monday I took 14 walleyes between 22 and 26 inches. Not a bad day and they all went back in. Catch and release is having such an important impact on our fishing resources that it is the future of fishing. On Tuesday, I took my mother fishing, the first time for her in about 6 years. Great fishing, and we boated one walleye about 3-1/2 lbs. I almost offended my mother by releasing it, but luckily, I said' "Mom, could you possibly eat a fillet that size? "Oh", she said, "let's let it go then". We replaced it with a 16 incher. A close fishing buddy of mine has 32 state and world line class records, not one of them swimms on his wall but everyone of those records were documented, photo'd and witnessed. Most were released alive. Here's the point: Alternatives exist to killing trophy fish, how we think about it determines the future of our fishing success. Now shut up and fish!

[musky hunter]

Big fish of all sizes need to be back swimming. My vote: put up what ever size replica you like and can afford but leave the big spawners go to spawn again.

[Guest]

Point of information -- Who documents "state" line-class records?

The only state records I've seen are the biggest of species.

[Guest]

Hey Musky Hunter...that 16 incher could have spawned for the next 25-30 years!

[Guest]

The fish is 25 years old....and it just battled you with the remaining life, breath, and spunk it had in it.

If my 100 year old uncle came out to play a game of football with us younger guys after Thanksgiving Dinner, and exerted himself like that, I think we'd be calling an ambulance.

As stated before, I don't beleive fish of this age are prime hosts anymore. viagra

PCG

[kooba]

Muskie Hunter, Sounds like you have a lot of time on your hands to be catching all of these BIG fish. I will speak for some of the people on the forum that don't get out because they work. You seem like one of those guys that have a photo album with them all of the time showing all of the pictures of the big catch of the day. There is nothing wrong with keeping a big fish to put on the wall. I would have to agree with you that catching an 18incher and keeping it is better than keeping the 3 1/2 lber. I congratulate you on that aspect. I am not a meat hog, but if I catch a fish that I want on the wall I will. And I don't need anyone like you telling me not too. Its my choice. Plus that 20-25 year old fish won't fight to much more in their life time anyways.

[Guest]

Man oh man is it hard to resist this one.....

I will refrain for the sensorship ethics of everyone here, but I do have a good one.

You guys all have a great day!

PCG

[Guest]

It's no big deal, but neither the IGFA or the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame accepts application for state line-class records.
State records are simply the biggest recorded fish of each species for which records are kept.

[musky hunter]

First things first: Clayton, state records can be recorded with the International Game Fishing Association in Florida. Other line class world records are maintained by the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayword, Wi. Personally, I have none. Both can be easily found on the web.

With regard to aging fish: if a fish will apparantly not survive after a long battle, of course it should be included in you're daily bag limit, no dispute here. But is there any credible fish biologist that says large fish are poor spawners? Isn't it just the opposite, the bigger the female the more eggs produced? Ideally a trophy would be harvested near the end of it's life cycle, but don't rationalize that is likely to die naturally soon if it truely is an otherwise healthy fish.

Good fishing, and yes, for all of you who were wondering otherwise, I actually do have a full time job.

[Guest]

Size is important but not as important as the memory behind the catch. Thats how I see it. I have a 44 Northern and 44 Tiger Musky replicas that I've ordered from this year's fishing. Quite a feat here in Colorado. My Northern might have been the new state record but I released it because it was plump with eggs. My tiger Musky is 14 inches short of the state record but still special to me. I completed my Colorado Esox Slam in a matter of five months.

[brian6715]

Hey all I am not in to the whole mounting fish because i suck at the sport. I have one fish mounted, a 20 inch white bass caught through the ice (i know dumb thing to mount). But anyways, if I get a replica of a fish, can i get it how i want it? Like in a table like in the previous page? And how decent do they look? Thank You, talk with ya later
Brian
p.s. remember this is all opinion though and let the musky dude have his

[WallEYES]

ELY LAKE EXPERT
I have 2 eyes mounted in a table that I caught on Mille lacs 2 days before the big halloween snow storm ( No slot sizes imposed at this time.) The biggest was 13.2 pounds at 33-1/2 inches and a 12.4 pound fish at 32 inches long. I was long lining rogues on the east end over my favorite rock pile. Personally, I would have not mounted them except for the fact after 15-20 minutes of trying to revive them it was a lost cause. I also have 2 crappies mounted from the Saboskong Bay area out of Nestor falls Canada on LOW that were 16 inches coming out of 40 feet of water icefishing, which again would of not of made the trip back in the drink because the air bladder popped. My biggest laker was 48 lbs out of Lake Athapapaskow in north west Manitoba by town of Flin Flon that went back in the drink and made master angler #7 on the list for that year. Biggest muskie was 49-1/2 inches through the ice On Kagaki(crow lake)out of Nestor falls last year through a 10 inch hole,mistakenly caught while lake trout fishing. That fish made it back also,( the slot is 54 inches on this lake and was out of season, but glad it made it.) I have pictures along with length and girth measurements of the lake trout and the muskie to get a replica made, but have not at this time done so. The walleyes and the two crappies would not have made it and chose to have live mounts made of both fish....< )))>...

[TUMBLEWEED]

Lots of talk of big fish here. Plenty of
opinions to be sure. I use to be a die
hearted C&R person, but have come to accept
those who mount "the real thing". That being said, I agree with those who are saying
"the trophy is in the eye of the beholder"
meaning sometimes its not always about the size, but in HOW,WHY,WHERE,WHEN etc. In fact,
some of the funniest and best "trophies" fall into that catagory.
Case in point, last year a bud and I checked out a hot tip on some very
early ice panfish. Being as careful as we could, we risked our butts to check out the story. Well,after a bunch of holes and some
scarey ice crackling experiences, we finally
found some fish. I wanted to keep a few to
have done,because they were the smallest
fish I have ever seen caught on a hook and
line!!!! The crappie was no more than 1 1/2
inches long, and translucent. If you held it just right you could make out the spots.
Woulda made an interesting conversation piece
on the desk at work!! Also caught on that trip was a baby bullhead, about as long as my pinkie finger!! These were really worth the trip,and we still have a laugh over em.

[BUCKNAKED]

Sometimes this sight resembles Oprah for men???

[Steve Foss]

Yeah, is this the longest-running thread on the site?