Graphite Fish Mounts

[FrontenacPike]

I finally got a fish worthy of some wall space and just wondering if anyone has had any luck with the graphite fish. I haven't actually seen a graphite and just wondering if they look fake.

Anybody have any pro's and con's...any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

29 inches ~~ 10.85 lbs

[AWH]

Congrats on a great fish! Graphite reproductions look as good (or better) than the real thing and they last. Definitely the way to go when looking to put a fish on the wall. With prices pretty much the same as a skin mount, no reason not to go graphite in this day and age. Not to mention that we can release them and catch them when they're even bigger!

Artistic Anglers and Fibertech Productions are a couple of good ones in MN. Lax and Fittante in WI are a couple of other good options.

Aaron

[kenlaker]

Nice 'eye! yes, that's worthy of some wall space. The graphites that my friend has are as realistic as any real mount that I have seen, not sure where he got them, but he has 2 walleyes that he got done from pics and measurements. I would guess that it's like having your actual fish mounted, a lot of the quality may depend on where you get it done, as some taxidermists' work that I have seen looks pretty bad, and others' looks like you just took it off the hook. Did you keep this fish or release?

[FrontenacPike]

Unfortunately I kept the fish, and feel pretty bad for doing it to such a beautiful creature. I normally only keep fish under the 19 inch mark and release the big boys. I thought about doing the Rep mount right away but had no measuring tools or a camera. My next thought was, this is the fish of the lifetime and may never come around again.

I just talked to my taxidermist and asked him the average shrinkage on a skin mount and he told me that they don't shrink at all. I find that really hard to believe, I thought the rule of thumb was about 30%.

[Deitz Dittrich]

F- Its alright that you kept the fish.. your allowed by law to do so, and dont feel to bad about it. Since you have the fish, have it mounted the regular way.. For futuer reference, take plenty of picts, the graphite reps look better than the reel thing and last longer. And a good mount place will match the color of your fish almost exactly!

[kenlaker]

FP-- Don't feel bad about keeping it- as you said it's your first of that size and may be the fish of a lifetime-- here's hoping it's not! I only asked if you kept it because if you did, I would say have the traditional mount. When you catch it's twin or big sister, get those pics and measurements, that will be the time for the graphite repro. I think everyone wants to have that first real trophy on the wall, and shouldn't feel bad about doing so.

[Craigums]

Cool fish. What did you get it on?

[FrontenacPike]

Deitz how much can you expect to shrink on a skin mount? I really don't know what to do with him yet.

She was caught on a white JB spoon with a red trebble (maybe Varmit lure???), tipped with a live minnow

[Nate McVey]

Nice fish F! Like the others said, don't feel bad for keeping a great (and legal) fish. I've had friends get fish mounted (bass, walleye and trout) and have never heard of shrinkage. Congrats again!

[randallt]

Shrinkage only happens with cold water, since it was caught in the winter the shrinkage for me would be up to 100%.

Very nice fish. I am still waiting on my first hawg walleye. Congrats.

[gman2002]

i'm also thinking about a replica. last year i caught 2 jumbo perch one was 14.50 inches and one was 14 inches . well when i went to pick them up the lady just butchered them ,color was way off, bellies weren't even close to the football size they were in the pics i took ,they looke like tiny smallmouth's . i was pretty bummed . so is there anywhere in the metro that does this ? the two mentioned were kinda far away.

[AWH]

gman,

I don't know of anyone in the metro (although I'm sure there is someone). Don't be afraid to go with someone a further distance away though. Go to sports shows to see some of their mounts in person (if they have booths), check out their websites, make phone calls, use email. You don't necessarily have to make a trip to their home turf.

That's what my brother did a few years ago. He did his homework to see which place best fit what he was looking for, who he thought did the best work, etc. Did everything over the phone/email, as far as the details of his fish. When it was finished they shipped the mount to him. Everything turned out great.

So my point is, don't go with someone close to home just because of their location. Make sure it's the one that will do the work that you will be the happiest with.

Aaron

[jtm]

I have only seen a few replicas and they all looked really fake. There is no way id have that done. But you can get a bad regular mount as well, It all depends on who does it

[Deitz Dittrich]

FP- there really is little to no shrinkage if done by a good taxi...

[Northlander]

A good graphite mount looks as good and at times better than a skin mount. Get it done by a good shop like Artistic Anglers in Duluth and you will be very happy. Cheap places usually dont do very good work.

Since you kept the fish get a skin mount and remember in the future to get good pics, measurements and close ups of any distinct characteristics and get a graphite done. If you chose to not keep the fish.

Nice eye and dont feel too bad about keeping it. I have seen lots of bigger fish carcasses in the garbage at landings.

Never understood people keeping and eating 30 plus inch walleyes.

[Eric Wettschreck]

FP- VERY NICE EYE!!! Since you already have the fish, get a skin mount. If you are going to hold off for a while, put it in a bag of water and freeze it. If you have a vacuum sealer, go that route, and freeze it. This will keep out the air and air causes freezer burn.

If your fish is done by a good taxidermist you will get very little shrink. Do some research. May I recommend Ricks Taxidermy in Minneota. Check them out, they have some very nice mounts. You can check them out right here

In the future, if you don't want to keep the fish, I'll kick the dead horse and say take an amazingly huge amount of pictures, measure length, measure girth in different places, weigh it if you have a scale on ya, and set it free.

In the meantime let be just another guy that says congrats on a really nice eye!!!!

[FrontenacPike]

Right now the fish is in the freezer vacuumed sealed. Since I kept the fish, I'll probably get a skin mount. I talked to Scott Miller in Prescott WI, and he quoted $10 for Skin and $13 per inch on Graphite. I took a Canvasback to him about a month ago and looked at some of his fish mounts and thought they looked pretty good. The only thing I was worried about was the shrinkage factor. I didn't want my 11 pound fishing when done looking like a small 8 with no beer gut.