[50incher]

Things got me thinking....I only mounted 1 Walleye and had to look it up in a log book, caught June 20, 1987....I've got several bigger since, lol....funny but I drove by the driftwood several times before I got the courage and the right wind to nose the boat into an unnamed island and pick it up off the rocks solo....think I like the wood as much as the fish, lol....

Got it mounted from a great guy in his basement back in that day, fins are still semi flexible !....he lost his job & ended up moving, he was a great taxidermist and carver too, all part time then....have always wondered where & what happened to him....that was the kinda guy, when you started talking fishing etc. you were there for 2 hours !!!....

Enough blabber, put it on chest freezer for the light....1987 and the summer Walleye river fishing was ??....outstanding compared to the last several years for reasons that are beyond me....

Good stuff to me....& even more so that I took the time to write it down....cheers all and hats off to all still out there fishing open water, my job says "not gonna happen" lol....

 

[sureshot006]

Would love to participate but mine is from saginaw river!

 

[milanmark]

I have a pheasant mounted and a deer head... No fish! When I was a kid I caught several trophy size brown trout... but no money! Very nice mount you have that is awesome!

 

[boomstick]

Detroit river eye, Huron steelhead. Canadian pike & St Clair smallmouth!

 

[Divers Down]

Detroit river eye, Huron steelhead. Canadian pike & St Clair smallmouth!

Pretty cool that Pike could turn its tail 90 degrees. Prolly very beneficial chasing down perch.

 

[50incher]

Would love to participate but mine is from saginaw river!

Ahhh what the heck. I'd love to see it....it's cool to me to see it's from the D....and for this forum Erie too....so much of mounted fish is art, it's all good stuff !....

 

[50incher]

I have a pheasant mounted and a deer head... No fish! When I was a kid I caught several trophy size brown trout... but no money! Very nice mount you have that is awesome!

I hear ya mm !....that's my only mount of anything....man I wanted to mount a few ducks !!!, Black, Canvasback, Redhead, Gadwall etc. !!!....instead I got art prints, lol....

One up north 8pt everyone said mount but, nahh....decent deer but not for a one in a lifetime, lol....pretty sure I'm putting more fish on the wall, all replicas anymore....

 

[sparky18181]

I haven’t caught one big enough yet that I would like to mount. Maybe someday.

 

[sureshot006]

I haven’t caught one big enough yet that I would like to mount. Maybe someday.

I've been thinking about this a bit... does it have to be a huge fish to have the art on the wall? Or does it just cost more...?

We typically only mount the most impressive specimens. But is that really how we should look at it?

I've always wanted a nice stringer of 14"+ perch. But something tells me a stringer of 12-13's would look gorgeous as well.

 

[sparky18181]

I've been thinking about this a bit... does it have to be a huge fish to have the art on the wall? Or does it just cost more...?

We typically only mount the most impressive specimens. But is that really how we should look at it?

I've always wanted a nice stringer of 14"+ perch. But something tells me a stringer of 12-13's would look gorgeous as well.

I think it’s all about personal preference. If a person is happy about what they get mounted then that’s all that matters.

 

[50incher]

Detroit river eye, Huron steelhead. Canadian pike & St Clair smallmouth!

Nice !....the Walleye looks huge....

I can't explain why I have such an affinity for the river, but I do !!....always wanted to mount one of any species worthy to me....the fish I wish I had money to burn at the time, all from the D....22" Smallie....a 52" Musky was the best but not the longest....even got a 32" Steelhead on Ont. side....Perch just over 14" and if I hit the lottery, there's a big Sheapshead I'd like to see on the wall ! lol !!....lost a mid 40"s Pike boatside once too !....

It's all good, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, so they say and sometimes there might be an awesome story behind it that changes everything....cheers....

 

[boomstick]

I hear ya mm !....that's my only mount of anything....man I wanted to mount a few ducks !!!, Black, Canvasback, Redhead, Gadwall etc. !!!....instead I got art prints, lol....

This should cure your fix for waterfowl!😜

 

[50incher]

I've been thinking about this a bit... does it have to be a huge fish to have the art on the wall? Or does it just cost more...?

We typically only mount the most impressive specimens. But is that really how we should look at it?

I've always wanted a nice stringer of 14"+ perch. But something tells me a stringer of 12-13's would look gorgeous as well.

Yeah, ehhh too, lol....I 100% believe "trophy" is just that....it's for the person, nothing more....I do think the more you fish, the more "your" standards might go up....kinda "snobbish" if you will, imo ....but fair enough too ?....

2 quick stories for why I feel that way....years ago I took a buddy and his dad for Walleye, both casual fishermen, lol....we clobbered the fish and the father got a 27" Walleye I think & had it mounted, I was kinda ?? hmmmm but that's still cool as they had a great day....20 years later the buddy died from covid, and his dad in his 80's still mentions that Walleye mount to me !....good stuff....

And 21 years ago at my diabetic buddy's funeral....I look at the picture they had of him in that little "farewell" paper ??....whatever it's called and there he was holding a 41" Musky he caught with me, his biggest fish ever, of all his life that's what the family wanted printed, I almost broke down.....he would of mounted that fish but I talked him out of doing it, in that short time you have to release it right, lol....I was ribbing him pretty good....now that picture is priceless to me & inside my tacklebox !....

I always loved the stringers of big Perch or Crappie etc. too, very cool !!!....I kinda feel like, one monster fish is awesome....and a whole stringer ?....ehh they don't have to all be monster, if that makes any sense, lol....my favorite fish mount at Cabala's is the 3D mount of a nice Musky chasing Bluegill's ??....been a while being there, lol....

 

[50incher]

This should cure your fix for waterfowl!😜

Nah, just makes me drool !, lol....cheers....

 

[sureshot006]

40" pike from "hot ponds" on Sag Bay near the river.

Gar from hot pond. Wasn't big, only 37" but I think they're cool. We got them up to 45 or 47".

16+ lb Brown from Tawas casting a white cyclops into a school of minnows. Saw fish chasing them and changed baits to match the hatch. First cast, fish on.

Walleye closing in on 13#. Was casting a jig and twister from shore just before river closed for the spawn.

Nothing mounted or replicated from the D or Erie but that's not to say I haven't caught some worthy fish. Have had a half dozen 14-15" crappie from one day that would have made a nice mount for example.

 

[onebad800]

Both from 2017 or 2018 Lake Erie 11.5lbs and 13.6lbs, pics of the 13.6 dont do it justice, actually looks smaller in these pics but its 2" longer almost and had a 20" girth

 

[ReelWildFun]

Wife's first walleye thru ice 2015 I believe

Sent from my SM-G955U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app

 

[Papa Liver]

My son Kody’s 12.6# from Sag River closer 2018. I’m still stuck at 9#. I suck lol. Maybe this spring hopefully.

 

[downfloat]

PL That is a great mount and fish from the Saginaw river. congrats to your son.

What taxidermist?

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[Papa Liver]

The Fish Studio By Lexi did it. Well she did it when she worked for St. Clair Flats, but she’s on her own now. She does great work. She’s online and lives in East China. We take all our fish to her.