How Big To Get A Mount??

[Creekcrappie]

For me, it is the environment that I am fishing. I have caught 8+ LM out of farm ponds, but I didn't have a mount done. If I caught a 8+ out of a lake I would have it mounted. Probably a 5+ SM.

X2 I caught an 8 pounder from a pond  last year but I released her.

[Alpha Male]

Maybe its just me but i couldnt do a replica. the same way I dont have a replica elk, white tail, and sika buck on the wall.

[Crookedneck]

I am waiting for that 7 lb smallie. Came close this last year with a 6 lb 14 oz a replica is the only way I will go. Largemouth, I don't know, it would have to be bigger than I will catch around here...

[WRB]

Lake or state record. NLMB over 10 lbs SM over 6 lbs, replica mount.

Cost is about $350,

Measure the length, girth, photo and weight.

Tom

[Lucky Craft Man]

Lake or state record. NLMB over 10 lbs SM over 6 lbs, replica mount.

Cost is about $350,

Measure the length, girth, photo and weight.

Tom

 

Not to sideline the thread, but WRB, would you say that a 10lb. NLMB would be equal to a 6lb. SMB?

[vikingbear8]

For me largemouth > 10lbs. Smallie > 7lbs. 

[Dwight Hottle]

Not to sideline the thread, but WRB, would you say that a 10lb. NLMB would be equal to a 6lb. SMB?

I'm interested in Tom's answer as well. My opinion is that a grest lakes smallmouth 6lb class is the equal to a 10lb FLMB. A 7lb class Great Lakes smallie is the equal to a 12-13 lb FLMB.

[Dead River]

Lake or state record. NLMB over 10 lbs SM over 6 lbs, replica mount.

Cost is about $350,

Measure the length, girth, photo and weight.

Tom

 

that's cheap. a good replica will cost you more than that. it all depends how much detail  you want. bass pro will do a fish for that money but it won't have the individual scale tipping. for top notch work you are looking at spending 5 or 600 bones.

[Dead River]

since I live in the south, I'd day anything over 10 lbs. but not everyone in the south is going to catch a ten pounder. it's all about location. if you want to catch trophy bass you have to have access where they live, in my case that was access to primo farm ponds which overproduced boggling amounts of big fish for their size and of course low density trophy pfa. the private slough fish came off as did another from one of my favorite public lakes.

 

I think the 8 lb mark is reasonable for someone in the south, esp. for tourney fishermen who don't target big fish. beyond that whatever makes you happy. 5 lb shoalie, 5 lb spot, 5 lb smallie..

 

by the end of this month I will have six largemouth, three fx lms, and two f1s (positive on one of the f1s, very likely on the others), I have one shoal bass.

 

for me, I love replica mounts, if money was no object I'd have replicas of all my double digit fish done. hey, if I can outshine them in the near future, that's a good problem to have

[aharris]

I've got a 9.2 LM mounted so I doubt I'll be getting any more unless it's a giant. If I ever catch a smallie over 6, I'll get one made.

[WRB]

Instead of debating price just go to a good taxidermy like Lake Fork Taxidermy, Pierce brothers for a quote.

It's been 20 years since my last mount...avatar is 19.3 lbs by Roberts Trophy Fish mounts, no longer in business. Never caught a smallmouth over 6 lbs, so no mount. FLMB over 15 lbs would be a trophy.

Tom

[SPEEDBEAD.]

For PA waters a largemouth bigger than speedbeads would be worthy of a replica. For smallmouth it would have to be your choice based on where you catch her.

 

I appreciate it man.

 

The PB has gone up each of the last three years. I'll let you know when I hit a replica-worthy one. I'm thinking it will have to be 10 for me to shell out the money.

[BigBassBarry]

I am getting my 11 lbs largie replica mount,  I would get a 6+ smallie mounted.   on Largie I would not mount anything under dd, but I catch a lot of 6-7 lbers a year.

[jeremyryanwebb]

I help manage 18 pretty big ponds on a plantation where we run fishing activities for the members.  I would say anything over 8 pounds could be mounted, but last year a rival of mine caught one 10 pounds 2 ounces and thats the record so far in the community....so I think my pride is gonna make me wait until i have found one that is 10 pounds 3 ounces or better  

[Bankbeater]

6 or 7 for a smallie. At least 8 for a largemouth.

[Dead River]

Instead of debating price just go to a good taxidermy like Lake Fork Taxidermy, Pierce brothers for a quote.

It's been 20 years since my last mount...avatar is 19.3 lbs by Roberts Trophy Fish mounts, no longer in business. Never caught a smallmouth over 6 lbs, so no mount. FLMB over 15 lbs would be a trophy.

Tom

 

Their fish are ok for what you pay for but if you've seen one you've seen them all. Their fish look very similar, esp. when you see the habitat scenes with 3-5 of the same looking bass. Have a look at some of the replicas that Dave Campbell, Travis Jones, or Rick Krane have painted. Rick Krane trains people, pretty much anyone he trains does good work. some of the smallmouth Dave Campbell painted are out of this world.

[fishmounter1957]

Their fish are ok for what you pay for but if you've seen one you've seen them all. Their fish look very similar, esp. when you see the habitat scenes with 3-5 of the same looking bass. Have a look at some of the replicas that Dave Campbell, Travis Jones, or Rick Krane have painted. Rick Krane trains people, pretty much anyone he trains does good work. some of the smallmouth Dave Campbell painted are out of this world.

thanks....

[Mainebass1984]

Mounting a fish is a personal choice. There is not a set guideline to how big it must be. Perhaps a particular fish that wasn't very big could have a special memory attached to it. If your going to mount a fish depending just on size I think it entirely depends on the region of the country you catch it in. I have 2 mounted largemouth bass a 7-12 I caught with my dad on fathers day a few years ago and a 8-9 I caught in 2009. I have caught a couple fish bigger then the 8-9 but I have not had them mounted. All caught from Maine. I do not think I will get another mounted unless it is 10 lbs or close to 10 for largemouth. Last fall I got a 9-1 and have yet to decide if I want to get a replica or not. I am still waiting for a 6 lb smallmouth, they are very rare in where I fish and I do not fish for smallmouth much.  For Florida strain largemouth and there hybrids a true "trophy"  would be in the teens. A northern largemouth anything over 7 lbs and 5 lbs for smallmouth. When it comes down to it though, when you catch a fish its your choice to mount it or not no matter what the size.

[Rangerphil]

Well thank you for all the posts! I have realized throughout reading them that I need to focus on fishing for bigger fish! It seems that a lot of you think a 6-7 lb Largie is somewhat common, also I think if we set the threshold at 6# for smallies and 8-10# for largemouth I will have a lot of smallmouth on the wall!

[Dead River]

 

 

 

 

 

Mounting a fish is a personal choice. There is not a set guideline to how big it must be. Perhaps a particular fish that wasn't very big could have a special memory attached to it. If your going to mount a fish depending just on size I think it entirely depends on the region of the country you catch it in. I have 2 mounted largemouth bass a 7-12 I caught with my dad on fathers day a few years ago and a 8-9 I caught in 2009. I have caught a couple fish bigger then the 8-9 but I have not had them mounted. All caught from Maine. I do not think I will get another mounted unless it is 10 lbs or close to 10 for largemouth. Last fall I got a 9-1 and have yet to decide if I want to get a replica or not. I am still waiting for a 6 lb smallmouth, they are very rare in where I fish and I do not fish for smallmouth much.  For Florida strain largemouth and there hybrids a true "trophy"  would be in the teens. A northern largemouth anything over 7 lbs and 5 lbs for smallmouth. When it comes down to it though, when you catch a fish its your choice to mount it or not no matter what the size.

 

I agree with most of what you've said here. but bear in mind the fx intergrade endemic to Georgia and the florida panhandle isn't a proper hybrid like the f1, you can make fx intergrades that way but this is Georgia's native blend so to speak. it has occurred naturally over millions of years as the best fit for the environment- the compromise between the two subspecies. While there are  florida genes as far north as Maryland naturally, The Georgia fx is said to have 70-90 % florida alleles- you can get this intergrade from a state hatchery. This is indeed George Perry's bass but as it goes fx or pure florida strain, Very few people catch legitimate ten pound largemouth, they just aren't as common as the lore and media let on, even fewer people are going to catch a teener. A thirteen lb bass is very scarce. So by that rationale there wouldn't be many bass mounts done. We had a guide on here from Okechobee and he says he's caught only one double digit there... tenners aren't that common even in purported bass fishing paradise. I will feel very, very lucky if I catch a teener largemouth.

 

I'm going to say 8 lbs for trophy, if you want one for sentimental purposes otherwise that's ok.

[Mainebass1984]

 

 

I'm going to say 8 lbs for trophy, if you want one for sentimental purposes otherwise that's ok.

 

If an 8 lber is a trophy southern largemouth then, in your opinion, what is a trophy largemouth from the Northeast ?

[Dead River]

If an 8 lber is a trophy southern largemouth then, in your opinion, what is a trophy largemouth from the Northeast ?

 

off the cuff in that climate I would say a 6 lb northern largemouth would be a really big fish that people would brag about and be proud of. I think an 8 lber would be much harder to come by, a 10 lb northern strain would probably be more like a catching a teener down here. maybe even more like catching a 15 lber down here which is extremely rare.

 

the point I was making was that 10 lb bass are not as common in the south as people let on. they are not in every farm pond, in some cases there may be only one fish that size in a pond if at all.

[Dead River]

besides isn't the Massachusetts record bunk anyway? wasn't it full of lead? what is the legitimate largest northern strain lm on the books

[skeetercraig]

new York 11-4

[Mainebass1984]

Where did you here the Mass record was full of lead ? I "heard" angler stories it was caught in FL then brought up to Mass and the angler said he caught it ice fishing. That fish was a giant at 15 lbs 8 oz.

Maine record is 11-10

New Hampshire 10-8

Vermont 10-4