Need Help With Replica Mount

[tracker01]

I have my PB hanging on the wall. Maybe it’s just a head game, but it’s the bass “I” caught, put in the live well, had weighted (local tournament), and brought home to be mounted. No regrets here. It’s a beauty.

[22RangerZ520R]

44 minutes ago, tracker01 said:

I have my PB hanging on the wall. Maybe it’s just a head game, but it’s the bass “I” caught, put in the live well, had weighted (local tournament), and brought home to be mounted. No regrets here. It’s a beauty.

And that's your right to do that!   

 

I just have too much respect for the trophy sized fish to kill them.  I'd rather release the trophies and have them reproduce and spread those genetics for future generation fishermen to hopefully enjoy their offspring or even have another angler catch my same fish again to get their PB's too, rather than them collecting dust on my wall.  If they are still alive, my PB smallie is probably in the high 7lb - low 8lb range and my largemouth is probably around the 14lb mark.  I have a 7lb skin mount on my wall that I caught back in high school and both of my replica's blow it out of the water as far as looks and long term durability.  My replicas will never crack, fade, peel or yellow.  I weighed both of my PB's on my IGFA certified Boga Grip scale, took a ton of pics and did a release video of both so I will always have those memories to go along with the replicas.

 

I'll never keep a bass again.  CPR for me.

[roadwarrior]

Well, I'm right there with you, but when I catch that 12 lb 1 oz smallmouth she's going on the wall!

 

[22RangerZ520R]

2 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

Well, I'm right there with you, but when I catch that 12 lb 1 oz smallmouth she's going on the wall!

 

Yeah, there's not a mold out there for a 12lb smallie.... 

[TnRiver46]

I know where that 12 lber lives but it will break your line. I’ll narrow it down to several thousand acres......... it’s in watts bar lake .........

[NorthernBasser]

On 1/25/2019 at 8:21 PM, 18RangerZ520L said:

Give Dave Campbell a try... He did both of my PB's, a 12lb 8oz largemouth and a 6lb 4oz smallie.  I did hours of research online before I went with him.  He modified both of my mounts to better match my actual fish.  He paints each scale individually, not just the generic "air brush" paint job many of the other $500 replica companies do like Lake Fork Taxidermy, etc.  Let me know if you have any questions about Dave or my mounts.  Below are pics of my two PB's and their respective replica mounts.  Good luck in your search.  

 

www.davecampbellfish.com

 

12lb 8oz largemouth:

 

Those are incredible! 

[22RangerZ520R]

On 1/27/2019 at 8:10 PM, TnRiver46 said:

I know where that 12 lber lives but it will break your line. I’ll narrow it down to several thousand acres......... it’s in watts bar lake .........

I agree that if there is a 12lb smallie out there, she's in the TN river system somewhere or up north in the Great Lakes... 

9 hours ago, NorthernBasser said:

Those are incredible! 

Thanks!

 

While I was doing all my research on a replica mount it was crazy how many people wanted to get a "bargain" mount verses spending the extra money to get a true work of art.  We spend thousands of dollars on our trucks, boats, rods, reels, tackle, lodging and gas chasing these bass!  So when you run into a fish of a lifetime, why would you want to "cut corners" on a replica mount of a fish you spent all that money trying to catch?!?!  Just my .02 

 

 

[12poundbass]

1 hour ago, 18RangerZ520L said:

I agree that if there is a 12lb smallie out there, she's in the TN river system somewhere or up north in the Great Lakes... 

Thanks!

 

While I was doing all my research on a replica mount it was crazy how many people wanted to get a "bargain" mount verses spending the extra money to get a true work of art.  We spend thousands of dollars on our trucks, boats, rods, reels, tackle, lodging and gas chasing these bass!  So when you run into a fish of a lifetime, why would you want to "cut corners" on a replica mount of a fish you spent all that money trying to catch?!?!  Just my .02 

 

 

After looking over yours a ton and seeing 'others' there's a noticeable difference and many of the 'others' I've seen almost look cartoonish or just a random cookie cutter mount that someone did in a few hours. It's not just replicas. I have a huge pike skin mount on my wall that my BIL caught that lacks any true detail that makes it come alive. My step dad has walleye and perch that have some detail, but look like they have an inch of clear on them to bring that little bit of detail out. I've only seen a couple others that have the detail that Dave's have, so he truly is in a very very small league of true artists. 

[MO_TightLines]

9 hours ago, 18RangerZ520L said:

I agree that if there is a 12lb smallie out there, she's in the TN river system somewhere or up north in the Great Lakes... 

Thanks!

 

While I was doing all my research on a replica mount it was crazy how many people wanted to get a "bargain" mount verses spending the extra money to get a true work of art.  We spend thousands of dollars on our trucks, boats, rods, reels, tackle, lodging and gas chasing these bass!  So when you run into a fish of a lifetime, why would you want to "cut corners" on a replica mount of a fish you spent all that money trying to catch?!?!  Just my .02 

 

 

Well I was most certainly not looking for a bargain. It took me 25 years to catch this fish, so I was looking for quality. I had already started the process with Coast to Coast before 18RangerZ suggested Dave. And being a man of my word I felt I should go ahead and proceed with them since i had already given a deposit. Plus, they had almost the "exact" scale and size of the fish i caught. But, after looking at Dave's page I know beyond a doubt I will be giving him a call on my next mount. I'm hoping this year produce's my trophy Smallie.

 

Has anyone seen any of Joe Pitruzzello's work of Coast to Coast Fish Mounts or had them do anything for them? The reviews i read and work i could see online seemed to be good, but I will admit not to the detail of Dave Campbell's.

[soflabasser]

I am not sure if I want replicas of some of the trophy bass I have caught anymore. From what I see the taxidermist might not be able to get the exact dimensions of the bass I want replicas of and that is big no for me. Another big no is getting a replica that does not have the exact coloration of my catches. Some replicas look poorly painted but I know for a fact it cost several hundred dollars even if the paint job is off. I think I am going to stick with large prints of my trophy bass that I will hang on my wall at this moment in time.

[22RangerZ520R]

5 hours ago, soflabasser said:

I am not sure if I want replicas of some of the trophy bass I have caught anymore. From what I see the taxidermist might not be able to get the exact dimensions of the bass I want replicas of and that is big no for me. Another big no is getting a replica that does not have the exact coloration of my catches. Some replicas look poorly painted but I know for a fact it cost several hundred dollars even if the paint job is off. I think I am going to stick with large prints of my trophy bass that I will hang on my wall at this moment in time.

Yeah, I have seen a bunch of poor paint jobs on replicas.  I think Dave did an excellent job on my two mounts, if you look close at my the pics he has a pic in the background on both fish where he made everything black and white besides my fish so that he could get the color and color pattern as close as possible without background colors throwing him off.  And yes, the OP had an odd shaped (in a good way) largemouth so it's tougher to find a mold out there with his exact dimensions.

[WRB]

Last word on skin mounts, they deteriorate and are a replica of your bass using the skin stretched over a commercial manakin form close to the size of your fish. The skin is cured and grey color and must be painted just like a replica. You have a replica with a skin verses a molded fish with all the details that is painted and doesn't deteriorate.

I have both skin and replica mounts and no comparison to a high quality replica.

No reason to kill the fish for a mount today with 1 exception; a all tackle world record bass needs to die to be examined and authenticated to meet IGFA requirements, the fish will never survive all the handling unfortunitly.

Tom

PS, the mount I am holding in my avatar was my 18.6 lb LMB caught in 1981, the bass didn't survive and Robert Munoz used it for a mold to make replica's. This mount represents all my giant bass caught since '81 including 19.3 lb that was released alive like every big bass since that time.

[Craigholland]

On 1/31/2019 at 5:40 PM, WRB said:

Last word on skin mounts, they deteriorate and are a replica of your bass using the skin stretched over a commercial manakin form close to the size of your fish. The skin is cured and grey color and must be painted just like a replica. You have a replica with a skin verses a molded fish with all the details that is painted and doesn't deteriorate.

I have both skin and replica mounts and no comparison to a high quality replica.

No reason to kill the fish for a mount today with 1 exception; a all tackle world record bass needs to die to be examined and authenticated to meet IGFA requirements, the fish will never survive all the handling unfortunitly.

Tom

PS, the mount I am holding in my avatar was my 18.6 lb LMB caught in 1981, the bass didn't survive and Robert Munoz used it for a mold to make replica's. This mount represents all my giant bass caught since '81 including 19.3 lb that was released alive like every big bass since that time.

This. Skin mounts stretch, shrink and deteriorate. I have a few good ones from fish caught 20 years ago. They look decent but an awesome replica is my vote. All taxidermy and paint job s are not equal.