Banning skin mounts

[N Florida Mike]

8 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I had a replica done of my PB, it looks nothing like it. Wish I would have went with a skin mount. I had pics from the guys work and it looked great. I guess I assumed mine would look exactly like the fish I caught and it doesn't. Every time I look at it I think, well that doesn't look like my PB at all. But it is what it is.

My pb was a skin mount and it didn’t look like the real thing either. Much darker than the real thing.

[Michigander]

3 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

My pb was a skin mount and it didn’t look like the real thing either. Much darker than the real thing.

Never hired a taxidermist,  is it an option to have a mount redone?

[Bigassbass]

25 years ago I caught a 6lb bass out of a local lake, put it in the live well and drove around the corner to the weigh in to have it weighed.  The bass was dead when I took it out, couldn't have been in the live well more than 5 minutes.  So I weighed it and tried to revive it but no success. My neighbor then had a taxidermist shop so I got him to mount the fish, wasn't going to eat it or waste it.  Cost a lot of money even back then but it looks as good as day one.  I practice catch and release but sometimes stuff happens thats beyond your control, I've never regretted mounting my fish, I would mount a 10lb or better one if I ever catch it!

[N Florida Mike]

47 minutes ago, lo n slo said:

that pic makes you look like a crazy person ?

 

must have been fun!

It’s because of  that hat with the T on it. ?

6 minutes ago, Michigander said:

Never hired a taxidermist,  is it an option to have a mount redone?

I have never heard of them being redone but seems like it wouldnt be too hard.

[gim]

My PB large is a skin mount on my wall. Not because I wanted it there, but because it didn’t survive. I deep hooked it in August when it was very warm out and I tried for 15 minutes to revive it, unsuccessfully. So I kept it and got it mounted. My Father has a replica of his PB smallmouth and I would go that route if I decided to get another mount in the future.

 

People harvesting bass, or fish in general, constitute a much larger percentage of mortality that people keeping a fish for a skin mount.

[N Florida Mike]

It’s ok to want to preserve bass. I just don’t want any more new laws to make it happen. 

[soflabasser]

4 hours ago, A-Jay said:

This is exactly what I go with.

Digital prints on canvas - 

 

 

A-Jay

 

 

Awesome catches @A-Jay. What is the length and girth of that smallmouth bass? At this moment in time I have most my favorite catches in photo albums. The rest of the photos are saved in memory chips. Having enlarged photos like you have is a great idea and you save lots of money. That saved money can be used for fishing vacations which to me is more valuable than having a skin mount or replica bass on the wall.

[Mobasser]

Lots of folks, even very avid fisherman, fish for years before they catch a bass that's big enough to be mounted. Of course their proud of this fish, and the time spent in catching it. We all know the big bass don't always come easy. If someone wants to skin mount a trophy bass, so be it. I don't know the percentage, but would imagine these are a small percentage of the bass caught in an average season. I see no harm in it.

[Bluebasser86]

I have one skin mount. It's a 6lb fish I caught out of a pond in the middle of summer. Water was hot, temps were in the mid 90s in the middle of the day, and she took the small crankbait deep into her gills. Didn't look like she was going to make it, kept floating back to the surface and the big snapping turtles were closing in fast. I still felt guilty keeping the fish. The mount looks good, but it doesn't look much like the fish did when I caught it. Water had a very dark, tannic stain, so the fish was almost black. The fish I got back wasn't nearly as dark as the fish in my pictures.

 

I don't personally have any desire to ever get a skin mount of fish done again and don't understand the need for it to be "your fish", but it's legal so it's not my place to tell someone what they can and can't do with it provided it was caught legally by someone with a fishing license.

[jeffo21]

I took pictures and had a replica made of my PB. I thought my replica turned out good.

[jbsoonerfan]

Yours looks like mine, almost exactly. Being that you are from Durant, there is a good chance it was done by the same person. 

[jeffo21]

I used Smitty's taxidermy just west of Durant

[TnRiver46]

3 hours ago, lo n slo said:

that pic makes you look like a crazy person ?

 

must have been fun!

Deep in the archives, there are pictures that make me look like a much crazier person. It was spring break my senior year of college, dragged My papaws Jon boat all the way to Texas with nothing but a trolling motor (Thread hijack alert). I owe Texas one bass 

[slonezp]

Not a bass but my PB walleye is the most realistic skin mount I have ever seen. Makes my PB bass and PB crappie skin mounts look mediocre at best. If I ever catch a new PB bass and this guy is still practicing taxidermy I'm going to wrap the fish in a wet towel, put it in the freezer, and bring it to him to make a permanent memory for my trophy wall. Sometimes I regret throwing back my PB smallie, but I already had a smallmouth skin mount. Still debating a replica, but confident I'll catch another Sturgeon Bay hawg that will spend its afterlife above my fireplace.

 

[A-Jay]

On 2/11/2020 at 5:49 PM, soflabasser said:

Awesome catches @A-Jay. What is the length and girth of that smallmouth bass? At this moment in time I have most my favorite catches in photo albums. The rest of the photos are saved in memory chips. Having enlarged photos like you have is a great idea and you save lots of money. That saved money can be used for fishing vacations which to me is more valuable than having a skin mount or replica bass on the wall.

Thanks - 

Not to be a hi-jacker but 

I never got the length & girth of that fish.

Got a weight & released her.

 

 As for the prints - they are all done by Kevin Washburn.

You can find him on FB @TheAntzlProject  

He does world class work.

A-Jay

 

[Dwight Hottle]

I look at the big picture. We all practice catch & release, conservation and are good stewards of our fisheries. With that in mind what difference does a dead bass make? If you want to have a skin mount go ahead. A replica actually will last longer, be more durable & will not bleed out oils like a skin mount does over time. The same thing applies to keeping fish for the dinner table. If you want to it’s your right to do so within the limits. The few fish we kill will not adversely affect the health of our sport. 

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Look at it this way. There are many out there that feel fishing as a sport is               unethical and want to ban fishing altogether. 

[jbsoonerfan]

50 minutes ago, jeffo21 said:

I used Smitty's taxidermy just west of Durant

? 

[GreenPig]

BASS! It's what for dinner. Oh yes I do.

Largemouth & Spots get equal attention.

 

[slonezp]

6 hours ago, GreenPig said:

BASS! It's what for dinner. Oh yes I do.

Largemouth & Spots get equal attention.

 

Unfortunately some people have issues with what people do with legally harvested fish. Try cutting the bass fillets into scallops, wrap with bacon, put them on shishkabob sticks and grill over indirect heat. 

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Yall making me hungry!!

[Jake Coucoules]

9 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

I look at the big picture. We all practice catch & release, conservation and are good stewards of our fisheries. With that in mind what difference does a dead bass make? If you want to have a skin mount go ahead. A replica actually will last longer, be more durable & will not bleed out oils like a skin mount does over time. The same thing applies to keeping fish for the dinner table. If you want to it’s your right to do so within the limits. The few fish we kill will not adversely affect the health of our sport. 

This is the same attitude people who litter and don’t recycle have. “I’m just one person so if I throw all my trash in the street it’s not gonna effect anything.” And once everyone adopted that mindset our entire environment became full of trash. What difference does it make if I throw my McDonald’s cup in the trash or on the ground? 

[scaleface]

All bass die 

[J Francho]

6 minutes ago, Jake Coucoules said:

This is the same attitude people who litter and don’t recycle have. “I’m just one person so if I throw all my trash in the street it’s not gonna effect anything.” And once everyone adopted that mindset our entire environment became full of trash. What difference does it make if I throw my McDonald’s cup in the trash or on the ground? 

There you go - that's how you sell it when you see someone doing what you think is wrong.  That's a good angle for doing better than what the law allows, without coming off as preaching.  They are one person, that's one trophy.  What of others could catch that fish, and feel the same joy.  The world needs more of that.

[Jake Coucoules]

8 minutes ago, scaleface said:

All bass die 

All people die. Or is that against forum rules to say ?