Possible great news ! :-)

[Fish Chris]

I talked again with some of the best fish art guys on the planet, Advanced Taxidermy, at the Sacramento Sportsmans Expo a few weeks ago.

{As it were, I talked with them right after sticking my 8.5 PB Smallie, and they simply did not have a mold to match it for size and shape :-( Neither did anywhere else in the country :-( :-( :-( }

So, I run into the Advanced guys again at the show, and I show them an 8 x 10 glossy of the fish. The main guy, Shawn, looks at the photo, and was just in awe.

So I had to ask him again..... Nothing you guys can do ??? I could see the wheels start turning, and after a long pause, he says, "I think I have an idea" ! Yes ! That's what I wanted to hear :-)

He goes on to tell me that they had recieved a 24" Smallmouth, with a 19 1/2" girth, which went just under 8 lbs, a few months ago. Mine had a 22" girth. So then he starts talking with his partner, and discussing whether they could get 2 1/2" more girth out of their 24" length mold, and they both thought they could. Afterall, these molds are stretchy silicone rubber. I don't know all of their tricks, but they sounded confident. He said that if they couldn't do it, and make it "perfect", they wouldn't let it leave their shop. But then he said, he wouldn't have even mentioned it, if he was not confident ! :-)

Whooo Hooo ! I'm telling you guys, these guys 5 to 7 lb Smallie replicas are just pure, artistic beauty ! That mettalic bronze, with rootbeer markings, and that bright red eye ! Just bombastic ! :-)

So anyway, $250 down, and $250 upon completion. X's two of course, as I then have to back up my word, and get one for the young guy who C/R'd her the week before. {Only a thousand bucks ? Even for a poor guy like me, that will be money well spent}

I think Advannced might actually do 3 of them..... as they need one too, seeing as it will be the biggest Smallie they have ever done :-)

Pretty stoked !

My luck, I'll give em' $250 to get started, then stick a 9 to 10 lb'er this Spring ! Wouldn't that be a bummer ? ;-) LOL

Peace,

Fish

[Sam]

Super.

After reading the post subject I was going to congratulate you and ask if it was a boy or a girl.

If those guys can do what they say the can do you will have a wonderful trophy.

Let us know what happens.

[bassdocktor]

That sounds pretty cool. It'll be awesome to see those.  What a shame sticking  a 9 or 10lber.

[NorDoor]

I'm a newb here.Did you post picture of that Smallie?

[Fish Chris]

welcome aboard :-)

Oh yea ! You can bet I was proud to show off that one !  :-)

http://www.trophybassonly.com/id226.htm

Peace,

Fish

[Branuss04]

Well Chris, have you told ryan about it yet, i'm sure he will be stoked. Glad to see you found someone to get er done after a year of looking.  Maybe you'll catch that 10+ and have to wait another year to get a replica.

[Mattlures]

FC I have a a suggestion. Actualy its a solution. You know nowadays when they do a trout mount they usualy use an artificial head for skin mounts. All your guys would have to do is find a largemouth replica that matched your measurements and use the smallmouth head form their mold. Trust me I know what I am talking about. It is more  work for them but If they are making their own molds and repro's then they are perfectly capable of doing this. They may charge a bit more but you would have the correct size. Any silicone mold used for repros has to be backed with something for reinforcement. It is not very flexible if al all. the purpose of using silicone is a more detailed mold and ease of demolding. Talk to them about what I said and see if they will do it for you.

[NorDoor]

Wow that's just insane.Beautiful fish.

[Boett43]

Hey man that fish is deffinilty a fish of a lifetime for sure, i read the article you wrote about the catch on your website but you didnt say what you caught her on...haha Please Share unless its top Seceret :-X...haha

[Fish Chris]

Matt, I'm not exactly sure about what your saying..... But I will forward your exact words to the Advanced guys {I'm sure they will know what your saying}

Either way, no matter what these guys do, I have never seen a less than awesome piece of fish art from them. I'm totally confident in their work.

Thank you NorDoor.

Well Boett, at any other place in the world, this fish might have been the biggest one could even hope for...... However, this place has already kicked out THREE 9 plus lb'ers, since I caught my 8.5 !!! And most everybody who knows the lake, expects a 10 plus state record this year ! If Cali was ever in the running for a new IGFA World Record Smallmouth (which would have to be 12 lb 1 ounce) this would be the lake to do it. I say that if it is going to happen, it will most likely be in Spring of 09' though.

.......which is good for me, as I might end up spending most of my Spring 08' bass fishing, looking for a 19 plus (new PB) Largemouth :-)

Oh, I almost forgot.... I caught her on a charteuse Basstrix Bluegill, rigged on a 1/4 ounce football jig.

Peace,

Fish

[Mattlures]

Fc let me try again. You find a replica blank of a largemouth that has the same length and girth of your small mouth. Then you cut the head off of the blank. Next the cast a blank from their biggest small mouth mold. Now you cut the head off of that blank. Now you take the small mouth head ans attatch it to the largemouth body. Fiberglass can be heated and repossitioned a little bit. They could fuse the two parts together and finish with bondo. If any of the detail on top of the head was smoothed out they can put a little epoxy putty over the eara and then run a scale tool over it to blend it in. You would never know the head didnt belong on that body. The benifit to this is, I am sure they can find a largemouth blank to match the body of your small mouth.

If they make their own molds or blanks then they can easily do what I have described. If they just prep and paint blanks then Maybe they cant but Lyons and Ohaver could. Now when I described how silicone molds work, I was  giving my opinion that I dont think they can get much extra girth out of a mold. And if they did, it probably wouldnt be correct. It would just be wider. Also if they were to do this it would be a lot more work then my suggestion. Either way its goint to be extra labor.

Hope this helps. Do they have a website? If they are as good as you say I would love to admire some of their work.

[Fish Chris]

I hear you now...... possible I guess.....

They do have a website > http://www.advancedtaxidermy.com/  < but to be honest, the photos on there site just can't start to do justice for the actual quality of there work. You really have to see there double sized booth at one of the shows, to get a real appreciation.

Peace,

Fish

[Mattlures]

Well after looking through their site I can tell you, they can match your fish. I have no doubt. Like I said before, if they have to customize something its going to be more labor and it could cost more but they could EASILY do it. Extremly nice work. Far better than any of mine. That picture of the pumkinseed was incredible!

You have picked a great shop!

[Fish Chris]

But I'm telling you, in real life, thier work is so amazing, (so much better than the website) that I have a VERY hard time walking away from their display !

Yes, their Sunfish are great ! As are their Crappie ! And Steelheads.... And you should see their 9+ lb Char !

I'd love to have them do a replica for a 300 lb Sturgeon. How crazy would that be ? :-)

Peace,

Fish