Mounting Fish

Since most fishermen are not crack taxidermists, anglers turn to professional taxidermists to recreate and preserve their prized catch.

Fish taxidermy, the technical term for mounting fish, is considered the most demanding, labor intensive and delicate branch of the taxidermist arts. Where other forms of taxidermy like bird and mammal mounting only minimal recreation and touch-up to guarantee a natural appearance, fish tend to lose their color as they dry and require a great deal of painting. Where as all practitioners of the taxidermists' craft require the ability to mount, pose and sculpt, the fish taxidermist also requires the inherent, intrinsic skills of the painter.

There are many different methods for mounting fish, and most techniques are unique to the artist. However, there are preferred styles for each type of fish: warm-water fish, cold-water fish and salt-water fish.

Because of their more resilient skin and broader scales, warm-water fish are commonly the best prospects for mounting. Warm-water fish are usually less greasy than their salt-water or warm-water counterparts and less prone to spoiling or leaking. Because of there more durable skin and scales, warm-water fish tend to handle the preservation process better.

The preferred method for mounting fish of the warm-water variety is known as skin mounting. The fish is skinned, the skin then preserved and stretched over a mannequin or blank. Alternately, another method involves preserving the skin and then packing or "stuffing" the body cavity with a filler material. Since warm-water fish tend to be less oily and not as prone to spoilage or leakage, their skull, fins and tail are not always synthesized, but left intact.

Cold water fish are usually more delicate, their skin is diaphanous, and their smaller scales more fragile. Also, cold water fish tend to be oily and more prone to going rancid.

Mounting fish of the cold water variety commonly requires the use of a blank in a similar manner to warm water fish. Usually, taxidermists avoid the skin mount method of stuffing as cold water fish skin is more transparent. Customarily, artificial heads are used in place of the skull. Natural heads of cold water fish are suspect to not only leaking or spoiling, but also tend to shrink over time.

Salt-water fish, unlike warm water fish and cold water fish, are usually completely fashioned from synthetic materials. Salt-water fish mounting requires the most artistically inclined taxidermist, both creatively and technically since the salt-water fish is almost completely replicated. Molds are made from the fish soon after death, and then caste in fiberglass.

Because of concerns over the preservation and conservation of many freshwater and saltwater fish species, fish mounting has fallen from favor with many anglers. Instead, it is more common for fishermen to practice more ecologically, environmentally friendly methods for preserving the catch of a lifetime with the time honored snapshot; the fish then released or "tagged and released."

Taxidermists are also turning to more fish-friendly methods of preservation. Instead of fish mounting real fish, they can completely recreate the trophy catch from synthetic materials with a good photograph. Usually made from fiberglass, the taxidermist can replicate the most intricate life-like details of the actual fish.




Services...Skin Mounts and Fish Replicas. 2006. Angler's Art Taxidermy. 2 Oct 2006. www.aa-taxidermy.com

Fish Taxidermy. 2006. American Fish Taxidermy. 2 Oct 2006. www.americanfishtaxidermy.com

Fish Taxidermy Techniques. 2006. WASCO Manufacturing, Inc. 5 Oct 2006. www.taxidermy.net