PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE WITH REPLICA FISH-MOUNTS

6/15/2016

Marvin Gaye once sang, "Ain’t nothing like the real thing." For most things in life, he was spot on (pleather, tofurkey and sugar substitutes immediately come to mind). But, when it comes to fish taxidermy, artificial mounts, called reproductions or "replicas," are even better than the real thing. And they are the only real option for anglers who want to practice catch and release and have a trophy fish to hang on the wall of their office or den.

Replica fish-mounts are made from gel-coat resin and fiberglass. They are are completely artificial — no actual fish parts are used in their creation. However, to ensure the most accurate reproductions possible, replicas are forged from molds cast from real fish. A donor fish of a specific species and size is used to generate numerous fiberglass blanks, which are then sold to taxidermists. Blanks have no markings or color, hence the name. Therefore, a taxidermist or "fish artist" must entirely design and paint a fish onto the empty pallet, using only photos as references for the finished design.


Read the entire article on the Colorado Outdoors Online website:
http://coloradooutdoorsmag.com/2016/06/15/practice-catch-and-release-with-replica-fish-mounts/