Fish mount or picture?

[ccarver80]

So yesterday I caught the biggest walleye yet 6.3lbs 26"!!
I had the debate with the wife about getting it mounted and she said a reproduction mount is pointless.. it's not even your fish (I kind of agree) and to me skin mount is a waste of meat? Idk dose the taxadermist give you the meat when he's done??

Idk what your guys opinion on it but I'm going on a different path and I got an excellent picture (see below) and I'm going to get a print and frame it with a plaque with date and location caught.



This is also going to be WAY cheaper than a mount

 

[SupressYourself]

Picture and throw it back. You'll catch bigger ones.
As for the replica opinion... IDK... my argument would be: most times the only original part of a deer shoulder mount is the antlers, so how much of that is "your deer"? The mount is meant to be a wall ornament and a reminder of the great hunt / catch. A replica does that just as well and looks good longer. I'd go with a replica every time, except deer tend to have a pretty low survival rate after release.

 

[8andcounting]

So yesterday I caught the biggest walleye yet 6.3lbs 26"!!
I had the debate with the wife about getting it mounted and she said a reproduction mount is pointless.. it's not even your fish (I kind of agree) and to me skin mount is a waste of meat? Idk dose the taxadermist give you the meat when he's done??

Idk what your guys opinion on it but I'm going on a different path and I got an excellent picture (see below) and I'm going to get a print and frame it with a plaque with date and location caught.



This is also going to be WAY cheaper than a mount

Nice job ! IMO , 26" walleye isn't big enough to mount , for me it would have to be atleast 28-29" but to each their own . I think you made a good call on doing the picture for this one , it is a nice picture and beautiful walleye

 

[Stan's Dad]

I've never seen a walleye replica that didn't look like a replica. mounting it is up to you I guess. if you eat it, get the cheeks out

 

[KDM]

You WILL catch bigger walleyes if you keep fishing for them, I'm quite certain. As far as mounting something, I mount stuff to remind me of a great day. I have 2 ten inch crappies mounted that remind me of a day on the water with a dear friend. Ten inch crappies are NOT big for crappies. I am mounting two white tails that won't score 125 inches and have a bull elk mounted that scores 260. Those are NOT big deer or elk, but they will all will make me smile each and every time I look at them because they mean something to ME, not to anyone else. If it's meaningful to you, mount the fish and remember that day. Nice Catch BTW!!

 

[Captain Ahab]

You can do a picture cast on a canvas to hang up for a nice look. I have a handful of pics I want to get done. That said, keep walleye fishing and that one will become a scrub in no time.

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This is what I was referring to.

 

[Sum1]

I'm kind of over the whole mount thing. I have a few mounts and now prefer a good framed 8x10. IMO a good picture with the background of where you caught it just seems right to me. At this point if it isn't a State record I'm not mounting it.

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...and you can release them.

 

[LBrandt]

Picture is worth a 1000 words. That works for me.

 

[Zogman]

I've never seen a walleye replica that didn't look like a replica. mounting it is up to you I guess. if you eat it, get the cheeks out

Depends upon the "Artist". Granddaughter at age 4 caught her first fish measured and took pictures. For a replica you want a taxidermist that is an Artist. The painting makes it. Can't tell the dif.

 

[Sluggo]

I'm kind of over the whole mount thing. I have a few mounts and now prefer a good framed 8x10. IMO a good picture with the background of where you caught it just seems right to me. At this point if it isn't a State record I'm not mounting it.
...and you can release them.

Picture.....Sum1 said everything I was thinking. You will catch bigger fish and when you do, think about the background of the photo and take 10 pictures, closer and further away, different angles. One will be framing worthy.

 

[ccarver80]

I'm glad everyone is thinking along the same lines then...

I'm actually considering maybe a digital picture frame?? Since I film all my trips I could include a quick clip of me catching the fish as well! Heck I could do a big highlight reel of all the fish I've caught!

 

[MSA]

As far as the meat goes, once the fish is frozen whole the meat is ruined in my opinion. All the blood and fluids seem to blend the gross fishy flavors into the meat. But yes, if you want the meat, it can be saved.

 

[JayKay]

You can do a picture cast on a canvas to hang up for a nice look. I have a handful of pics I want to get done. That said, keep walleye fishing and that one will become a scrub in no time.

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This is what I was referring to.

Those are neat Matt, but why would I want pictures of your wedding? I mean, they're nice pictures and all, but...

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I have a 25" skin mount in my office, and for a lot of years, that was my biggest walleye ever. Still a nice fish, but I've topped that a bunch of times in the past couple of years. I still enjoy the mount though.

Will have to be closer to, or at 30+ inches before I have anything else done, and it may be a replica.

But, with phones, next time you catch a noteworthy fish, take a dozen different pictures. and have the picture taker get closer to you, so the fish is a more dominant part of the picture. When you blow the picture up, and put it in a frame, you won't care what was on the backseat of the boat, or what the shoreline behind you looked like.

 

[guywhofishes]

It's nice to have a fish mounted simply for taxonomy reasons like JayKay said

I've been too picky - it's fun to simply look at a mount and appreciate the wonder that is the fish's shape/design on occasion

every fish type is so interesting - crappie - bluegill - trout vs. walleye etc. - all so unique

I wish I had my personal best of everything on the wall just for the shapes/colors/majesty of the natural design that is a fish

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I say mount it - then in the future you can point to it and tell people - "Yep... sniff... that WAS my personal best a few years back buuuut I've got four or five quite a bit bigger than that since... sniff. She's still a beauty though don't you think?"

 

[Norske]

I'm not mounting a ND walleye unless it weighs 10#, no pike under 20#. Taxidermy is too expensive to spend on small fish. 6#? Release it quickly, it's still a fertile egg layer. I'm not eating any walleye over 3 or 4#.

 

[Captain Ahab]

I'm not mounting a ND walleye unless it weighs 10#, no pike under 20#. Taxidermy is too expensive to spend on small fish. 6#? Release it quickly, it's still a fertile egg layer. I'm not eating any walleye over 3 or 4#.

A legitimately weighed walleye over 10# in ND is no small feat. I have a pile in the 9-9.5lb range. Only 3 over 10# on a IGFA certified scale here in ND. A legit 20lb+ pike is tough as well. I have weighed a handful that say it's a 20lber only to show 16-18lbs. The pike guys do better, but my best incidental is 19lbs and I almost mounted that one because it had the head of a 25. I would mount the first 9+ pound eye and the first 18+ pound pike here in ND. I did the eye, I should have done the pike.

 

[JayKay]

A legitimately weighed walleye over 10# in ND is no small feat. I have a pile in the 9-9.5lb range. Only 3 over 10# on a IGFA certified scale here in ND. A legit 20lb+ pike is tough as well. I have weighed a handful that say it's a 20lber only to show 16-18lbs. The pike guys do better, but my best incidental is 19lbs and I almost mounted that one because it had the head of a 25. I would mount the first 9+ pound eye and the first 18+ pound pike here in ND. I did the eye, I should have done the pike.

I defer to a guy (above) who really does know a lot about bigly fish.

I tossed back a fat 42.5" pike last June, and I shoulda maybe had 'er put on the wall.

 

[Captain Ahab]

I'm not mounting a ND walleye unless it weighs 10#, no pike under 20#. Taxidermy is too expensive to spend on small fish. 6#? Release it quickly, it's still a fertile egg layer. I'm not eating any walleye over 3 or 4#.

BTW, who has ever said in their death notes that they should have put less fish on the wall?

 

[BBQBluesMan]

I have a 25# pike and a 9.5# eye on the wall, I enjoy looking at them while drinking a cocktail and recalling the fine memories they bring back. It's going to take 12+ walleye or a 30+ pound pike for me to mount another one again. What I really want is a hog sauger on the wall. Lake Sak is about my only hope for that haha. state record is 8 pounds 12 oz. I really would love to see a picture of that tank.

This one is nice I guess... ;:;bowdown

 

[guywhofishes]

BTW, who has ever said in their death notes that they should have put less fish on the wall?

the guy who came home one night from yet another weekend of drunken debauchery... only to find them soldering in a burn pile on his front lawn along with the rest of his sporting goods

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or so I heard :;:smokin