I agree with Muddy and Fish Chris.  You both made some awesome points.  For me it just boils down to everytime I look at that fish in my wall, I will know I killed it to look at it, and that it's body was wasted, when I could have gotten a replica.  I think there's nothing wrong with keeping fish.  I do it myself.  But I just cant keep a fish if it's just for show.  There was no better feeling in the world to me than when I was sitting there reviving my PB, and she just slowly slid out of my hands and swam away.  There was not one ounce of me that regrets letting that fish go, even though the people around me wanted it mounted and even offered to pay for it.

Rumor has it, some guy down in Georgia ate the World Record Largemouth Bass.

David Hayes has his skin mount of the World Record Smallmouth. That's what I call a wise decision.

Otherwise, replicas are the better choice.

To each his own..

or everyone is entitled to there own belief's..

I personally would never kill a big fish just to stick it on a wall. Big fish breed big fish.

that is my belief

When you said > Big fish breed big fish < you are correct. And this used to be my primary stance for the promotion of the C/R of trophy bass. However, over the years I have come to believe that "that one particular trophy bass that an angler has just caught" has MUCH more value.

The fact is, a bass with "all the right genes" could be lucky enough to grow to 15 lbs, and produce litterally "hundreds of thousands of eggs" throughout it's life time, and yet it's still entirely possible that not "one single one of those hundreds of thousands of eggs, will ever become a 15 lb bass" ! It is equally possible that a 5 lb bass "has all the right genes to get to be 15 lbs" it just hasn't gotten there yet. Say it has only had 3 spawns of 50k eggs total, in it's life. But just by luck of the draw, 3 of its 50k eggs go on to become 15 lb'ers....... while she, herself, was killed the following year at only 6 lbs.

My point in mentioning all these possibilities, is simply to point out that anything can happen with bass spawns.

But with that "one particular giant" that an angler is holding in his hands, it has "already beat absolutely incredible odds to get as big as it has" and at this point, the only thing affecting those odds from that point forward, is the angler holding it.

If I let a 15 lb'er go, you won't have to wait 13 years to see IF it produced any 15 lb offspring". Instead, you can go catch that exact same 15 lb'er next week ! :-)

Peace,

Fish

Hey RW, can you imagine how that thing must have tasted ? ;-)

This is an interseting twist on what could be "the same old argument".

I can tell fish Chris probably represents alot of the Cali WR hunters who mark fish and catch them year after year and note their progress.

I suppose in the small deep trophy waters like Dixon etc this can be done frequently.

But I gotta tell ya Chris, I thought there was something obscene about Weakley parking himself on the bed of the marked female.

Why not just paint a bullseye on her butt?

I understand your position and know that your intent is to share knowledge not pass judgement.  Totally cool.

some people fish for meat,

some for competition

some for pleasure

some for records.

Just so you do it legal and excercise common courtesy to fellow anglers, than it's ok by me.

i agree with Fish Chris 100%. I could not kill a big fish and it has never crossed my mind. And will not do it

PASS THE TARTAR SAUCE

If I decided to have a fish mounted, it would definitely be a "Skin Mount".

I would sooner go without any mount at all, than hang a replica of someone else's fish on my wall.

I once looked into the fiberglass replicas (money in hand) and was not able to find one decent fish pose.

Most of them had a backward reflex (banana bend), an overextended mouth or a bad tail flip.

With a skin mount, you leave the taxidermist photographs or diagrams of exactly what you want.

With a replica, in addition to settling for someone else's fish pose, it would take a miracle

to find the mold of someone's else's fish that had the same length, girth and shape as your fish.

Bottomline, I personally prefer the look of a skin mount, which in my opinion, cannot be beat (how could fake be better than real?).

Today's skin mounts use the same inserted jaws and pliable acrylic fins used in fiberglass mounts and last just as long.

Roger

I have an old skin mount of an 8-9, from way back in the day (16 years ago) right here above my PC. I've actually went though several stages with this mount.

For the first few years I was like, "Wow ! What a huge bass" ! ....and I was really proud of it. Later, as I learned more about the importance of C/R of trophy bass, I kind of became a little bit ashamed of it, and I beat myself up a little for killing it, often wondering how big it might have gotten, if it were not for my dum-bass ? Finally, as of the last few years, I have gotten to where I look at it and think, "Wow ! It's sure amazing how things have changed ! For one, I have learned so many things about big bass, that I had no clue about back then. And for another, "I actually thought that little ol' 8-9 was a REALLY big bass" ! Doh ! ;-)

But hey, live and learn right ?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So anyway Rolo, when you said.....

> I once looked into the fiberglass replicas (money in hand) and was not able to find one decent fish pose.

Most of them had a backward reflex (banana bend), an overextended mouth or a bad tail flip.

With a skin mount, you leave the taxidermist photographs or diagrams of exactly what you want.

With a replica, in addition to settling for someone else's fish pose, it would take a miracle

to find the mold of someone's else's fish that had the same length, girth and shape as your fish. <

Yes, the things you mentioned are so often true, which is why I was so excited when I recieved the replica of my 18.4..... I chose the close mouth pose, as it was so natural, and relaxed... and, because it looked so different from most other mounts.

Plus, when Robert Munoz saw the photos of my fish (I also told him the length and girth) he immediately said, "YES ! I have some replicas which came from Casitas fish which are spot on in size and shape"! Then I saw finished examples, and I totally agreed !

Anyway, the bottom line is (and I just wish you could see it in person) the only Largenouth Bass mounts I have ever seen in my life, which I thought were more impressive than my own, were those of 20 plus lb fish. The work on those might not have even been quite as good as mine..... But yes, size does matter :-)

Peace,

Fish

Chris I'm sincerely glad that you found what you were looking for

Although I wasn't as fortunate as you, I know of course that it's possible.

Mine was only 12, but I don't even have a picture of her (that hurts most of all).

I didn't mention it, but the hardest part of getting a skin mount (beside killing the fish)

is finding a taxidermist who possesses old-school taxidermy skills. They're going the way of the dinosaur.

Once a taxidermist gains a following in prototype reproductions, he quickly becomes reluctant

to engage in the thankless lost-art required in a skin mount.

By the way Chris, that is one gorgeous mount!

If I may offer a suggestion, mount her a little further from the ceiling (given the room), more in the viewer's line-of-view.

I recently lowered a pike mount that I hung too high and she gained a few pounds (I love when that happens)

Roger

One of my favorite topics about bass fishing..Everyone has been right on this post..It is your right to take the fish out of the lake and eat it, beat it, stuff it, or whatever you would like to do..I have caught several bass over 10lbs...My biggest was 12.4 oz I caught the week my son was born in Aug of 2005..I had no doubts once I caught her she was going back in the water after a picture..I could care less about a mount, because I dont fish for this..If it would have been my dad that had caught or my grandfather they would have ate it..It does not make either one of us wrong or right..

My only argument for those who keep the big fish is this..If you keep, then 15 others keep, then the next year 15 others keep, if you continue on that trend it will be harder to catch that fish of a lifetime..When you are sitting around talking to your buddies about your favorite pond or lake and ask why there are not more big fish caught think about that day you took that fish home..When you take all the big fish out, there are no more to be caught..shall I say more

I always c&r...I dont care as much about someone catching it when its bigger as I care about just letting the fish die. I like bass too much to do that to them. And that picture of the mount above does not look real at all. I didnt read the post but I just thought that the face looks fake.

My only argument for those who keep the big fish is this..If you keep, then 15 others keep, then the next year 15 others keep, if you continue on that trend it will be harder to catch that fish of a lifetime..When you are sitting around talking to your buddies about your favorite pond or lake and ask why there are not more big fish caught think about that day you took that fish home..When you take all the big fish out, there are no more to be caught..shall I say more

It seems to me from the anglers that I know personally and the ones on this site there is usually little danger of that.  Rarely do I meet a serious fisherman that is not also concerned about conservation.  From trophy hunters, anglers who eat their fish, to C&R fishermen it seems the majority care if only so that they can catch fish long into the future.

Today's skin mounts use the same inserted jaws and pliable acrylic fins used in fiberglass mounts and last just as long.

Roger

As a former taxidermist of 10 yrs, we don't use jaw inserts on LMB.  The fins are only artificial if originals were too damaged to repair, but REAL replacement fins can usually be used from other non-mounted fish.  Artificial fins look too fake, I never used them.  

Just an idea for those who don't want to mount a real fish and don't want a replica.  Look into buying a digital picture frame so you can hang it on the wall and display all your catches

Just an idea for those who don't want to mount a real fish and don't want a replica. Look into buying a digital picture frame so you can hang it on the wall and display all your catches

Great idea

It seems to me from the anglers that I know personally and the ones on this site there is usually little danger of that. Rarely do I meet a serious fisherman that is not also concerned about conservation. From trophy hunters, anglers who eat their fish, to C&R fishermen it seems the majority care if only so that they can catch fish long into the future

from ohh face

Ohh face you dont know every fisherman..You know the people in your circle..I live on a private lake and would like to think I know everyone that fishes this lake but i dont..I have to work so there is no telling how many people get into the lake I fish and take whatever gets on there line home..If you would like to be naive about this then it is your right..I guaranteed you out of our private lake that a minimium of 50 over 6lbs was pulled out and a minimium of 5 over 10 was removed..Think about public lakes now..This is my point//You must not have very many govt sponsored fisherman in your area like georgia..