Mounting Your Prize Walleye: What are Your Options?
Finally, you caught a live one. This prize walleye didn’t get away! This is great! But how do I preserve this fish for the rest of my life and the thrill I got out of catching this prize walleye?
There are two ways of mounting your prize walleye. One is to do it yourself on a skin mount. Or you can ask a professional to do it for you. This means you will have lifetime proof of your efforts in a beautiful mount that you can show off to your friends and family.
If you plan to do the skin mounting yourself, don’t fret because there are professionals who can teach you how to do the technique correctly. They can teach you the essentials basic steps in mounting prize walleye. Taxidermists are around to help you with this skill. They can demonstrate how to carve foam bodies, cast the interior of the mouth and mount the skin. You will find it a difficult yet satisfying experience.
Going professional means finding a mounter who is a taxidermist with a lot of experience and a great reputation for recreating a unique mount of your prize fish. Looking on the internet will help you in finding just the right person to do the job within your area. The only problem with this is, it is a little more costly than the other options available.
There is another option. You can take a picture of your walleye and take it to a professional who can do a fiberglass imitation in a mount. This you can keep for life. What is great about the replica is that the molds used are made from the real walleye. The color is exact and customized because of the varying colors in walleyes depending on where it was caught. Also, you will be assured of durability and long lasting color.
What are the advantages of opting for fiberglass mounting? Of course with this technique, you will eliminate skin mounting problems like shrinking of the skin, an everlasting odor, parts that fall apart and color that fades because of leaking natural oils from your fish. What’s more? This technique comes out cheaper than traditional skin mounting.
Who knows, maybe the next time you go fishing, you will catch that prize walleye. At least now, you know what to do next, mount it. Once you have it in a mount, every time you look at it, the feeling of pride comes back. Indeed, it is the greatest prize for a fisherman.
Tags: Miscellaneous Fishing, trophy fish, walleye