Fish Mounts and Replicas

Mounting fish is said to be the most difficult branch of taxidermy. Creating fish mounts can be a real challenge for a number of reasons. Unlike other game mounts, the ability to draw, paint, mix colors, and sculpt are essential skills when practicing fish taxidery.

Some species of warm water freshwater fish, like bass, crappie or sunfish can be mounted using a skin mount. In this process, the fish is skinned and its skin is mounted over a foam or plastic mannequin. Alternatively, the fish's body cavity may be filled with a material that hardens into the correct shape.

Some types of cold water fish are mounted over a synthetic mannequin. These types of fish are harder to mount because of their thin skins. Artificial heads are commonly utilized when mounting these types of fish.

Most saltwater fish and some species of freshwater fish are depicted using only man-made materials. These synthetic mounts superior to other taxidermy options in many aspects.

Synthetic fish mounts are the best option many applications. During the replica process, an exact mold of the fish is made while the fish is fresh. Next, the body and fins of the fish are cast in fiberglass reinforced polyester resin. The mold of the fish is called a fiberglass "blank" at this point, as it has no markings or coloration.

Due to the costs of making fiberglass replica mounts, it is not practical to make a unique mold for every catch. Taxidermy suppliers now offer molds of gamefish in nearly every size. These fiberglass fish blanks are purchased by taxidermists who make final changes to the work and then add coloration using paint or other compounds.