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Posted

I'm sure many of you remember my thread many months ago regarding a very large white crappie I had caught. It was a few inches longer than the current record holder but was quite a bit lighter. This fish was 2.15 lbs and over 17" long. Went and picked up my replica today from Advanced Wildlife Design ( http://www.advancetaxidermy.com/ ) and it was even better than I imagined. Here's a few pics of the finished product. the pictures don't do it justice. I highly recommend Advanced. Great customer service and their products speak for themselves.

 

FinishedCrappieReplica010.jpg

 

FinishedCrappieReplica004.jpg

 

FinishedCrappieReplica006.jpg

 

FinishedCrappieReplica.jpg

Posted (edited)

That's a pretty crappie.... replica.

 

With the open mouth you could have him chasing down a fair sized perch too.

 

Didn't look that big till I seen you holding it.

 

Very nice! :clapping:

Edited by muskybugged
Posted (edited)

that is a nice fish, a good size by the looks of it in anyone's book specially for a white crappie.

 

I am not trying to be one of those guys that always dumps on everyone's posts :blahblah1::lol:

 

Just wondering something....do you have a pic of the original fish to compare it with????, I am only asking because to me...the replica does not very well replicate the true colour patterns of a white crappie, or even a black crappy for that matter.....it's not detailed enough with all the little dots of dark and lighter colours on the scale patterns ect....don't take this the wrong way..that is a great fish you caught, and a great choice you made to let the fish go and get a replica mount made. I just personaly think the detail and thought wasn't put into the finished product, I realize when you noted that the pic does it no justice..but I have seen some mounts by small independant taxidermists that put 1000 times more effort into the details of the fish.

 

again, I am not trying to stir the pot...just an observation, that's why I asked if you had a pic of the original to compare it to :):Gonefishing:

Edited by jwl
Posted
that is a nice fish, a good size by the looks of it in anyone's book specially for a white crappie.

 

I am not trying to be one of those guys that always dumps on everyone's posts :blahblah1::lol:

 

Just wondering something....do you have a pic of the original fish to compare it with????, I am only asking because to me...the replica does not very well replicate the true colour patterns of a white crappie, or even a black crappy for that matter.....it's not detailed enough with all the little dots of dark and lighter colours on the scale patterns ect....don't take this the wrong way..that is a great fish you caught, and a great choice you made to let the fish go and get a replica mount made. I just personaly think the detail and thought wasn't put into the finished product, I realize when you noted that the pic does it no justice..but I have seen some mounts by small independant taxidermists that put 1000 times more effort into the details of the fish.

 

again, I am not trying to stir the pot...just an observation, that's why I asked if you had a pic of the original to compare it to :):Gonefishing:

 

 

You can find (or someone can link) to my original post. One thing to note (which I was told) is that crappie, both white and black, lose their coloration much faster than most other species of fish because their skin is paper thin. If you look at my original fish pictures, especially the ones on the cutting board, you can see that the colours of the fish are almost completely drained out. I took a few pics after the catch that I didn't post on OFC. I handed Advanced a CD of pics and .txt files of specs and later even emailed them a lengthy email describing the coloration of the fish when caught (not as shown in MOST of my pics). Got there today and was shown my printed off email with parts highlighted. I remember being very concerned initially that the coloration would be drastically different because I knew how the fish looked when caught but how my pics showed the colours (for the most part) were a tad different do to "drainage". I can't tell you enough how bang on they got the fish. Say what you want (to naysayers in general) but they got the coloration spot on. When I was saying the pics didn't do it justice, I was actually referring to the flash on the camera. I had to take many, many pics with the flash on and off to get them to appear as the naked eye sees it. Camera issue not the fish. I'm looking at it right now, and it is absolutely fantastic IMO. The flash of my camera makes it look really bright and no flash makes it look dark :) I know some ppl have a hard time with the "it's not actually the fish" thing. And I do understand that. But having a replica means you can A) Release the fish or B) (in my case) Eat the fish!

 

I also know that it won't crack like some (not all) mounts do 15+ years later. No doubt about it, I've seen some killer taxidermy work but the reality is that there are a lot of "iffy" looking pieces out there as well. To each their own. But again, I highly recommend Advanced. Stop in and check them out.

Posted

right on that's cool then, if you feel they captured your fish better than you had expected, Thanks for sharing your take on that, I wondered what your point of view was on it when you got it back...it is a great replica no doubt and you must have been proud of that trophy when you CPRed it for sure.

 

I was wondering how the mount compared to "the real deal" to you from your pics.

 

Thanks a bunch , I have also seen alot of work ranging from the most detailed scale by scale painting of the finished product you could see...actually one of the coolest mounts I ever saw was a stringer full of black crappies winding down a tree branch..there was 6 or 7 fish on it, the detail was amazing..all the colours, every little dot, reflection of colour ect captured in the work...fish like that are probably some of the hardest to do of all because of all the colourations.....then other the other end of the scale I have also seen some mounts of fish like salmon that just look like someone spray painted the whole thing silver and added some black dots on it.

 

You must be super happy that you finally got your mount after a long wait :Gonefishing:

Posted
That looks awesome!

 

I like how it's mounted on the driftwood also.

 

 

That's an option. The moss on the driftwood was a nice touch that was unexpected.

Guest skeeter99
Posted
I'm sure many of you remember my thread many months ago regarding a very large white crappie I had caught. It was a few inches longer than the current record holder but was quite a bit lighter. This fish was 2.15 lbs and over 17" long. Went and picked up my replica today from Advanced Wildlife Design ( http://www.advancetaxidermy.com/ ) and it was even better than I imagined. Here's a few pics of the finished product. the pictures don't do it justice. I highly recommend Advanced. Great customer service and their products speak for themselves.

 

FinishedCrappieReplica010.jpg

 

FinishedCrappieReplica004.jpg

 

FinishedCrappieReplica006.jpg

 

FinishedCrappieReplica.jpg

 

looks good except the eyes does not look like a natural crappie, but very nicely done

Posted

Well, I'm not a trophy fisherman and I probably never will put a stuffed or replica fish up on my wall but I do have to say that really is beautiful! Well done!

Posted

Yes, that's a beautiful mount and will look great on the wall.

 

I've also got a couple mounts on driftwood and it sure makes everything look better and much more natural than laying on a flat board..

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