Taxidermy at home....anyone? My first attempt.

[Freshtrax]

I've always wanted to try... So read a few books, Trolled a few forums and tonight I stuffed my first fish......anyone else give it a try?

 

 

Just a cookie cutter eater salmon..... Took me a few tries to flesh one out good enough for stuffing.

 

Degreased in naptha for a few days then in a borax water solution for 24 hours

 

Not mounted stuffed with sawdust ....next one I may attempt a mount.

 

Now I have to wait for it to dry for a month or two and paint it. I can paint a car how hard can a fish be?

 

 

Don't mind the messy work bench.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2015 by Freshtrax

[irishfield]

Harder than the car... why I gave up the thought of doing taxidermy about 30 years ago.

[leaf4]

Very monotonous process from what I've been told, though my girlfriends uncle has a couple he did himself 20+ years ago they are starting to get pinholes in them from either age or small bugs, not bad for a first try though!

[Freshtrax]

Harder than the car... why I gave up the thought of doing taxidermy about 30 years ago.

 

For sure!

 

I'm not one to sit on the couch and watch tv in the evenings I like to go to the workshop and tinker. No plans of making a living at this just want to see if I can do it.

[Joeytier]

That's impressive. That's quite the hobby to take on yourself.

[DRIFTER_016]

I'll stick to building rods, floats and tying flies.

Not as messy!!!!

[spincast]

cool. I look forward to seeing the end product.

[mr blizzard]

Tried painting a rainbow trout years ago, after some else stuffed it for me, sure wont show the pic lol

 

Hats off to you , you have done a great job so far, show us the results when its done

[Walleye72]

That's pretty good for your first try.

 

Interesting, I didn't know that mounted fish are painted after the fact. You learn something every day they say. LOL

[grimsbylander]

I did a lot of taxidermy many years ago. I even competed in the States but I stuck to mammals as my speciality. That's what you'll find quite often, some guys are great at birds, and others fish. They are completely different in approach and require a huge element of natural art. As far as fish go, it's all in the paint. A mediocre mount looks fantastic from 6 feet away if the paint is good. But bad paint is always a bad looking fish. The good news is, you can use your first mount as a practice fish. Paint that thing 10 times if you want. When you get good at colours, technique and blending, more on to other fish. The tough thing about fish as well is, there're all different! You can get super good at rainbow trout and then paint a bass that is not the right shade of green, etc.

it's a good hobby for fun if you have the time and aren't working on someone's trophy. Good start.

[Spiel]

I've always wanted to do it, even skinned a few and prepped the skins way back in the day.

Never got any further than that, cool hobby though. Just no time for me to try again.

I always figured I didn't have the make or break painting skills.

 

 

FYI, that's a Rainbow.

[Freshtrax]

Weird, it had a grey mouth bigger teeth and larger spots on the back than most rainbows I've seen. I do find the younger ones hard to distinguish sometimes. Here it is when it was caught

Edited August 18, 2015 by Freshtrax

[Spiel]

Rainbow.

[jimmer]

Picking a great lakes salmon for your first mount was a gutsy call. You should start with a walleye or bass. Where are you located? I have some high quality taxidermy magazines laying around that I would like to get rid of (free). I would even give you some pointers if you would like. I used to teach it at a local college and did it for over 25 years. I spend most of my free time fishing now.

[misfish]

Rainbow.

 

 

YUP

 

I did a perch once. Just used a spoon. Formed the body from blue foam. Never painted it, just tried it.

[Freshtrax]

What makes it hard for me to tell is in no descriptions anywhere I can find does it say rainbows have a grey black mouth. ... If I count the anal fins defiantly comes back rainbow.

[Freshtrax]

I'm in Kitchener but pass near Lindsay a few times a year as my family is in little Brittan/oak wood/sea grave areas. I know warm water fish are easier but I have an ample supply of cold water fish I am going walleye fishing on the weekend tho!

[Toronto_Angler]

I'll stick to building rods, floats and tying flies.

Not as messy!!!!

Says the guy building an awesome cabin by himself lol

[grimsbylander]

Picking a great lakes salmon for your first mount was a gutsy call. You should start with a walleye or bass. Where are you located? I have some high quality taxidermy magazines laying around that I would like to get rid of (free). I would even give you some pointers if you would like. I used to teach it at a local college and did it for over 25 years. I spend most of my free time fishing now.

You take him up on his offer to help. It'll save you a ton of mistakes and money.

[blaque]

I tried this once on a steelhead in my teens. I dont have any pics of the outcome..........but like someone said above, i wouldnt show them even if i did. It wasnt pretty lol