Coastline Treasures

The most difficult area of taxidermy is mounting fish.  As fish dry, the scales turn brown leaving little color.  The taxidermist not only has to recreate the anatomy of the fish but to also color all over the fish.  Fish taxidermists are artists with skill in drawing, painting, coloring, and sculpting.  Not all these skills are necessary for other types of taxidermists.

Depending on whether your fish lives in warm water, cold water or salt water will determine how it is mounted.  Warm water fish that have tough skins and large scales are able to be skin mounted; the fish is skinned preserving the skin and mounted over a manikin or the fish’s body filled with material that hardens to form its shape.  Cold water fish have thin, smooth skin with fine scales making mounting more difficult; they are usually mounted over manikins.  Most salt water fish are entirely recreated with synthetic materials; cast in a mold and recreated in coloration to appear like a real fish.  Fiberglass reproductions can last for years.  No matter what method you use to display your catch, your fishing décor will certainly make a statement and be the center of conversation.