since were talking trout....

[mauser06]

since we got a couple trout threads i thought id share my wild brown trout mount...i have it posted on the taxidermy forum but i know alot of you guys dont check that forum.....ill post the pics here....ill leave the story with the original post....isnt a monster...13 inches but he died before i could do anything for him...and wild trout are kinda special here in PA..there out there but you gota know how and where to find them...and they are absolutley beautiful....heres a few pics for you guys...

here he is on the wall...hes not staying there...i gota drill the concrete to put him where i want him..that nail was already there so i put it there to see how he looked....

a few close ups....its hard to take a good fish mount pic because of the glare...and the lighting in my room is TERRIBLE..these are the better pics out of 40 or so that i took...the taxidermist did an excellent job IMO..the halos and bursts around all the dots are there...gota see it in real life under good light...i didnt notice till i got home....im VERY happy with his work.....the brown dots have black inside them and the red dots have a blueish silverish halo just how they should..he did excellent work with some of the worst refrence pics ever...





hope you guys like the pics...just thought id share them since theres some trout pics and such going around...before this taxidermist i would NEVER gotten a fish mounted...they always look too FAKE....guys cant paint and put the time in and do things right.....but this guy is an artist...paints turkey feathers and such...and that turned into taxidermy....hes working on becoming a master taxidermist....

[pa_yote_hunter]

that is awesome!!!! I have wanted to get a fish mount! Cost alot of money though to do it though....maybe one day

[Rebel Hog]

Real nice M06!

[HighDesertWolf]

thats a beautiful mount, makes me wish I would have mounted my one only brown trout I caught in southern, Missouri. Instead I ate it, they have a real fine orange/pinkish meat taste almost like salmon only a bit finer. Mine was 22 inches and weighed 5 lbs 9 oz. I did keep pictures, that i need to find with the demensions of the fish on the back of one of the pics I figured i would eventually get a replica mount from the bass pro.

[mauser06]

thanx guys....the more i look at it the more the paint job impresses me and the more i like it...i think ill be getting a native brookie done in the fall.....they dont get so large...so im hunting an 8-12 incher in full blown breeding colors....and i got a REALLY great idea for a mount already....im going to start working on the base for it this summer just to have it ready...ill build the lamp and base and have the taxidermist do the fish and add a rock and some drift wood....it will cost a little more but man will it look awesome..the base will bea big slab of oak with good coloration...before it gets whacked into fire wood! lol....that will be an awesome mount...just looking at the wild brown mount now and seeing it i just want another lol......the taxidermist charged me barely ANYTHING...i meet him on another forum and he gave me a deal...but he knows ill be back....and i try to send people his way...ive never seen ANYONE mount a fish or turkey that i WANTED or would LET them do one for me till i seen this guys work...his selling point is attention to detail and doing things correctly...and his paint jobs are absolutely awesome..i wish i could capture the details on the fish mount...but its impossible...i sit down with it under a good light and notice more and more...cant wait for the next one!

[Phil from Maine]

Nice looking mount! I had a brook trout mounted and posted on
taxidermy forum earlier of a nineteen incher but the camera I used didn't do it any justice. We do not have any browns in this area as the warden service has a lot of difficulty telling them from our salmon here.

Anyways it is a great looking mount.

[mauser06]

thanx phil..are your brook trout stocked up there or all 100% native or a mix?? im guessing youd have ALOT of natives up there...here in PA we have ALOT of stocked trout...its "put and take" they put them in...guys take em and eat em...but from articles i read we used to have GOOD Native Brook trout fishing....alot of what we would call HUGE fish now...20+range..yearssssss and years ago...then came along the fish commission...they did a GOOD thing by adding creel limits and size limits...but soon started STOCKING trout into Native Brookie streams...which slowly whipped out ALOT of the Natives...plus the pollution levels here are WAY WAY higher then Maine....so im guessing yours are Natives...but i could be wrong...there is still a good bit of Native Brook trout fishing here...but im in the worst place in the state....i gota drive atleast an hour to find any...steel mills.....warmer weather...more people and houses and run off...just no natives or wild trout here....our Wild brown trout and the FEW Wild rainbow trout streams are pretty neat...im not posative how they became such good wild trout fisheries...theres some that fish ALOT better then stocked streams..most are in the areas of stocked streams...so i guess stocked fish swam up the smaller tributaries to the stocked creeks and spawned...the creek i caught the trout that is mounted flows into a stocked stream...some streams USED to be stocked and they stopped...which killed the fishing pressure and thats where some wild trout fishing came from.....my next mount is going to be a Native Brook trout in full blown mating colors...im working with my taxidermist on it....the mount will be a very special and barely ever seen one.....and its all my idea...im waiting for him to reply to the email...im not going to go into details about it because in a year/year and a half when i get it back i want you all to die when you see it lol...should turn out awesome if my idea works....but the only thing is our native brookies dont get too large like they USED to...an 8-12 inch native brookie is a trophy...so im shooting for a 10+incher in full blown fall mating colors to have mounted in the late summer/early fall...we will see....

[Phil from Maine]

Hi, and yes we have a mix here, in southern Maine it is more put and take
fishing. But in the rivers all up and down the state there is sea-run brookies! The color on them are pale but they can put some 5 pounders to shame if you are lucky enough to catch one. In this area most of the brooks and streams are all natives. In the smaller streams most the fish are in the range you are talking about averaging around 8-10 inches. But,
sometimes even they will suprise most any fisherman. I've seen them come right in behind your lure only to turn away. Close to 17-19 inch range and native. But to get one to bite is another thing. There is a mix of lakes and ponds here that are being stocked yearly with brookies and splake. Those do not have water going in or out as a rule so as to keep
the fish there. There is also a 5 fish limit on most of the trout here so this
has dropped the fishing pressure alot. Some streams have only a 1 or 2 fish limit. All this is good but, it has been getting so you would almost
need a lawyer to read the darn law book to go fishing now. Every water
appears to go under a different ruling. But, I guess that is what helps to keep the fishing going good.I'm from a northern area so most the fishing is native trout. One place I tried to go to this spring had a bridge washed out so I never made it there.I have seen brookies in a big stream in there
that would go anywhere from 19-26 inches. They would come up and roll after a fly but, again no takers.Not for me anyways but, when I get a chance I keep trying. That picture on here of my 5 pounder came from a stocked area an the color wasn't as good as it was during ice out. But overall we have excellent fishing and good luck on your future mount.

[mauser06]

thanx for the info phil......sounds like some good fishing up there...natives in the 15+ range...that would be awesome...and 5+lb sea run brookies.....thatll teach you to fight fish im sure....i cant wait a few years till im done with school.....my career SHOULD hopefully take me to much much better fishing....i was thinking up in your direction...west like dakotas...wyoming..colorado maybe arizona..etc....or Alaska....im hopeing to become a national park ranger...in a real wilderness park....Alaska has 16 national parks alone...and one is the size or maine or massachusets or one of them states lol..i forget what they said....but i think that might be my starting point while im young and adventerous....run around alaska for a while till i get too cold...then settle in colorado or somewhere else lol....i want to live my dreams.....but in all honesty so far there is nothing to stop me....grades are good....schools going good..national park service expects MOST of their rangers to retire when ill be interning and applying...so honestly i just may live the life...i can only wish and hope and strive to do what it takes to get me there....i love PA but theres muuuuuch much better fishing and hunting to be had...call me selfish but im not the kinda guy to take a trip and be satisfied.....i want to live there and FISH for fish..and HUNT for game....expirience it all and take it in...we will see what happens....till then my PA trout will hafta do...and the mounts will come with me wherever i go in life to remind me of where i came from......and i will still fish and hunt when i come back here...