Your pappy was right, as I see it! It never hurts to ask. Oh, and bass or carp, thats one slob fish! Not too many noteworthy taxidermists do too much free work, records or not, for the reason I described above. Nobody ever remembers who did the free work, so its just not worth it. Usually its just someone trying to make a name for themselves, which is fine, but often the completed work reflects that. I knew a guy who shot a beautiful turkey, one of those frosted "smoke" phases, it was truly a trophy. Well, you know the rest, he shopped it all over. He actually got mad at me for not "jumping at the chance" to do it for nothing. I just didnt see how it would benefit me to the tune of...free. I heard the turkey ended up spoiling. Why does that kind of guy get that kind of trophy? He had no respect for that animal, just wanted his glory and discount. Id rather a guy like you, who would realize the trophy value, or some of my good customers whod pay well to make sure it got done, wouldve shot it. Instead it was completely wasted. Well, taxidermy means different things to different people, Ive learned that for sure. Also, theres enough work to go around!