As a primarily trout fisherman, my 18 pound Canadian Northern Pike looked huge to me and I wanted to mount it.


I talked to my taxidermist before I went on the trip, and he told me to scribe the outline of the fish on some butcher paper, measure its length and girth, and to take several pictures of it. I was also confident enough to skin the fish in camp (cutting along the lateral line of the back side), then freeze the head and skin in a zip lock bag.


I was then able to eat the fish too.


My taxidermist's work with fake fish is also good enough that several years ago he did a fake mount of a 20 some pound trout for a client in Europe. When he sent the mount to the client, the USFWS officers intercepted the shipment claiming that the proper export documents weren't with the mount. Those officers would not believe that the mount was fake, with absolutely no actual fish parts.


Most saltwater fish and greasy freshwater fish like Paddlefish are best done as replicas as the grease will eventually bleed out of the natural skin.