10 pounder?

Went up for day yesterday targeting pike in Cove bay. Got everything set up and Ifish pro popped 12 minutes in. Wasn’t expecting this! 29”x16.5 girth. Math came to over 10 pounds! The head on her was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Sorry for snow on her but was super cold and wanted to get her back ASAP. Only bite of day….

Awesome fish!! She looks close to 10 if not, one thing for sure is she will be 10+ in March. Nice work letting her go!

Great fish congrats!!! Thanks for putting her back

Look at that head!

Nice catch

Heckuva fish

Congrats on the trophy fish! Kinda makes it all worth it for only catching one.

Thanks everyone, still kinda shocked it came from Mille Lacs and was so fat and healthy looking! Does anyone know if length, girth, and pictures suffice for a replica?

Craig Sery wrote:

Thanks everyone, still kinda shocked it came from Mille Lacs and was so fat and healthy looking! Does anyone know if length, girth, and pictures suffice for a replica?

Yes, that is all i gave FiberTech Productions and i was very happy with the results of my crappie.

Craig Sery wrote:

Thanks everyone, still kinda shocked it came from Mille Lacs and was so fat and healthy looking! Does anyone know if length, girth, and pictures suffice for a replica?

Very nice walleye!! And yes, there are still quite a few big one’s left out there.

That would also make a beautiful replica. A good taxidermist will add some nice color too since a photo on a cloudy day doesn’t bring out how colorful it may have been.

Post a pic if you do end up getting reproduction.

Update…Looked around at a few different places and they all did nice work, however I felt most comfortable with Jeff Holmin of North Star taxidermy in Nicollet. Down to earth guy and he helped me pick out everything. Plus his fish and everything else is hands down better work! Little more money but quality is top notch! Will get in back in 4 months at latest so will post pics.

Congrats! That’s a great fish. Looking forward to seeing the replica.

Nice fish and thank you for putting her back. If you ask me that one fish easily made up for not catching anything else that day. Nice thing about replicas is they are less work to keep looking nice. I look forward in seeing the replica. Congratulations

Where are you located Craig I use a great taxidermist near Altura Minnesota Al bartz Scenic taxidermy he has done one walleye and one Northern replica for me my 45 inch Northern was done in less than 2 months. Don’t get sticker shock as typically replicas are near double from a skin mount

Scratcher, I live in Bloomington. No kidding at the sticker shock!!! But, it’s a piece of art and something that will last forever

8.5#.
Nice fish.

Yup I caught a 29”x16” in March pike fishing a few years back and that weighed exactly 10lbs.

Just look at those cheeks! Ha!

I got my replica back today. I think paint on body is fantastic and overall I’m happy with it, wasn’t happy with size and shape of head and coloring on cheeks, but I’m guessing that’s to be expected from a replica. Feel free to share comments! Thanks

Who did your replica Craig

Jeff Holmin out of Nicollet

Beautiful mount Craig. As I mentioned earlier, pics on a cloudy day just don’t do enough justice to bring out the gold colors.

Regarding head size and shape, when doing a replica…they are limited to using the molds they have on hand for the given lengths.

Therefore it’s almost impossible to replicate the exact proportions of each fish. I think the cheek coloration is better than many other’s I’ve seen as is the entire body of work.

Your taxidermist did outstanding work.

And again, congrats on your trophy catch.

Looks awesome!

I agree with Andy, for some reason the walleye and crappie replicas I’ve seen don’t always turn out very realistically painted. This one is much better than many I have seen.

Thanks everyone! I looked around at a few places and were all pretty similar in price. His fish looked amazing. If anyone has a fish to get done, check out North Star Taxidermy. His crappies are amazing

Craig Sery wrote:

Thanks everyone! I looked around at a few places and were all pretty similar in price. His fish looked amazing. If anyone has a fish to get done, check out North Star Taxidermy. His crappies are amazing

Great looking mount! Good to know on North Star. I pass him twice a day on my my to and from work.

Joe, stop in there sometime and see his work. Super nice guy and is an avid hunter and fisherman. He does all the mounts for Traxlers

It looks a little different, Your snow covered picture does not help get a good view of the side of the fish, but I do see the fish had more gold spots vs gold lines on the replica. Personally I never liked the looks of replicas, 2 different fish always look the same, nature of the beast I guess.

It may not look exactly like the fish you caught but that’s a great looking mount! Love the gold!

Craig Sery wrote:

Joe, stop in there sometime and see his work. Super nice guy and is an avid hunter and fisherman. He does all the mounts for Traxlers

I definitely will. Funny you mention Traxlers…. I managed the pharmacy in Le Center for 5 years about 12 years ago… Man, life is flying by.

Did you grow up in LeCenter Joe? I was raised in Montgomery so May know some of the same people