what size would you mount?

how big would it have to be before you kept it for the wall?i have got a few in the 8 to 9lb range but feel i would need a 12> what do you all think.

A 32″ fish here in MN will go on the wall, not actually. I’ll get the replica. If I was fishing Erie, then it would have to be at least 32, maybe bigger, I would keep it there. Just personal preference though….

mine would have to go 9 pounds……i had a buddy who caught a 10 two nights ago on the desmoines river by boone and he turned her loose w/o so much as a picture….i would have a hard time doing that

30 inches…… that is what I would consider…

a fish in the 30″ or better range is proablly near the end of its life so i believe that would be a good canditate. would i throw back a 29.75″ i don’t think so. but how many walleyes do you want to mount and how much time do you spent fishing them? answering this question will tell you your answer. would you kill more than one to put on the wall? say a 28″ then what happens when you catch a 31″ my thought is be comfortable with the big fish of “your” life time and be realistic. if you have caught several in the 8-9#class you proably will stick the 30″ plus range

to use only weight would let you mount a shorter fish and proably would shorten the life of a true breeder.

I don’t have a desire to mount any fish, although I do enjoy taking pictures of larger fish before releasing them.

Dave Gulczinski

I’ve got a stringer mount in my basement from 8 3/4 to 11 1/4 #s. 5 fish that I wish that I would have let go. It was 20 years ago and I didn’t know better. I’ll never mount another fish, but I’ll hang up a bunch of pictures of them.

Beav

Paff your right length would be a better way.just wanted to get an idea on when they were at the end of there life cycle.I average 10 to15 days a month on pool 4.only take photos and release 99.9 % of all fish.

I prefer replics to the real thing. I figure that way someone else at least has a chance to catch that fish vs. non if it were stuffed. I also don’t have a set size. For me its more if the fish has a story behind it. For example I chose to put a replica of a 28.5 my wife caught when she thought she was snagged on the bottom instead of a 30.75 I caught the same day.

At one time I thought I would certainly put a 30 in. walleye on the wall. Last summer I was with a friend of mine who caught a 30 in walleye, we took a lot of pictures and then released it. He picked out the best picture and had it blown up and put in a frame. It looks great on the wall.

That picture can bring back a lot more memories than a stuffed mount hanging on the wall. Replicas would be a great way to go also. Just my personnal thoughts.

P.S. We forgive ya Beaver

slapping one up on the wall is not a big deal to me. getting some great pics and putting them in a frame now thats whats its all about. with a pic you can put them in a fishing book and look through it from time to time and relive each trip. you can bring the book with you to the hunting shack and have the buds look it over as well, hard to drag the wallmount to the shack . take the time to measure and get some pics them let them beauties go to fight another day.

Hey Beaver, you should take a pic of that mount and post it. I would like to see it. Things have changed a lot in the last 20 years, there were probably way more fish of that size eaten than there was mounted back then. I would just love to get into the sows like that once!

They aren’t much to look at anymore. Busted fins from moving, turning brown and ugly from being in the basement.

I caught all of them up in Vilas County, and would take them right to the taxidermist and he would skin ’em out right away and give us the meat. We’d stuff ’em with Stove Top stuffing, wrap ’em in foil and put ’em on the Weber.

Didn’t know or care about CPR back then, but it wasn’t long until we started putting anything over 20″ back. We had a place on the lake where we were catching those fish, so we felt good about saving them for ourselves. Money in the bank I figured…..and I still feel that way. My dad used to freak out when I’d catch a big walleye and let it go, but the times that he grew up in were way different than these days. I guess when you had to catch fish to survive in the depression, you have a different mindset forever………but that’s a different subject all together.

Beav

That’s too bad. I guess that would be a good reason to just CPR a good fish and have a reproduction made. I’ve been trying to decide what to do with the big one when I do catch him. For me 10 ponds and up is a wallhanger. More and more I am thinking a reproduction would be the way to go.

Bob, when it’s all said and done, I think you’d happier with the repro.

I faced my moment of truth a couple of years ago.. had a real hawg up to the boat… did not even net her… just laid the big floating ruler I used to have for Musky on top of her and she was 33 1/2…… my boat has no live well… I was fishing alone and like usual with no camera (hard to take pix by yourself anyway!)… so all I have is the memory… which is something I will NEVER forget… seeing that monster laying along side of my boat… it was a good feeling to just let my line go slack, she shook her head, the heavy jig fell out and she swam back down….. Ive never regreted it…. I used to have fish mounting standards… but Ive met them in almost every catagory and still have none on the wall….. for some reason once I achieve that fish I have too much respect for them to “kill” them…. and I guess if I ever decide I need “something” I can always order a replica… but so far…. no dead fish on the wall and no replicas….. but the memories are priceless…..

Picture say a thousand words . I have no mounts and don’t think I ever would . ever is a long tome !! lol

ec

caught two fish, two years ago that would not live. I tried to CPR them but they would roll over, I worked on both of them until they died in the Columbia River. I was very sad / mad. the first was 33″ and the second was 35 1/2″. My brother in Iowa told me if I ever caught one bigger than 33″ he would mount it. I called and he lived up to his end. it is a great mount!

My fishing partner ( from WI) and I have released many fish over 10 lbs. Last year was the boat’s record at 16 lb 10 oz, and she was released.

dan

Out in Oregon Land where the walleyes grow bigger and we release them!

Two years ago I mounted a 32incher out of Gull lake. She is a pretty fish on the wall. I believe it depends on who mounts it. The person I choose use exposy glue on the fins so they stay flexible. Although a picture serves the purpose too!

Either way

I’d mount anything!! I live alone!!

No seriously I think that it is a personal thing I have a couple of mounts…And they are not the biggest I’ve ever caught.. One died that I caught in June just could not get her to swim away…They other was a big fish of The casnio Tourney and by the time the pictures were taken and she was weighed she was going on the wall or in someone’s stomach..so I choose the wall…They are both hanging in my garage….

Hey Turf,

was not able to open your attachment, was it a pic of your fish? Send it to EFN Webstaf so they can post it here. I will be fishing Gull the third week in june, got any tips for fishing Gull? Please send me any Gull info in a private message. Thanks!

Mounting fish is a topic that is somewhat controversial to many anglers, and there are several things that need to be considered when discussing the issue. First and foremost, I believe a “mounting” caliber fish is determined by the angler who catches it regardless of whether it’s a 4 inch sunfish or a 50 inch musky. For those of you who strictly practice CPR, I tip my hat to you; however, I never discourage fishermen from deciding to mount a trophy. I do think the replica is a reasonable compromise, but they are significantly more expensive. I believe most sportsmen will release the majority of the spawning females anyway. Keeping a few trophy fish over the course of a lifetime is hardly a detriment to the walleye population. The fact is, the average fisherman is not going to catch a whole lotta walleyes over 8 pounds. I say if you want it mounted, do it.

There are extreme cases that I disagree with also. A brother of mine is terrible about keeping and mounting what most people would consider average to above average fish. If I had to guess, I would say he has 15 largemouth bass mounted ranging from 5-7 pounds and 6 walleyes from 6-8 pounds mounted on his wall (not to mention about ten 12-14 inch whitetail bucks—–but that’s another forum in itself). This my friends is ridiculous. Although I disagree with my brother- I mean how many of these fish do you need mounted, these mounts represent nearly 25 years of fishing. Somewhat of a problem for the local fish population, but not enough to wipe them out. Only really an average of less than one fish per year.

I know some other guys who literally fill a freezer with fish fillets over the course of a spring and summer. Everything they catch is cleaned and frozen regardless of if it’s a 14 inch bass or an eight pound walleye. These types of people are the ones hurting the populations. This type of nonsense is what hurts fishing for everyone.

As far as releasing fish, I release nearly 100% of the fish I catch. The one’s I do keep are usually because of being hooked too bad. I think there are too many people who are releasing fish that are not capable of surviving. Last summer near Winona on one of the back channels, I came across a 43 inch decaying pike. I inspected the fish (which had been baking in the hot sun for a few days) and discovered what looked to be hook marks inside the mounth and near the throat. I came to the conclusion that someone must have caught and released it. I believe that this happens a lot with many species with anglers who handle fish inappropriately. It’s fine to get a quick picture and release, but make sure the fish is healthy enough to be released. I’ve seen people release fish that have blood streaming down their belly out of the gills. I’m sorry, but I don’t see that fish living too long. I’ve also read studies about muskies that were equipped with transmitters and had been caught and released by anglers. A very high percentage of those fish ended up dying. Some even months later. I think everyone has released a fish (even if it was a perch) that minutes later floated to the top ( what a sick feeling). Too often, anglers release unhealthy fish that resurface belly up a hundred yards downstream. The anlgler feels good about releasing the fish and an eagle gets to feast of an easy to reach 8 pound walleye. All I’m saying is to make sure you make every effort to get the fish back as soon and as healthy as possible.

One last thing I want to comment about is taxidermy itself. It bothers me to see sportsmen discouraging others from taking fish to taxidermists. In my opinion, most taxidermists are true artists who bring back life into dead flesh. These guys are sportsmen too. They’re not just looking for a paycheck here. I know first hand this isn’t the case. My older brother (not the one listed above) is a taxidermist who tries to make a living making trophies come back to life. I see taxidermy as part of the whole fishing process, just not for everyone.

I agree with you and I have used the services of many a taxidermist..I told all my niece’s and nephews that I would mount them a Walleye if they wanted to..So far two of them have taken me up on it..Two other times they wanted to release the fish… I still personally want to put a sauger on my garage wall and some Bull Sunfish,and a Perch.. Just looking for the right fish I guess..I have had a couple chance’s but choose to let em go..May be this will be the year…Oh yea I want to put a smallie on the wall also…Oh shoot means I better go fishin this weekend..You never know when that bite will be there……

I really respect fisherman who release most of their fish, not just the trophies. we really need the females to remain in most of our system. I have done fish Taxidermy as a business/hobby for 25 years and have done many super fish over the years. It is a fisherman’s right to do with whatever he/she wants to do with their fish. really big fish do not have much longer to live, if you want to put a big one on the wall, go for it. real sportsman are going to release just about all their fish all the time. good luck to you all. Jack.

30 ++ inches or 10++++ pounds whichever

I agree with larsonlawers on the 30″+or 10lb.+…….but I would add 10lb+ without spawn!….. If It was this time of year and had spawn It would have to be over 12lb.

A few years ago fishing with ProV I landed a 9.9lb post spawn eye and let her go. We never did meseaure it but I bet it was over 30″ due to its weight and the fact it had just spawned. I have absolutly no regrets for letting her go. I always said it had to be ten or she swims….so she is a swimmin

Ten pounds for walleye, twenty for pike. I don’t have either on the wall yet…… I did release a 22.5 musky on lotw, no trophy for that lake but the 27.5lber that big fish dude released the next day was a dandy on any lake!! I would also like to mount a smallie, but haven’t decided how big it has to be, have released a five pounder and not matched it since. Reef Runner, how big will your smallie have to be?

real sportsman????? so you mean if I don’t release my big female i am nor a REAL sportsman?

a walleye for me has to be 10 plus out of the spawn….my smallie i mounted was 6lbs 2 oz 23inches long….i dont think i will get one bigger.