Fish

[madtrapper22]

does anyody have any fish they are wiling to sell,looking to try my first fish but dont have time to catch some. Thanks any help appreciated,madtrapper

[CrabCrazy]

Try Cecil on here

[Cecil]

Thanks Crab Crazy.

I will have some large bluegills and yellow perch for sale soon -- many more when I run the 130 foot seine through one of the ponds -- in March or April. The female yellow perch will have bellies like the picture below in March or April.



I've got a contact that wants to sell me some 14 to 15 inch perch wholesale but I have to see them first. Many of these fish farmers don't have the trained eye we do as taxidermists for defects. Also they are way off on sizes sometimes. Tracy also of Indiana and I recently had an offer on some "really nice" brook trout in the 5 lb. range allegedly in perfect condition. I turned it down and Tracy bought some. He said most were under 2 lbs and some had bad fins. How even a fish researcher can't tell the difference between a less than 2 lb. fish and 5 lb. fish is beyond me.

Most of the fish I sell are competition quality that aren't cheap but if I have any seconds I sell them cheaper to beginners.

I'll be posting fish as I harvest them in the For Sale category.

[Gameovertaxidermy]

15" is a huge perch!!!! What is the biggest you have raised?

[Cecil]

15" is a huge perch!!!! What is the biggest you have raised?

16 1/4 inches and 2 lbs. 13 oz here:



Interestingly even under perfect conditions they seem to top out at 15 inches or just slightly more. I've only had one fish at 16 inches or more which was the one above. I think it was an anomaly like any record book fish. I wasn't hatching or growing out my own fish back then and finally only called myself a fish farm so I could sell fish to taxidermists, as in a some states I was told I had to be a bonified fish farm to sell fish to taxidermists. (I had to have an fish farm invoice to make it legal).

I fed fish but nothing any different than anyone else with a private pond.

I caught her ice fishing. She would have been over 3 lbs. if I had caught her just before she dropped her eggs in March or April.

Perca and I have seen a lot of perch and very few ever get to be 16 inches or more. We have both heard of 16 inch and bigger fish caught by anglers (some say all the time)  but for some reason no one ever has a picture of one, but they always have the camera when they are catching 11 and 12 inch perch.  LOL

[Gameovertaxidermy]

WOW!!!
Ya I hear the catching 16" perch all day story all the time!!!! I tell them if they didn't want to get them mounted they should bring one by for me to do and hang on my showroom wall, I'm still waiting. My biggest was on Mille Lacs and it was 14 1/2. I catch a number of 13" every time out on Leech Lake and a few pushing 14" but like you say they top out. Our state record is just over 3lbs and it was caught back when the story may have overruled the scale. Your pic actually looks like the end of the tape is short of the tip of the jaw almost looks like it could have been 16 1/2.
Did you catch that perch on a lake then?
I'll have 2 keep an eye out when your selling fish because all the nice perch around here look like they narrowly escaped a Muskie a time or two.
Thanks for sharing the pic

[Cecil]

Actually it's the same with the tip on or off the tape but the fish was measured on a board and the tape was used to more clearly show it's length.

It came out of my biggest pond on the property which was the only pond at the time I believe.

I hear about 18 inch perch caught out of a local lake but it's always a friend of a friend that caught it and no one has a picture.

I question how the world record perch stands as there is no picture. Same goes for the world record largemouth from Georgia. No picture there either. 

[Gameovertaxidermy]

Many old records have no pictures. The Minnesota state record crappie is supposed to be 5 pounds, but the largest verified world record is under 5 pounds. Some of those sanctioning people say its 6 pounds but how can you verify and expect people to believe a 70 year old record with no picture, just a signed paper from a witness or 2 (usually a brother). About an 18 inch perch, I thought someone posted a pic of one that is in an aquarium at a Cabelas that's 18". Granted there is no way to show exactly how long it really is, but it did look huge

[Clew]

Madtapper
Did you find a fish yet
I have a few bream
Carl

[Tracy]

Cecils fish are the best you can get for Taxidermy and packed right
need any help with the seine Cecil let me know i will come up and work for a day or 2

Thanks Crab Crazy.

I will have some large bluegills and yellow perch for sale soon -- many more when I run the 130 foot seine through one of the ponds -- in March or April. The female yellow perch will have bellies like the picture below in March or April.



I've got a contact that wants to sell me some 14 to 15 inch perch wholesale but I have to see them first. Many of these fish farmers don't have the trained eye we do as taxidermists for defects. Also they are way off on sizes sometimes. Tracy also of Indiana and I recently had an offer on some "really nice" brook trout in the 5 lb. range allegedly in perfect condition. I turned it down and Tracy bought some. He said most were under 2 lbs and some had bad fins. How even a fish researcher can't tell the difference between a less than 2 lb. fish and 5 lb. fish is beyond me.

Most of the fish I sell are competition quality that aren't cheap but if I have any seconds I sell them cheaper to beginners.

I'll be posting fish as I harvest them in the For Sale category.

[Cecil]

Cecils fish are the best you can get for Taxidermy and packed right
need any help with the seine Cecil let me know i will come up and work for a day or 2

I might just take you up on that. I've got free child labor raising fish for me at the local high school and the teacher is 8 months
pregnant. Might as well take advantage of a fellow taxidermist while I' being mean! 

[Gameovertaxidermy]

[/quote]
I might just take you up on that. I've got free child labor raising fish for me at the local high school and the teacher is 8 months
pregnant. Might as well take advantage of a fellow taxidermist while I' being mean! 
[/quote]
LOL, there only victims if they realize there victims

[Tracy]

FREE ! it will cost you lunch and i am good with that
just to come up and see you set up in person and see all the nice fish
and i may want to seine my pond some time so i will know how it is done

Cecils fish are the best you can get for Taxidermy and packed right
need any help with the seine Cecil let me know i will come up and work for a day or 2

I might just take you up on that. I've got free child labor raising fish for me at the local high school and the teacher is 8 months
pregnant. Might as well take advantage of a fellow taxidermist while I' being mean! 

[Gameovertaxidermy]

Ah ha! A spy collecting classified secrets for their own operation disguised as a migrant fish farm worker. 

Pure Genius!

Don't be afraid to share that classified intel

[Tracy]

Cecil got me into the fish farm gig a few years ago
and at one time i had over 200 lbs of catfish in pools in my basement
and hundreds if not thousands of tilapia
this year i am going with some cages in the pond and see what i can do also
he is just way ahead of the game and knows what he is doing
i could email him a picture of sick fish and he could tell me what i needed to do
and i am sure if it was not for him i would have lost alot of catfish in my farm pond one year
hands on beats a book any time