help with a red fish

[gohs69]

     I have done lots of fish,but never a red,not one 40ins. long.   Can I buy body for it or do I have to make it myself. thanks for the help.John

[ArtisticAnglerInc.]

Matt Thompson has forms that will fit a 40" with some modification. I believe the form length itself is 36".Its a little short for some of the Jumbo Reds but you should be able to make it work for you. There is alot of skull in a Redfish that big my friend. Make sure you empty that sucker. There are many who will not try a real head on a red this size, but I do them all the time here in Texas. When you thnk the head is cleaned out enough, keep going...its not!

Also you will need to hang this beast in constant air flow for anywhere from 3 weeks to more than a month depending on how well you did with the head. Rotate the fish often when drying! I manage to mount these fish without much oil release from the skins, but like I said I do them everyday....One more small tip, the fleshy fatty tissue on the under side of the jaw/throat area can be trimmed away to reduce oil. It usually shrinks away anyway, but it will dry a whole lot faster and cleaner this way...Best of luck, it can be done!

[joeym]

Good advice from ArtisticAnglersInc...You can submerge the head in denatured alcohol overnight and it will help in de-greasing the head.  I buy forms from Archie Phillips.  I just skin mounted a 28 pounder that was 38 inches long.  BTW, the guy had it on ice, he had caught it the afternoon before...when he left, I skinned that fish and we enjoyed several meals of red fish fillets!!!

[Becky P]

On a red that size, I wouldn't mess with the head, I'd cast it or buy an artificial one. I usually carve my bodies on big reds too, I haven't found a form that fits worth a damn and end up altering it, by the time I get it to fit, I could've carved it from scratch.
I absolutely hate doing those big reds, I always end up with bruised hands tring to cut through those fin bones, and forget about cutting the scales, I always have to pull some then make the cut.

On the next one, I'll have to try some of ArtisticAngerler's advice.
Good luck and have "fun".

[joe]

if you clean the head all the way to the skin and cut out the lower jaw bone there will be no problems matts froms work for me just get the size smaller than you think you need  heres some 40"er on matt forms   need any help strangetax@yahoo.com     joe