My good fishing and hunting buddy just brought me a 41 inch gar to mount. I have mounted a bunch of bass and bream but never a gar. I am thinking about filling him because I have heard that the skin for the most part can hold its own shape after its been skinned. I am not sure how to get into the head because it brobably has a lot of bones in it so I guess I could chip away at it with a hammer and a chisel. My main concern is that it has been in his freezer for 5 years and it looks like he has some bad freezer burn (as you can tell he doesn't really care about the fish and he gave it to me for practice). Any help with this will be appreciated.
Jeff
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Use Rittels Super relaxer and keep it cover with a terry cloth towel for 24 hours, it will be fine. I have yet to be defeated by freezer burn this way. Carve the body it will be lighter. Yes in some cases you need to chisel out the skull remove the gills and use a HIGH GREADE WATER BASED SOLVENT from Rittels or EPO-GRIP water base will penetrate the grease and bust it up, you may need to do this for a few days and change the water/solvent every 12 hours.
i have done so many gar and used a special fill meathed call me i will help you .
sorry phone 407 886 4766 .
GAR WILL NOT HOLD THEIR SHAPE. just look at any picture of a mounted gar that didn't have a form and you will see how distorted their skin CAN get. ebay is an excellent place to see horrible mounts of gar. you should carve a body or, if you use fill, make sure that the body is supported somehow and looks as you want it before it dries.