I am a beginner and have yet to mount any fish, but hopefully this summer I will. I had a question about the big salt water fish. I live not too far from Bass Pro Shop in Missouri. They have hundreds of saltwater fish on display and a few sharks. They all seem to be reproductions. A friend of mine caught a huge spoonbill and wanted to have it mounted. All of the taxidermist he talked to in this area including Bass Pros taxidermist said it would have to be reproduced and couldn't be mounted using the original skin. Why are all the huge fish repro's. Is it impossible to mount a fish that big or do the local guys just not want to do it? I am a beginner like I said so I thought I would ask and maybe learn something.
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What the H. is a spoonbill fish and what length is it?
most likely,not really a cat fish
Found in only a few rivers in the midwest,only caught by snagging(they wont bite a bait)Fishing for them is heavily regulated because thier numbers are low.
As you know the spoonbill is like a catfish in that it has no scales. Try skinning one, all you have is a glob and nothing to mount. If you are just starting I would read all I could and start with warm water fish you catch there in MO.
hope this helps,
Roy
well I learned something after 40 years, I never even seen one,so I don't know if they can be skinned mounted Wchare better go with the replica. sounds like trying to mount a shark or moray eel,nothing to work with
Spoon Bills have a skin like a catfish and like the name implies a spoon bill. They are caught in our area just like LT said only by snagging. They can get huge, over 150 pounds. I had no intentions of trying to stuff one. Like I said I am a beginner and was wondering why all of the big fish are repros. Thanks to all the info and the replies I got through e-mail.
i have mounted big cats with very good turn out. they take alot more time and hard work to do. the bill on the spoonbill is a very fleshy part. i myself would not try the spoonbill. i do not think the bill would turn out very well.