yes i did [search] is there a way to use the real head of trout i do realize that oil is a problem but can it be soaked in a degreaser for a few days then dry ed ,i did this with a 22inch large mouth once and dried it out side for a month there was a little shrinkage that needed fixed. customer wants real heads on his fish 1 is 13" the other is 18 1/2" Thanks
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You can also wipe your butt with a leaf but why when there is paper? Why not spend the extra few bucks to make the mount last a lifetime? And if you put a bass head outside to dry, it is very suprising that the bugs and sun and all the elements didn't ruin the head. And no shrinkage..they shrink when they are inside and dried on a fan, i imagine that they would shrink the same amount sun dried if not more. My opinion i would just spend a few bucks for a new head.
Good luck!
but your customer should be informed of the longevity issues as a result of such antiquated methods.
Largemouth bass don't need to be degreased unlike cold water species that are full of grease. On fish the size you are speaking of you can conventionally mount them but you will see shrinkage on the top of the head that will have to be rebuilt. By the time you get done rebuilding that area you will be wondering why you weren't more insistant on talking your client into the artificial heads. I've seen people seal the heads before painting with special products that supposedly prevented grease bleed but who knows how long these practices really hold up.
You could always have the real heads freeze dried, which alters the cells in the fat so there is no future grease bleed issues. Charge accordingly for the extra work though, either way.
on a trout to take a hike. End of story. With a real head the quality isn't there and I sure don't want him or here bringing it back in a year or two whining about the grease. Sometimes you have to be firm and stand your ground. That comes in about 5 years in the business.
You and I are beginning to agree on WAY TOO MANY ISSUES. Knock it off. LOL
a few trout with the real head. When I'm done, there's not much of the real head exposed though. If you clean it out good, cut out the tounge and gills, degrease it, you should be fine. I always reshape the head with a fast setting mache. When you clean the head out completely, there is nothing left insde to give it shape, so you need to have good reference. Once it dries thoroughly, you can rebuild the shrunken areas, which is basically the whole head.
Here's a link to a 22lb Lake Michigan Brown with the real head.
http://home.att.net/~stuff-it/bigbrown.jpg
Paul B
So Paul what advantage is it to you to go to all the time to bacially skin out and cut out most of the head and replace it with filler, apoxie etc., when it would have been more time/cost effective to use a cast head? Of course you are successful enough to realize time is money right? I mean you are replacing the head anyway aren't you?
Don Ryno of Michigan used to keep a trout head on hand to show his customers where he had done exactly what you do. He cut it into a cross section to show how much of the head was original. Not much!
I will admit that is the best rebuilt head I have seen.
He sent me some pictures of repair jobs folks brought into him. This collection was just priceless! What a load of laughs. I tried to call him to thank him, but was unable to get through with numbers I had seen on the web or anywhere else. Is he still in business? Does anyone know his number?
Tell him I said hello. I haven't talked to him in a two or three years.
269-628-0460
I have never purchased a cast head, except at our state show's auction. I wouldn't buy a head hoping it would fit a certain fish. The only way to get a head that fit's (and matches) a big fish like that is to cast it or sculpt it. To me it's a toss up, time wise, so that fish I sculpted the head. I do cast a few too.
I only cut out the gills and tounge, the rest of the head is still there (somewhere).
Paul B
From one fish-head to another.
species and sexes available from Caribou supply now it's easy to find a match. And the quality is better than when I cast my own. I've got some extra catalogs I would be glad to send you one to proove my point.
I have to agree with Paul, it's a toss up and I do a fair amount of trout also, clean it and shape it with a fast mache' there is lettle left to rebuild and the time is about the same.
REMOVE THE BUG BUFFET! Even on bass.
I can't think of anything faster and neater than using a cast head on trout and salmon. Apparently some don't have the knack for using the real heads as I've seen some pretty nasty ones in the Bait stores when I go up to Michigan. Obviously they were not Paul's fish though.