Wanted 49 X 22 Muskie Blank
Submitted by puzzledprofessor on 8/22/06 at 5:05 PM.
Just back form Lake of the Woods where I caught the fish of MY lifetime. I posted this in the "wanted" category, but got no response. Hoping to do better here.
I am looking for a high quality 49 X 22 Muskie blank. I am not at all afraid of assembling or painting the thing, but I am looking for great anatomy and lots of detail in the casting.
Thanks in advance
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the great american fish head company, they advertise in Breakthrough Magazine or they used to, also try McKenzie's they are sole distributor for the old Ron Reynolds fish blanks other than that bug Marty or Cecil they are the fish experts
Has a Reynolds (Realfish) 49x22 Pike. They also have a 50x22 musky blank as well (they're pretty much interchangeable). They are located under the general suppliers section of this website. The Realfish blanks are nice. All you have to do is glue the fins on and epoxy them and then it's pretty much ready to paint...
has great musky blanks that are a joy to finish. The only problem is when you order one make sure and order it a couple 3" bigger than what you need. I ordered their 53 or 54 " musky and no matter how it was measured couldn't get more than 51" out of it ( I tried everyway anyone could think of) Customer loved the fish, (a musky guide on the Flambeau River in WI). Just order bigger than you need and you'll be fine. Same with their smallmouth blanks.
... wyniafishreplicas.com Lou's line of muskies is pretty complete, he's a muskie fisherman! Anatomy wise you won't find anything better. I wouldn't try to use a northern pike in place of a muskie though, the body to head proportions are entirely different, along with fin shapes. It might fool some people, but anyone who knows muskies would pick it out in an instant. If you're looking for work, you'll be disappointed, Wynia blanks are pretty much ready to paint right out of the box.
Wynia's are the best, just order them a couple "s bigger.
...much credit! IMO, 99.9% of them wouldn't notice it IF you modified the tail. Maybe 100%. I've never noticed much of a difference in the head proportions between pike and musky. They vary individually within their species probably just as much. I don't think the fins are much different either. The tail on the pike would need to be rounded more than the musky. And then if you really wanted to get technical you would have to (decrease? can't remember off hand) the number of "pores" or holes or whatever thoose things are under the jaw to match the specie. Other than that, in my opinion nobody will notice the difference. In fact, I see a lot of Musky/Pike blanks under the Realfish line with the exact same dimensions. Coincidence? Maybe. Although O.F. you are going to force me to go look at some reference photos much closer now to see if there's much of a difference between the two!
Just pulled the books out and I'll stand my ground on this one. If you modify the tail nobody's going to notice the difference. Moot point anyway, Realfish/McKenzie has one with your dimensions...
Thanks for the help everyone
For fish of equal length the northern is always heavier, and the head is much larger in proportion to the body on the northern than on the muskie. Northerns always seem to carry a larger proportion of their weight(bulk) between the pectorals and pelvics, the muskie is more evenly distributed or has the bulk(if noticable) proportionally greater between the pelvics and the caudal fin. This proportion displays itself as a greater depth between the anal and dorsal fins of the muskie. Muskie fins are proportionally slimmer and longer(more pointed) than northerns. You could probably make a muskie blank into a northern by modifying the fins easier than the other way around, the caudal fin would be too small to convert from a northern to a muskie.
Puzzledprofessor was looking for "details", those are details that would be noticable for someone like that. The "muskie hunters" I know WOULD notice the difference!
You're right about the head typically being larger on Pike. And we already mentioned that the tail would need some tweaking. The rest of the stuff I think may be true for the most part. But I've got 30-40 examples of each specie in my books here and all the other features you mention vary from fish to fish quite a bit. The second set of pelvic fins (if that's what they're technically called) on the pike tend to be more rounded than the musky. But out of the ones I can see clearly, probably 1/3rd of them are just as pointed as the musky pics I have. Maybe it's a regional thing? Many of the pics I have are from local lakes and in the midwest. Not all, but many. The weight thing too is not real consistent either. But then again, our muskies around here get fed well with all the gizzrd shad available. So, generally speaking you might be right. But the fish I've seen seem to vary as much in all their features as much as humans do!
too for those that would know this. Musky has scales only on the top half of the cheek and gill cover. Mandibular pores are usually 15 to 18 on a musky but can be 12 to 20. The northern has scales on the entire check and top half of the gill cover. And usually only has 10 pores.
...notice the white spot on the gill cover of every Smallie? Just for the debate's sake (as I know we've gotten off topic). "Yes", there are subtle differences between the pike and musky. But, I still think if you nail the paint job, that's pretty much all that MOST people see anyway. After all, WE see a heck of a lot more detail than most T.V. fishing personalities (that probably see more musky and Pike in a year than you and I see in our lifetime's!) They just don't look that closely. I think it'd be a pretty fair bet that most of these guys wouldn't even notice the differences...
on pike are much flatter,other than the fins that would be my biggest difference.
Some wize guy once tried to pull off German Zander for Walleye. just like Musky have scales only on the top half of the gill plates, and 20 pores, I always look right at the gill plate, Square-ish shape, that can only be pulled off by a Hi-bread mix . We get them in Rib lake Wis, ect, the only way you can pull-a-fast one is to get a hi-bread cast.
Buck...
P.S. Hey Old Fart, How's it going ?