Attempt at first fish

You bunch of ol' buzards surrounding a "fresh meat" question no no buzzards eat dead stuff and puke out nasty junk.LOL or Lmfa(b)o(or whatever)
He wants to try some small fish.I say let him.Hell he might take world with it.Yes smaller fish are harder then average or big ones,but I say try give it a whirl.
You can freeze dry em up,but he wants to take the time and skin mount a lil' one.I say again do it.You might learn something.I for one commend him for it.

GREAT WORK DOESNT ALWAYS START OUT WITH THE EASY WORK!!!!!!!!

My advise is to have fun,take your time,take pictures,and think of different tecniques you may come up with.

 

That sounds like something a Democrat would say. ALL "great work" comes from SMALL BEGINNINGS. Now it you want that as an analogy, history will back you up.

 

Im not a democrate.But I am a liberal in some cases(I liberaly apply hide paste to my forms).
And i knew you might get a laugh outa my scripture.Goerge.I ainst tha smartyest pimple on the ol' ones butt.

 

Jason, I'm not about to C&P that one. I know when I'm overmatched. LMAO

 

Gotta agree with George.........and really, some of us that have a few under our belt is the real advice you seek, correct?....Take whatever advice you feel will help you...After doing quite a few larger gills (9 to 11 inch) I happened to need a "chaser' for an 8lb LM I mounted. I figured instead of buying a freeze dry or repro, that I would catch a small one and mount it.
Hey......... can I tell you............. it was a bitch....lol. Tiny little throat latch, super thin skin, tiny little fins to card, etc......Fragile little bugger is what it was. Got it done but I'm glad I had experience on some larger fish first.
Take or leave my advice, but if you want to start on doing fish, start with a medium sized perch or bluegill. WAIT to attempt the infamous Crappie though because, when I first started, Crappies brought out words I didnt know I was capable of saying.... ;D
Above all, take all your mistakes in stride and learn from them. Have fun and even laugh at a hole you might first tear in a skin. You find too that almost any mistake you make can be fixed other than almost flushing one down the toilet (Yes, a Marty Blooper highlight)....lol...... Whatever you decide, good luck and use plenty of borax...........

 

show my g

This shows my genuis/whit/brain power. I dont know what C&P is/means.

 

I agree the lil' ones are as stated^^^^but for some people its best to learn by going for it.
I still cant get the microplaynkton skin mount perfect yet,but if you chop a grain of sand up, and dont look at it threw a microscope it looks the same.

 

Here is one of 100 of the lil' ones I did.So i speak from experience also.

 

through, not threw.
I threw a baseball at your fish.
I looked through a microscope.

 

we are both laughin now

 

it's all good

 

a 4 inch largemouth...i am still trying to figure out what to do for the eye. i just soak all my fish in borax water for a couple hours....the non greasy ones that is....

 

^^^^^yes yes love it^^^^^^

 

That is one giant lighter!!!! Just kidding that is really neat!Di you happen to find some kind of eye??

 

no....it is just sitting collecting dust right now....they do not make fish eyes this small...I used a plastic bead that was flat on the back made for planters, and painted it, but the refraction is all wrong.( i think that is what you would call it...anyway, the thought struck me last night that maybe they make bird eyes this small....i have to look.

 

Twiggy, awesome job! For the eyes, one way to do them might be to shape some sculpting epoxy into an eye shape. (you could even use quick curing epoxy, like plummers epoxy, given the limited amount of sculpting). Let them dry, then shape and sand with rotary tool if necessary (carefully at this size). Paint them, seal them, then coat in Envirotex to recreate the membrane. Its not going to give you perfect eye anatomy, but it should be ok. Tohickon has flint bird eyes on a wire down to 2mm as well. Its going to be tough getting any type of eyes set properly into the orbits. I'd consider sculpting them in, and finishing them in place as another option.
Best, Scott

 

You can use similar techniques to ride a Honda as you do to ride a Harley, but the experience is totally different. Likewise, it might seem like the same techniques are being used on bigger fish as smaller fish but they are really only similar at best. Tighter spaces, smaller parts, etc. etc. Fact is, every fish has it's own difficulties for each individual person. I say jump in and mount whatever you wish, the only real teacher is experience and you might as well start today as opposed to tomorrow.
Steve

 

Nice job Twiggy..........