Trout (and other cold-water fish)

_______Have customer fill out and sign the top part of taxidermy reporting form.

_______Before customer leaves, and while he is watching, examine fish for damage or distinctive markings.  Look for damage to fins and tail to determine

                whether mount would be best if turned right, left, or pedestal.  If damage is noted, suggest alternate-side mount.  If specimen is frozen  and examination

                is not practical, ask customer whether they         have a preference for a right or left turn (ie to match or contrast with currently-owned mounts) or

                whether he would rather have you choose the “best side”, to be determined when fish is thawed and skinned.  The explanation for “best side” is

                understood to be, either the side with the least damage (worst case scenario), or the side with the most beautiful markings (best case scenario).

_______Write up order on taxidermy reporting form.  Thank your customer.  Tag fish with identifying information, and put him promptly into the freezer.

_______When you have time to mount him, lay him out several hours beforehand to thaw before skinning.

_______Put on gloves.

_______Roll out a sheet of waxed paper to skin him on.

_______Place trout on paper in curve that is desired (crescent shape).

_______Use a permanent marker to trace the shape of the fish.  Don’t trace the head.  Begin body shape where scales behind head start.  Leave gaps

                (to fill in later) where fins are.   Record length of fish, head to tail.  Mark inside traced fish “tail up”  or “tail down”.

_______Take and record measurements as follows in order to hand-carve a form:  Using calipers, measure the thickness of the body  (from side to

                side, not top to bottom) of the trout

                      1) behind the gills,

                      2) dorsal fin

                      3) at middle of body above vent, and

                      4) at tail.

_______To order reproduction head, take and record measurements as follows:    Open the mouth on the fish.  This makes a big difference, especially

                on male fish.  Using calipers, measure:

                     1) back of gill to nose

                     2) back of gill to tip of lower jaw

                     3) width across gills

                     4) height (under lower jaw to top of head where skin and scales meet.

                     5) using Bill Leach’s catalog (208-267-5331), find and order corresponding head.  (Remember that heads can be altered somewhat

                         by heating with a hair dryer or a heat gun and shaping to fit.)

_______Cut under gills, reaching as far toward the had as possible to have as much skin as possible for securing mount.

_______Cut all the way around to the throat latch.

_______After head is cut off, use scissors to cut along lateral line.  Stop 1/4” from tail.

_______Skin the cut side of fish up to, and down to, fins.

_______Cut fins with scissors, keeping fingers firm on other side of fish to be sure you don’t snip through to the front of the fish.

_______Cut tail bone.

_______Skin front of fish.

_______Scrape off all meat.

_______Tanning solution:  1 gallon water to 1 cup of Borax to 1 cap of Concentrated Lysol Original. 

_______Carving fish body.

_______Copy traced fish body on block of fish foam from Van Dykes, or on blue or orange dock foam.  Use a block 5”          thick. 

_______Cut with band saw to general shape of fish.

_______Cut square edges with knife and then shave with rasp until close in size.  Smooth with sanding block.  Keep trying skin until it fits. 

                Never make fish body too small.  You want to end up with a slightly larger fish for aesthetic purposes.

_______Put clay on tail of form.

_______Put brown hide paste on show side.

_______Lay skin over form.   Baseball stitch, starting at tail, with loose stitches about  1/2” apart. 

_______Set fins.

_______Use cardboard and hardware cloth to card fins, if you let dry for 12 hours or less.  If you let dry longer, use plastic on front.  Paperclip in place.

_______Trace tail on cardboard, rounding the inside of the tail.  Cut hardware cloth to match cardboard.  Paperclip in place. 

_______Look at reference for adipose fins to rebuild.

_______Bottom fin.  Short side sets against body, then pull away from body to spread fins before carding. 

_______Fin fin.  As soon as you pull off cards after drying, coat with fin fin.  (Van Dykes can’t always ship fin fin if temps are wrong.  Can substitute sobo glue, if necessary.)

_______Fixing fins.

_______Do all repairs on back side, first aid tape or clear plastic.  Repair with imperfections.  Notch or slit to simulate natural fin shape and wear and tear. 

_______Trace tail on plastic and cut out, making tail a little larger than fish.  Trim to fit.  Glue with contact cement. 

_______Texture with fin-backing crème or clear, paintable, acrylic caulk.  (Small repairs, you can use fin fin.)  Spread caulk.  Texture with brush. 

                Caulk back of tail.  Rough up clear plastic before applying caulk. 

_______Put head on body following body line of fish, top and bottom.   Use heat gun to heat head to flare as needed.  Tack with super glue on

                both sides and epoxy across top of head.  Use as little epoxy as possible, but bring epoxy from body up on to head 1/2” to 3/4”.  If you

                have a big gap between body and top of head, fill with paper towel, then epoxy across. 

_______Replacing fins.  Cut from plastic in shape of fin.  Or order in fin sets.    Do all repairs to existing fins and put on head before gluing on

                replacement fins.   Glue pectoral fin by reference. 

_______Set flex eyes.

_______Paint trout. 

_______Sealer on fish, or matt finish poly.

_______1.  Off white or bass belly white.  Paint belly white and fade up.

_______2.  Silver metallic.  Paint silver on back.  Fade down lightly.

_______3.  Yellow ochre.  Paint yellow on back.  Fade down lightly.

_______4.  Tie-in brown.  Use tie-in brown around eye to hide epoxy.  Paint lips.   Paint down back, blending all epoxy.  Paint tail and fins lightly.  Paint point of bottom lip. 

_______5.  Bass green metallic.  Paint down side and back very lightly.

_______6.  Gill red.  Paint pink stripe downside.  Come from tail.  Fade out before gill. 

_______7.  Transparent medium green.  Paint very lightly on side above pink stripe and across back, very lightly.

_______8.  Jet black.  Paint spots.  Fewer spots on head than on body.  Fewer spots on pink stripe.  On the head, spots are more round.  Further back you

                    go, more elongated are the spots.  Spots on tail run with rays and dorsal fins.  Front fin spots are on leading edge.