Snapper taxidermy
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Diving
Forum Name: Spearo's Corner
Forum Description: Free-divers & spearos chat about their sport
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=75143
Printed Date: 31 May 2023 at 2:58pm
Topic: Snapper taxidermy
Posted By: Northland Bill
Subject: Snapper taxidermy
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 9:01am
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Hello all. I shot this snapper yesterday up near matai bay. I would like to put it on the wall with a spear sticking out of it. Can anyone recommend a good taxidermist? Skin or fiberglass jobbie? What I wrote for the e-mag Matai bay madness.
The 12 a clock nock on Friday saw a group of four (two of which spearo’s)
mission it to the unexplored country of Northlands Karikari peninsula. Upon
arrival we dropped off excess gear at camp and eagerly launched the boat into
the mesmerizingly clear water. 1st dive along the coast to the east of matai saw
superb vis. An absolute joy to dive in. Checking awesome cray cracks and holes
produced nothing ( a lot of pots about ) and our burleys also produced nothing.
One alright kingfish was seen briefly. We then checked out a lone rock straight
out from camp. Good amounts of trevally, kahawai, demoiselle and blue mao mao
were seen. Several snapper were seen also but only one good one that remained
out of shooting distance. I managed a nice pink mao mao around the 21m deep.
Back to camp we headed, craving a dive in some more unexplored country the
following day.
Excellent conditions were had. Briefly checking out
the lone rock we saw smallish kingies which were left. We Then Headed North and
checked out some islands. My mate wanted a kingie so hung around in the large
mackerel, kahawai and trevally schools. I went and hung around in the rocks
looking for a cray. Missing one I made it around in between a couple of small
islands and and one larger one. With a boulder covered bottom I was checking it
out meticulously. When all of a sudden I see a big fish go underneath a big
boulder. Thinking it was a porae, I went and investigated this fish without much
effort put into covering my silhouette. Looking ahead a see a honking big
snapper with three fish swimming with it. Turning side on it stopped and
presented well. I put i shot in the head, a little low for a kill shot but it
was definitely a good hold. After a bit of a fight I was bear hugging and ikiing
it. Swimming to the boat and getting the boatman to help me pull it up, I was
unaware of its size until it was out of the ocean. Stunning fish. Excitement all
round, especially after weighing. Plenty of photos commenced of the fish I
believe to be a once in a lifetime capture      Cracked the magic 30 mark :D Cheers guys.
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Replies:
Posted By: Benno
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 9:08am
| legend |
Posted By: Kezza
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 9:11am
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That is a mean looking fish...cool!!! ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Uncle
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 9:18am
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"with a spear sticking out of it." Now, that's a novel approach Bill. Somewhere for the sparrows to roost?  I jest mate~~what a cracker of a fish~~top marks |
Posted By: chief x
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 9:32am
| Great fish mate! Get in contact with Craymounts as there was an earlier thread about his 31lb snap he had done. Very impressive. |
Posted By: AR
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 9:52am
| There seems to be a gun with tight rubbers in the boat... |
Posted By: Setanta
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 9:56am
| Pretty decent fish mate |
Posted By: Northland Bill
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 10:07am
Yea that was my mate. Must have been amping to see my fish. Not ideal, I know.
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AR wrote:Posted By: Bounty Hunter
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 11:21am
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thats a beast - nice one.
------------- No disintegrations! |
Posted By: sleek 1
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 11:39am
wicked,good skills! ------------- Paitence , stealth and slyness. A hunters greatest allies |
Posted By: bush billy
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 11:52am
Mate what a fish
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Posted By: Diver Dan
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 12:39pm
| Hall of fame! Can I recommend you get it weighed on some tested scales too - gas station is fine. Definitely not a skin mount - I have never seen a good one. |
Posted By: kinaspike
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 12:39pm
| WOW! Is there a story? |
Posted By: Leatherjacket
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 1:10pm
| That is an epic fish well done! |
Posted By: Gundry
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 2:29pm
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EPIC nice work ------------- Winter is Meh |
Posted By: long john
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 4:30pm
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Woot, woot! Sweet fish Get it weighed on certified scales as DD suggests------------- Proud member of the Glen Innes Spearfishing Club |
Posted By: Firey
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 5:44pm
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Hell fish!!! ------------- No sooner does man discover intelligence than he tries to involve it in his own stupidity. |
Posted By: J-D
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 5:49pm
| Paddy at Action Mounted . . . he has done a few including my own . . he does an awesome job!!! |
Posted By: The Jackal
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 5:55pm
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unreal! put up a fight? |
Posted By: Diver Dan
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 6:03pm
| I have seen very few good snapper mounts. The colour is usually totally wrong, they have the mouth wide open and the fins in weird positions. I got one done by a guy in Paraparaumu who I reckon did an outstanding job - John Trask. |
Posted By: Smoo Diver
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 6:08pm
| http://www.fishing.net.nz/asp_forums/snapper-in-wellies_topic59302_post883567.html?KW=#883567 - Do one of these |
Posted By: Kona.
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 6:42pm
| Fuuuuuuuuuckin EPIC FISH BILL!!!! Congratulations! |
Posted By: CRAYMOUNTS
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2012 at 9:53pm
 Just posted my 14 kilo one other day on here.paddy did it from action mounted hes done 3 for me all look great try him.and great fish to------------- CLASS CRAYMOUNTS DONE |
Posted By: S.O.T
Date Posted: 30 Jan 2012 at 11:43am
| That's just amazing NB. Tell us how it all went down man. |
Posted By: BOC
Date Posted: 30 Jan 2012 at 12:28pm
| What a monster! nice fish!! |
Posted By: Rusky
Date Posted: 30 Jan 2012 at 8:30pm
| I saw Rob Forts own mould of his 27lb snapper at the Seafood feastival today. By far the best snapper mould I have laid eyes on. Just stunning in my opinion. |
Posted By: offsurfing
Date Posted: 30 Jan 2012 at 10:12pm
| EPIC.... |
Posted By: Northland Bill
Date Posted: 30 Jan 2012 at 10:15pm
| Cheers guys. Action mounted looks like he does a good job. Story on previous page |
Posted By: mjl
Date Posted: 31 Jan 2012 at 12:53pm
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Mate well done! Well deserved too + 1 for Paddy at Action Mounts. I've got two of his on the wall in the shop. One of the good things about him being so popular is that his waiting list will give you plenty of time to save up! ------------- "It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top. " Hunter S. Thompson |
Posted By: ramjet24
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2012 at 8:59pm
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here is a skin mounted job done by richard abraham of taupo although just found out that he is heading overseas. he has won world taxidermy titles. if done properly a skin mount is good, the taxidermist needs to cast the head as you can't get all the fats and oils out of it and thats what causes some older skin mounts to discolour. will sound biased but its the second best snapper mount i've seen, the best is another couple of skin mounts at colins sport in opunake although not sure who did them. by the way this wasn't speared, caught surfcasting.
diver dan is right when he says its hard to capture the colours of a snapper and the taxidermist really has to be an artist to do it well. each scale on this mount is hand-painted and he even boiled out the jaw and put the original teeth back in the cast head! i could still pick a couple of holes in the colours but its still pretty good.
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Posted By: long john
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2012 at 9:03pm
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IMO skinmounts are inferior to glass mounts.
------------- Proud member of the Glen Innes Spearfishing Club |
Posted By: ramjet24
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2012 at 9:08pm
why is that?
skin mounting has come a long way since the old days and i like the fact that its actually my fish other than the cast head. either way its the paint job that makes the mount and very few taxidermists are what i would call real artists.
sorry photobucket doing some weird stuff will try and improve on the photo!
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Posted By: Rusky
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2012 at 9:33pm
| I like the mount Craymounts, but I reckon they always get the eyes wrong. |
Posted By: mjl
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2012 at 9:37pm
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We're gonna need a better picture of your one Ramjet - it appears better than any skin mounts I've seen which have all been pretty crappy. How old is it?
Paddy uses the actual jaws out of the fish in his mounts too. ------------- "It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top. " Hunter S. Thompson |
Posted By: Steve Hath
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2012 at 10:46pm
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I personally like fibreglass for how it looks long term, but you still have to be careful with the pecs and pelvic fins on snapper (if the originals are used- as they are with mine). But it all comes down to how good the guy is at painting. I've had varied success on that front with the 3 moulds I've had done. Have a look at some of their work and especially the paint jobs because some are real artists and others...
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Posted By: ramjet24
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2012 at 7:53am
yeah sorry photobucket was doing weird stuff last night, try this. you will find that guys who do a lot of skin mounted trout are usually the best taxidermists for any skin mount. as mentioned the key is also to find someone with genuine artistic ability as its the paint job that makes it.
this guy also reinforced the pectoral fin with a bit of fibreglass to ensure longevity.
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Posted By: herby
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2012 at 9:15am
| +1 for what rusky said. Best paint job I've seen on a snapper mount was Rob Fort's one. He's a pretty talented artist, and it really shows on that mount.... to the point that when I finally get one done I'll get the bare mount done and send it to him for painting. |
Posted By: CRAYMOUNTS
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2012 at 3:45pm
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in the glass mounts they do use the teeth out of your snapper ------------- CLASS CRAYMOUNTS DONE |
Posted By: Keeweebee
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2012 at 9:35pm
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Niiiiiiiiiiice fish Bill! anyone got a photo of a Rob fort mount?
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Posted By: Pcj
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2022 at 5:17pm
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Ok boys n girls who can you recommend and contact details for a kingfish.not mine neohews.sen the photo and yeah be 35/40 kg caught Firth this morning. Thanks ------------- Amateur's built the ark. Professional built the Titanic |