blue marlin taxidermy
June 5, 2005 8:53 PM
On Saturday afternoon I caught a 450lb, 9.5 foot Blue Marlin off the coast of Cape Hatterras.
Its bill is now sitting in my kitchen packed in some ice. I'd like to get it preserved/mounted. Any idea how I should do this? Should I try to find a fish taxidermist and not bother with it myself or should it be a simple procedure that I can do on my own? How many days before it's too gone to do anything with?
FYI - in case you are concerned and know that in general marlin is a catch and release fish, this particular fish, unfortunately, perished in the 2.5 hour fight and was dead about a minute after surfacing. That's why I was able to keep it.
Its bill is now sitting in my kitchen packed in some ice. I'd like to get it preserved/mounted. Any idea how I should do this? Should I try to find a fish taxidermist and not bother with it myself or should it be a simple procedure that I can do on my own? How many days before it's too gone to do anything with?
FYI - in case you are concerned and know that in general marlin is a catch and release fish, this particular fish, unfortunately, perished in the 2.5 hour fight and was dead about a minute after surfacing. That's why I was able to keep it.
Fish skin is very thin (compared to mammals, etc.) and will take a very large amount of skill and patience to properly mount. Find a taxidermist, stat. You were lucky enough to catch and keep this monster, so do what bh suggests and get what you have mounted by a pro.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:31 AM on June 6, 2005
posted by caution live frogs at 6:31 AM on June 6, 2005
From what I understand, when you see the mounted trophies of marlin, sailfish, etc, the only original part of the fish is the bill. The taxidermist then creates a proportional fiberglass model of the fish based on the length of the bill.
Congratulations on the catch. It's quite an experience isn't it?
posted by Heatwole at 6:53 AM on June 6, 2005
Congratulations on the catch. It's quite an experience isn't it?
posted by Heatwole at 6:53 AM on June 6, 2005
I assume you did not release it.
Good job on killing another defenseless fish from our already depleted waters.
posted by eas98 at 7:14 AM on June 6, 2005
Good job on killing another defenseless fish from our already depleted waters.
posted by eas98 at 7:14 AM on June 6, 2005
Way to read the whole post, eas98.
Yeah, when they mount these fish all you get is the bill and maybe the tail, and it's right expensive, particularly with this big a catch. Unfortunately I had no time in the Outer Banks to find a taxidermist as I was leaving to get back to NY the next day early. I'm going to find one ASAP here in NY.
posted by spicynuts at 7:56 AM on June 6, 2005
Yeah, when they mount these fish all you get is the bill and maybe the tail, and it's right expensive, particularly with this big a catch. Unfortunately I had no time in the Outer Banks to find a taxidermist as I was leaving to get back to NY the next day early. I'm going to find one ASAP here in NY.
posted by spicynuts at 7:56 AM on June 6, 2005
Hee hee.. My bad. Props for the concern, but still a dead great fish for the sake of entertainment.
posted by eas98 at 9:51 AM on June 6, 2005
posted by eas98 at 9:51 AM on June 6, 2005
I had a fish (admittedly, much MUCH smaller) packed on ice for four days during a rafting trip. When I got it to a taxidermist, he had no problems mounting it.
eas98: "note: Ask MetaFilter is as useful as you make it. Please limit comments to answers or help in finding an answer. Wisecracks don't help people find answers. Thanks."
posted by event at 9:59 AM on June 6, 2005
eas98: "note: Ask MetaFilter is as useful as you make it. Please limit comments to answers or help in finding an answer. Wisecracks don't help people find answers. Thanks."
posted by event at 9:59 AM on June 6, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by bh at 3:00 AM on June 6, 2005