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I have developed some very unique
methods of skinning and mounting fish. By removing the entire skull and skinning down into
the fin butts, I have eliminated the problems of grease bleeding and minimized
shrinkage in the head and fin junctions. I have skin mounted hundreds
of trout, including lake trout and salmon, catfish and saltwater fish
using this method. It is a technique that I began learning when
I worked for a taxidermist in Idaho. It is simple to use on trout
& salmon, but I have adapted the technique to bass, pike, walleye and
other fish traditionally mounted with open gills. (Click here to see a
photo of a skinned out trout.) This method
requires me to carve each fish body myself, since there are no commercial
forms available for this method. The fish dry fast, often in less than
a week for a large pike or musky and there is very little shrinkage to
fill in. Since the entire mouth interior is also removed, I must
sculpt the mouth back into the mount just as I would do on a reproduction
fish. 
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