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Taxidermy Question (Graphite Replica)


LOTWKIng

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Well i was lucky enough to hook into a nice walleye this weekend and took plenty of pictures of it. However it wasnt quite big enough for me to keep the actual fish. I would like to make a graphite replica of it tho cuz the story behind catching it has some value. My question is who does good graphite work? And are you guys happy with the way graphites look?

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Congratulations on the catch and commendations on releasing it to fight another day.

I have heard a few people praising Fiber Tech Productions. They sponsor this site. Check out their gallery, and especially the walleye. http://www.fibertechproductions.com/

I have also heard good things about Artistic Anglers.

Good luck with the reprod., congratulations, and thanks for letting that big girl swim for another day!

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I had a 46" northern done by Fibertech and it turned out very nice. The only thing I didn't like is that I could tell he used a muskie blank, it has pointed fins.

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I would recommend to actually go look at his product at Fibertech. The website is NOT a good gauge on the painting quality.

I have had several done by Fibertech and the speed of the turn around time is amazing.

I had one done by Artistic Anglers in Duluth, and will NEVER go there again. Quality is great, but if you can get in touch with a human being to talk to, you are really lucky. Very poor customer service at Artistic Anglers.

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Artistic Anglers in Duluth is who I use. GREAT work. You may have to wait a while longer but there is a reason for that. Lots of people use them because of their good work.

I had a 31.5" walleye done and I couldnt believe how much detail the painter got out of the picture. Graphites are only as good as the painter.

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I talked to a couple guys down at the muskie show last winter. I know they were running some deals. If you want to wait, you may be able to save a couple bucks.

I've seen fibertech's stuff. It's excellent.

Lax is another really good one to check out.

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Artistic Anglers does great work. Their mounts are simply amazing! I'm getting a Largemouth Bass done right now in fact. Remember quality and art take time.

-Leech

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I have had 4 done by Artistic Anglers and love them. They are the best IMO. I have had great customer service and the quality is amazing.

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I'm having a walleye done by Artistic Anglers right now. They said 8-12 months and that is perfectly fine with me. It took me 30 years to finally get a walleye worth putting on the wall and another year to wait is not that big of a deal. The customer service was great! They asked all the questions of what I wanted done and took interest in where I caught it and what time of year it was. So far, I am pleased with them. I'll have another post when I get it back.

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Lax all the way. Rick did a 55 x 26 inch musky for me last year. I have a 16 x 20 photo of the fish next to the replica, and it's hard to tell them apart. Color and pattern are almost exact. Head detail is awesome. You can see through the mouth/gills from front or back. And, they have great customer service.

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  • 3 months later...

If that would have been me getting the fish done. I would have made them fix it or re-do it. There is no way they should have made a mistake like that!!!!

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I think one in called River's Edge and they do a really nice job. My dad had a bass done by him and he did all the replica's for the Sportsman's Warehouse in Fargo.

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I have had a largemouth bass done by Artistic Anglers, and one done by Fibertech.

The fish done by Artistic Anglers is much nicer than the one done by Fibertech, I wasn't very pleased with the fish from Fibertech. The color looks nothing like the picture, and the shape/detail of the fish wasn't very good. In their defense, I never asked them to redo it, for all I know, they may have taken care of it, but I didn't have much confidence after that.

From now on, all of my replicas will either go to Artistic Anglers, or Fittante.

The are worth the longer wait.

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I just received notice from Matt at Artistic Anglers that they are starting my replica. They told me 8-12 months and they are right on their projected quote. I think that is terrific customer service.

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  • 1 month later...

Well, I just picked up my walleye today. Matt at Artistic Anglers was right on time and very easy to work with. Any questions that he had or that I had were answered within that day. The detail is unreal and I will definately be having my next one done by him.

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Here is the Largemouth Bass that Artistic Anglers did for me.

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They matched the colors perfect. Couldn't be more happy.

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I wonder how one might beat the quality of those mounts? From what I have seen, Artistic Anglers does a very fine job and the better part is, they should last forever.

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I have one from fibertech and one from artistic anglers, and there is no comparison, the artistic anglers replica is much nicer.

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I am very happy with my Artistic Angler mount and will be having them do a few slabs for me soon. The paint jobs are awesome!

Like I have said before the real thing to look for in a reproduction is the paint job. Everyone basically uses the same type of molding. Craftmanship once out of the mold and the paint job is where the good get seperated out from the great.

Do your homework at shows and go with who you think has the best product and who will get it done in a time frame you can live with and at a price you can handle. Believe me you do get what you pay for in most cases.

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I have a fibertech northern mount and it is very good. In fact compared to my skin mounts it is superior for it's lifelike finish and durability. Two enthusiastic thumbs up for Fibertech!

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Talked to few people up here and general idea was the mounts artistic are great couple of guys wished they would of gone that route. Today Im not sure in the middle 60 mph winds and snow.

( Note from Admin, please read forum policy before posting again,Thank-you.)

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

I've also compared both and frankly they are so similar it's hard to tell one from the other. Anything else is just hype.

Again see for yourself by clicking on the link below....

Click here for Fibertech Productions

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
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    • LakeofthewoodsMN
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    • CigarGuy
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    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
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