Here is the first segment showing the taxidermy work in progress that is going into the diorama that is being done for the South Dakato State University fisheries lab. The work is being done by me in cooperation with Pond Boss magazine.

This will be on display in its glass case at the Pond Boss convention.

The diorama will be complete with natural pond habitat and species that may be found in a South Dakota pond, which are a Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, bluegill, yellow perch, walleye, black crappie, northern pike, pumpkinseed and black bullhead.

Here is the start of the project:


Largemouth bass donated by Bill Cody of Malinta, Ohio ready to have a pattern traced.



Smallmouth bass out of one of my Indiana ponds.



Taking thickness measurements of the largemouth for the follwing pattern.



A pattern of the largemouth with pertinent measurements that are used to carve a body from soft foam, which the skin will be glued to.



One of those phenomenal Bruce Condello Nebraska bluegills and a large yellow perch taken from one of my Indiana ponds.



Dental Plaster inpression being made of the yellow perch and crappie, which the preserved skins will be placed back into and filled with a special fish filler to duplicate the exact anatomy of the original fish. Before the filler completely sets the fish can be positioned in any way desirable.



The plaster impression once the fish are removed.



Dental plaster impression being made of small walleye and Condello bluegill.




The plaster impresson once the fish are removed.


Northern pike and pattern just before the fish was skinned. This pike was given to me by a customer and caught in a local northern Indiana lake. As in the largemouth, and smallmouth, the body for the northern will also be carved out of soft foam. The pike will have a bluegill in his choppers.



Stay tuned for more pictures farther in the process when I get time to post them. I will be documenting this from start to finish. If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to contribute.

Cecil, there is not enough money in the world to be compensated for this quality of work....

This is going to be a v cool thread.
This isn't happening live, is it?

Thanks Cecil for taking the time to post that. I never knew the process. Can't wait to see the final work of art.

Cecil, will these be "Pedestal" mounts?

What a facinating thread. Cecil, I've have seen the photos of other projects you've done but had no idea what the process was.

This is gonna be fun to watch the process.

Thanks for the (ongoing as it continues) info, Cecil. Very interesting.

This is great. I've never seen how this was done. About how much time does it take to do 1 fish?

I just learned more in five minutes of studying this thread than I knew in my whole lifetime about the process.

Nice job, Cecil. You make this forum so much better.

I know where my 2 pound Burgerzilla bluegill will be going to be made into permanent displays!

Looking forward to following this thread. Thanks, Cecil.

Nope. It's too long a process to cover live.

Yes the the seams will be invisible from all angles. Fish will be just as if they are freely moving underwater. What I like about this project is the fish will look more natural with their mouths closed vs. the jaw cranked fighting poses most of my customers request.

For these kinds of mounts with no visible seam we are talking lots of hours per fish.

This will look just like you were watching them in a Northern Pond. This is for scientific study by students and teachers. Only the best work would do - that is why Cecil got the job !!

Come to the convention and see - you will be amazed.

Cecil,
I sent you a PM

Here are the northern pike and largemouth bass completely skinned out. Nothing perishable is used -- just the skin, head, and fins.

I would post more pics but I've had a student the last two days and I'm pressed for time right now. Look for pics of the bodies being carved for the largemouth, smallmouth, and northern pike next.

Apologies for the fish meat plastered wall but after a few thousand fish that kind of happens.

No apologies necessary. The bed of my pickup is starting to look like that.

Thanks for sharing this Cecil, I'm loving it already.

I don't see a GFI on that electrical outlet on the wall...

Does that area have a permanent funk smell now?

Yup, thanks for taking the time to share your art.

There is a GFI in the system but not on that particular plug.

Here is the process of carving a foam body and mounting up the northern pike in a "pedestal postion" with the seam on the belly which will be hidden. Please note this is in the rough and lots of things still need to be done later once the skin is dry as in installing the eyes, building up shrinkage on the head,lips,fins bases etc. Also molding scales to fill in and finish the belly seam so it is invisable etc. And of course air brush painting and some gold scale tips that are applied with a fine paint brush to put the colors back into the fish that have totally faded out.

The foam used to carve the body. This is similar to what florists use. Very soft and dusty. A mess to work with!



Here is the a piece of foam cut off of that block with the pattern traced out on top, and the side profile of the fish free handed and then appropriate measurements used to connect the dots.



Here a saw is used to cut the side profile out. The cut pieces are placed back together and then the top profile is cut out.



Here is the skin with glue applied and the finished form that was completed sculpting with coarse sand paper.



Here is the belly seam temporarily pinned in place. The seam will be filled in with an epoxy once the skin is dry, sanded, filled in again, and the epozy allowed to cure and sand again. Finally one more coat of epoxy with scale impressiona that were molded off the skin pressed into place. And finally the seam will be painted.



Here is the northern with an unfinished freeze dried bluegill to check for fit. The bluegill was removed and replaced with a piece of foam ths same thinkness. When the mount and the bluegill are complete the bluegill is slid into place.



Here is the northern with the fins carded and in postion to dry.
Front view.



Back turn view.



Head on view.



Top view.

Cecil, what all kinds of preservation stuff is done with the skin? Anything so far to the point the NP above is at?

I'm really enjoying this thread Cecil. Start to finish about how many hours will be put into a project like this?

There are several different solutons taxidermists use depending on what they prefer and what works for them. Some use 50/50 denatured alcohol/water to soak the skin until ready to mount, and then rehydrate it in plain water. Some use a borax solution which is what I use. I also degrease a northern pike's skin in mineral spirts (paint thinner) before soaking in the borax solution. I use the the paint thinner for musky, carp, and trout and salmon also. Not necessary on other species.



I think you mean how far the northern pike is along at this point?

It will be ready for the finish work in a few days in preparation for painting.

I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Good question on how long it takes. I'm terrible at estimating times. I always underestimate. I just know it will be done in time and that is the most important thing to me and of course those that are waiting to see it! LOL

I have attempted to do time studies but always forget to record the end time. I get so involved I forget!

Here is Bruce's bluegill and the walleye placed into the mold impressions that were made earlier. The fish are overfilled with the fish filler mache and then the excess is pushed out the back seam. Just before the filler kicks the fish is removed from the mold impression and set into whatever postion I prefer. This is not the same as just slopping in fish filler mache into a fish skin. With mold as a guide -- as in this case -- the correct anatomy is duplicated.



Here they are mounted and drying with the fins carded. Note the fins are more relaxed vs. the unnatural fully extended fins on most commerical angler mounts. JMO, but I also prefer the mouth closed on a fish as it looks more natural. Bruce's fish has a small roughed up area on the side which will be totally repaired when I'm done. I'm an expert on repairs!

BTW these fish are not as straight as they look in the photo.

Cecil, are you good at filleting fish?




(You don't have to answer that.)

You know I'm not trying to brag but it's funny you brought that up. After skinning fish and having to deal with keeping the scales on, filleting is so easy! In fact I was at an aquaculture meeting and a fish producer was bragging about this woman that filleted his perch and how fast she was. When he told us how quick she was I chuckled to myself because I knew I could fillet faster.

Hey maybe we should have a filleting contest at the convention complete with a paramedic.

More fish pics.

Here's a yellow perch in a reverse curve postion to add variety to the display. The photograph distorts the turn to make it look more severe than it is.




Here is a black crappie.




Tomorrow I will include pics of the largemouth bass and smallmouth bass.

This is going to be outstanding. Thanks for doing this for us to see, Cecil.

I really like the natural positioning of the fins.

Awesome work, Cecil!

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Thanks, Cecil. It sure is interesting to watch the fine details of your work.

Since bullhead or any catfish are a nightmare to mount I had a friend I know in Wisconsin that custum molds fish, mold me a black bullhead he caught fishing the other day. Here is what it looks like unpainted.



I also went with a fiberglass blank for the pumpkinseed as it was problematic finding a specimen here. Here is the blank for that.



BTW if any of you ever want a custom replica of a fish from your ponds this guy is the one to go with. His name is Joshua Knuth and he is located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. His email address is:

joshua@knuthart.com <joshua@knuthart.com

Cecil...

You are truely an artist and this is fascinating. I had no idea what all was involved with mounting a fish. Thanks.

Not sure about the artist part unless you mean BS artist. A lot of this can be learned but thank you for the kind words.

Here's Bill Cody's largemouth that will be attached to two lily pad stems and have his body pointed up at a steep angle eyeing over a frog on top of another lily pad. For some reason the picture makes it look really straight but it is not.



Here is the reverse side where the seam is. I chose to put the seam on the side as this is where a dark spot pattern exists and will make it easy to hide (relatively speaking).

Here is the smallmouth bass after it was mounted. (Reverse curve)

Another thank you Cecil.
Your work is amazing, thanks for taking the time to share it.

Matt Wehland

Here is an idea what the largemouth that is mounted in the following picture will be doing in the diorama. The stems of the pads will be bent steel, coated, and painted green with a flat metal tab welded onto the stems. The tabs will then be epoxied into the fish and should not be visible. A frog replica or frog lure will be epoxied to the top of another pad. My friend Josh Knuth in Oshkosh, Wisconsin who is an expert molder and gifted artist, is supplying the pads which are molded off of the real thing, and also the stems complete with the welded on tabs.

Mounted Bill Cody bass:




Live bass doing what I will attempt to duplicate:

Cecil,
Do these preserved specimens have a shelf life? I mean, after a certain (long) amount of time, does their physical integrity begin to break down in any way?...or....are they as sturdy in 100 years as they were when they were first preserved?

If done correctly using today's state of the art techniques I have no doubt mounts I do will not only outlive me but looks as good as they did when I did them. This is especially true if they are under glasS and don't get dusty, aren't subjected to direct sunlight on a continuous basis, or drastic temperature changes or intense humidity and heat. I wish I had a nickel for every customer that has had his mounts banned to the garage or dingy basement by his wife. It's sad they pay that kind of money but they end up there.

Just in case you may have seen some that are breaking down most likely those are done the old way and may not have been done by someone that does the state of the art techniques of today. Sometimes taxidermist's are lazy and don't take everything out of the fish either, which could cause bug problems -- although I have never ever seen that. I'm a stickler on removing everything all the way to the fin rays with a scalpel even if in some cases this causes me to make small holes near the rays, but that is easily repaired.

There are also a lot of discolored mounts out there that are due to smoking or grease in bars. A lot of those horrible deer mounts you see were also slapped together with a dry preservative vs. tanning. Tanning a hide always produces a better product.

Fish taxidermy has come a long ways in the last 20 years complete with fungicidal sealers and speciality paints. Also parts that are difficult to preserve are cast. What has really brought up the standard in our art form is state, national, and world competitions. If you talk to a taxidermist that pooh poohs competing run as fast as you can. This usually indicates he is not willing to learn new things or is not willing to put in the effort to improve his work.

More pics:

Bill Cody's largemouth showing where the shrinkage was built back up with a two part epoxy and the eyes are now in place. The lips,top of head, throat etc. all shrink down in the drying process and must be built back up to duplicate a live fish. Also any seams etc must be reproduced to their original likeness. Fins are also coated several times with "Sobo glue" to build them up to original thickness.

Front



Back






The back seam filled in and scales sculpted back in at the seam. The seam should not be visible once the fish is painted both with a hand brush and air brushed.




The northern pike. (The case it is setting on for the photo is NOT where all nine fish will go into!) That display case they will be in is MUCH BIGGER!





Bruce Condello's Condello strain bluegill.



Please note these fish are still UNFINISHED in these photos. Painting them makes a world of difference!

Never before have I understood the need for painting so clearly.

What a great thread! Captivating stuff to an old art major.
Thanks

This probably sounds silly, but Cecil you have a knack for getting the "facial expressions" just right. That bluegill looks like he's thinking about something. A lot of mounts that I see the fish seems to be without any personality.

Does that make any sense?

Cecil's entire presentation and pics for this thread should be printed out and arranged on a posterboard next to the final product. This tutorial will lend volumes of appreciation.

Cecil, with all of the work you put into skin mounts it seems that fiberglass reproductions would be less work. On the other hand I guess a skin mount gets closer to the original. Is this correct?

Yeah he's thinking he's mad at you Bruce for having him mounted. Can you blame him?

Seriously there is this one setting we call the "fish eye." It's where the eyes are floating upward and just don't look right. Maybe that is what you've seen? Although they can do about anything with their eyes, and move each one independently of each other, typically they are canted down slightly and in, in the front slightly.

A good replica is easier to do but a bad one is not, as you have to make a lot of corrections.

Yes the skin mount is obviously closer to the original but there are still things added that are not orginal.

I believe there is a place for both skin mounts and repros. I distain the purists that pooh pooh skin mounts but can't come up with valid biological reasons why. If a guy catches and releases 2000 fish in a year and 10 percent end up as morts, how is this better than a guy that catches 50 a year for the frying pan or has one mounted?

The true art in fish taxidermy comes into play after the fish is mounted and when the colors are put back on the fish. IMO most fish taxidermists do not have the talent and have not mastered the fine art of recreating the natural recoloration of the live fish. Cecil has a real gift and talent for reproducing the natural looks and recoloration of a mounted fish. As I understand it, it is more of a tinting and staining proceedure rather than painting. I've dabbled in fish taxidermy and really appreciate Cecil's skills of mounting a fish. Cecil does not have prize winning blue ribbons for fish taxidermy on his wall for no reason.

Thank you for the kinds words Bill.

Bill is no slouch. He has a painting of a walleye on his wall that he did himself that blows me away.

Not to toot my own horn but if you recall my artwork has been compared to Da Vinci and Picasso. Of course it was also considered a sign of the apocalypse.

Jeff's Masterpiece "Can You Spot the Bovine."

All kidding aside Cecil you have unreal skills. Combining both the talents of a scuplture and a painter. I can only hope to catch a fish worth of your talents some day.

Largemouth postioned in place.



Close up of largemouth. (Sorry about all the reflection on the glass.)



Yellow perch attached to artificial rock.



Crappie



Black Bullhead



Preserved crayfish painted and ready to add to the diorama.



Dragon fly found dead in one of my ponds by my nephew's little boy. He wanted to give it a proper burial (he's only a few years old), but I said I wanted it for the diorama. Anyway I soaked it in denatured alcohol, dried it and coated it with a sealer. Also repainted the tail stem.



Freeze dried frog painted and attached to a lily pad.



Mixing up sand and Elmers glue to make the base material. I added black Tempera powder to make the area around the lily pads more of a silty muck.



The sign that will be attached to the diorama.



I'd show you the final product but I have been instructed to wait and let it be seen at the convention first.

If I had no other reason to attend, I'd still go to the conference to see that.

Awww-SUM!

Wow, Cecil. Can't wait to see it.

"CECIL BAIRD, Certified Master Fish Taxidermist"

and how!

Let's face it; Cecil is certifiable on several different levels.

Nice, real nice!

I've always thought there was something special about a LMB mount in closed-mouth position. Maybe just because it's different--but I know I really like it.

J U S T - W A I T - TO - Y O U - S E E
T H E - F I N I S H E D - P R O U D C T -- -

How soon with the finished product be posted, for us poor, unfortunate souls that can't make the big gathering in TX?

It's fantastic...I'd love to see it. In person would be better, but it's not to be...unless I go to South Dakota sometime?

Friday am is the most likely time. It will be the first post of Live from the pond cam II .

Yep I'm a certifiable nutcase when it comes to ponds just like the rest of you!

Here are some more pics:

Sand in one bucket and gravel in another. The sand is mixed with Elmer's glue to make the base which will dry rock hard. The gravel, rocks, and snail shells are added while the mixture is still wet.



Here is some sand mixed with Elmer's glue and black tempera pigment to make a more mucky bottom. The idea was to use a more mucky bottom around the cattails and lily pads. I ended up having to moderate it a little as it sharply contrasted with the rest of the base.



A final pic minus the pumpkinseed which will be completed and added soon.

I'm pleased to have seen it in person. It is, indeed, an awesome masterpiece and labor of love. Well done, Cecil....very well done.

Thanks for the kind words Brettski. It was fun talking politics with you too!

ssshhhh....
we might get moderated

I've been known to wear mismatched socks.

Consider it done.

I wear mismatched socks a lot. It's amazing how many socks are in that basket that don't match! I never realized how many variations of blue and black there are.

This could get good...

You mean I'm setting myself up right?

There are times that I mistakenly wear one blue sock and one red sock. I find myself turning left and right all day.

You steer by looking at your socks?

only when entering port

Red sock on right when returning?

Black and blue - Cecil aren't those the colors of bruises ?

I'm tired of all socks. I'm going barefoot until I find a pair I like.

Cecil, I love your work!

Hey, what's the smallest fish you've ever skin mounted?

Thanks for the kind words Brettski. It was fun talking politics with you too!

Sure hate I missed that one.

burger, you'll see a single smiley face on the top of the post window when you use the Full Reply Screen. It's on the same toolbar that has the icons for link, image, bold, quote, etc.

If you click that single smiley you'll see a drop down box with several choices. Put the cursor where you want the smiley and click the one you want.

Cool stuff Cecil. I like it a lot.

This is just such a fantastic thread about the fish taxidermy process that I thought it should be brought forward for those, like me, who somehow either missed it, or forgot about it while it was on-going last summer. I remember the lead-up to the final product, and seeing it at the convention, but . . . my brain must be failing me.

Ken

Ken,

Talk about brain failing. You had me confused. I couldn't figure out how this got on the regular forum. I thought maybe I accidentally did it when I posted the link in another thread.

BTW I've been inhaling paint fumes for 26 years. You're fine compared to me. Trust me.

The other day I went in to get a pair of pliers to fix something outside. I still haven't figured out how the TV remote ended up in my hands vs. the pliers. Bad, bad sign!

Our pastor, who is my age, starts many of his sermons with a short or silly story. A few years ago he very seriously told us about his ever increasing experiences with the "here after." He said its gotten to where almost every time he goes into a room he has to ask himself: "What am I here after?"

I like that. I'll have to remember that. I've been to the "here after" many times. It's really bad when you drive into town and for a split second you forget what you drove there for!

The truth be known I think we have all been to the here after. It's a matter of something either distracts you are you get to thinking of something else. They told us in Nursing school that when people get older they attribute it to old age, when in fact people of all ages do this.

Ken - Thanks for resurrecting this thread. It is excellent and informative. I missed it the first time and don’t know how. Maybe the Pond Barge interfered.

Cecil - You certainly are a talented man!

Forgetting why a person went to town is normal, isn’t it?

Doesn't everybody do that?

Excuse me for a moment. My invisible partner is talking to me again.

Here is the pic. I will hunt down the one from its home at SDSU.

Cecil and SDSU's Northern Pond.

This one shows the fish better.

Very impressive!

Cecil, forget to remember the here after story. You should be extremely happy that you don't look like a hung over Canuck anymore. I laugh every time I see a pic of you cause it reminds me of when you posted that. Someone PLEASE dig up that pic and re-post it. In fact it should be in the archives. I remember an anti drug psa from the sixties that had a nice lookin college kid holding up an awful, scraggly scetch, saying this is my self portrait on acid. Paint fumes/flashback? Hell, I think your looks are regressing rather than your paint fumes tainted thinker.

Yep I've have days where I looked like a druggie especially when I had a deadline and I stayed up painting fish for days on end in the wee hours of the night. Can't do it anymore. Getting too old.

I used to promise people fish by Christmas that brought the fish in at the last minute or called me a few days before Christmas. No more. I look at them and want to say, "Do I look like a ** Santa Claus?

Oh here's the picture you want Bob. This was no hang over (I rarely drink). And I had not stayed up late that night. I suffer from allergies from such things as common house dust to a minor allergy to the dog that sleeps in the bed to you name it. I've been tested and the list is a mile long. I had also just got out of bed here and found this fish floating when the dog pestered me to go outside. I do remember the wife saying, "Shouldn't you at least comb your hair?"

Cecil, thanks for the re-laugh, that is a great pic simply because of the fish, no one was lookin at you till you mentioned it. As far as the wife's comment, most women are that way. I caught a monster Pike once and had my pic taken fish mouth wide open right up close (ala Dr Frankenbruce), you could have easily fit your fist into its mouth. When I proudly showed my sister in law the pic, she said very indignantly "Bob, your hats on backwards"

Never knew this thread existed till Cecil linked back to it. Fascinating.