It was the 4th week in July and Kenai King fishing was on fire. We landed 7 fish over 50lbs. I personally release all King Salmon on the Kenai and this week was no different. I have always tried to promote conservation of these legendary fish. While catch and release fishing, I always have a plan, which includes a quick fight, never taking a fish out of the water and a quick release. During that week, my partner landed a fish that may have been pushing 80lbs and released it after a great fight. The only time I would ever kill a legend is if it bled to death during the fight.
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On the last night of the trip, we were fishing at the Crossover drift and my partner’s rod goes off, he modestly tells me to take it. Without hesitation, I grab the rod out of the holder. The fish immediately burnt off a hundred yards of braided line and took me for a good quick ride down river.
After the long run, the fish fizzled out and came to the surface. That’s when I knew something was wrong. The fight ended in just less than 7 minutes and the fish was in the net. I was adamant about letting the fish go. That’s when my partner said “it’s dead”. I looked in the net and a stream of blood was pouring down the river. Unfortunately, the fish took a 7/O Eagle Claw hook to the gills and had torn through 2 gill rakes. For a moment I contemplated returning the fish to the water. A stream of blood was flowing down the river and at that point I knew the fish was dead. My long run of returning fish to the river was over. Once the fish was on board, we had a lively discussion about its size. Was it 60, 65, 70? At the time none of us thought the fish to be more then 70lbs. I felt it was in the mid to upper sixties and definitely a trophy caliber fish. After another hour of fishing, we headed back to camp with full intentions of settling the argument.
The first scale we hung the fish on read 75lbs. In disbelief, I went to the neighbors and borrowed his scale which also read 75lbs. It was at this point, I knew that this fish was worthy of a mount. All of us that were in the boat shared a toast to this magnificent fish and we proceeded to measure this fish for a reproduction mount. I choose to do a reproduction because I felt that the mount would age better than a skin mount. When I returned back to home from my vacation, I started to research taxidermists. I looked at some local fish, went to sportsman’s shows and read reviews on the internet. Part of my criteria for selecting a taxidermist was to find a person that was experienced with Kenai fish.
I feel that each trophy fish mount should be done by an expert that specializes in a specific species. I have a Steelhead that was done by a taxidermist that did not specialize in Salmon or Steelhead and the result was a mount that I have never been happy with. This fish is unique and one that I am going to admire for many years. My search landed me with Real Life Taxidermy in Anchorage Alaska. Mark Osland is known as one of the finest Kenai King taxidermists and has the resume to back it up. The waiting period for production was 18 to 24 months.
The fish had an overall length of 53” and was 33” around. This size of fish is not out of the ordinary for Osland as he has been molding kings for 2 decades. Mark is able to match my measurements and photos up with a mold and begin the process.
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Once the mold is selected, the blank is assembled and worked over to have seamless transitions. The assembled fish is now called a blank.
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After the blank has cured and passes inspection, the paint process begins. In my mind, this is where the artistry of the taxidermist comes into play. A great taxidermist can make every scale look real. The base coat goes on in many layers. It is at this point that it is beginning to resemble the photo that I sent Mark 24 months ago.
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Now that the base coat has been applied the next step is scale tipping. One layer at a time the fish is beginning to come together. As seen in the photo below, every layer makes the fish come to life.
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The final product is a King mount that looks as if it just came out of the water. The details are amazing and the folks at Real Life Taxidermy have certainly lived up to their reputation. The mount is truly representative of the beautiful Kenai King I caught that July evening and I already have it proudly displayed over the fireplace. I will cherish this fish for years to come.
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