drifter,
May I ask why you are partial to a skin mount?

The reason I ask is that I have a friend that I used to fish with that feels the same way you do. He fishes around oil city on the hoh for that reason. If he gets that trophy he wants to get a skin mount. When I asked him why he said 'so nobody can question whether it was that big'.

I personally cannot think of a good reason to get a skin mount. Even if I kept say a king or a silver and was going to have it mounted I would get a replica. Skin mounts if done right take about a year and a half, you could have a replica done in a few months. Skin mounts require alot of upkeep, replicas do not. Skin mounts often crack and peel replicas do not. Replicas should be cheaper given the extra work and time that goes into a skin mount. Oh and the best reason of all, that trophy steelhead gets to go make more trophy steelhead.