I don't think of myself as a trophy hunter or fisherman. I have some nice antlers in my garage but don't display them. I would love to get 1 big Bull elk 300+ to eat and have mounted and wouldn't have a problem taking cows for meat after that. I would like to have just one huge open range mule dear on the wall to look at when I can no longer hunt and know that I accomplished that goal. I have never debated having any of the fish I have caught mounted but there are 4 that I would have a very tough time both CnRing or not mounting.
#1 A bright King over 65lbs Salt or River
#2 A Silver over 22 lbs clipped or wild
#3 Steelhead over 25lbs
#4 Walleye over 15lbs
All being legal to keep.
Where do you draw the line, does fresh or salt make a difference? Am I a maggot for even thinking about keeping 1 or any of them under any circumstance.
which would you want more for yourself?

For me the 65-plus king goes back.

The 22-plus silver goes back, unless it is clipped.... then break out the wood shampoo.

The 25# steelhead goes back unless it is clipped.... more wood shampoo.

The 15# walleye would definitely get the deep conditioning wood shampoo.... not for the mount, but for the fillets. Besides, I'm not interested in conserving a non-native species, especially one that gets fat off salmonid smolts in the Columbia system.

why not take pictures, release them all, and get a replica?

Replicas all the way...they last way longer and look just as good as the skin mounts if done correctly.
CM

For me it would be like this:
#50 Chrome king in Washington or Oregon
Wood shampoo.
#20 Chrome bright silver in Washington or Oregon / Wood shampoo.
#25 Chrome bright steelhead in Washington or Oregon / Wood Shampoo.
Note: It must be legal to do so or no wood shampoo.So far the I've only come so close.
#40 king=Oregon
#18 silver=Washington
#23 steelhead=Washington
Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

If it's legal to do so, I don't have a problem with harvesting/keeping fish for mounting.

For me personally, they'd have to be quality, bright fish. No boots. No touchups, etc.

#1 Bright Steelhead over 27 pounds. I already bonked a 27 pounder in my lifetime and didn't have it mounted or measured. I'd bonk it if it was off the Quinault again.

#2 Bright Kasilof King over 50 pounds. Bright Kenai king over 75 pounds (never fished the Kenai for kings yet). Bright king in any Washington waterway over 50 pounds. I'd bonk all those.

#3 Bright 25+ pound coho. Even than, I don't really care about cohos so I probably wouldnt' get it mounted. Maybe a bright state record. Bonk!

I have the big Mulie , Elk and Bear. I need a big whitetail. I have been putting in for draws on Moose, Bighorns and Sheep since day one so I will get those someday as well. I also have the 60lb+ king and 20lb + coho 10+ lb Wa rainbow. I have not Steelhead fished much so I need to catch a 20lb+ fish there. No bonking natives for me. IMHO the big fish do not eat as well as the smaller ones .

I'm with Doc's guidelines.
Reproduction is the way to go to sustain healthy wild fish population.

I have a couple of Mulies that score 189 and 194. A whitetail that scores 161, and elk that scores 318. As for fish the only one I have mounted is a 14 lb Lahoatan cutt from Pryamide lake, and all other fish I just have 8x10 pictures in frames. Never caught a big salmon. Never shot a moose or any type of sheep.

Anyone know why the repos cost as much or more than the skin mounts? It sure seems they would be alot cheaper. I bet you could get more people to release the trophy if they were about half as much. I think the coolest mount would be the 25+# Steelhead. They are the prettiest. Full mount inside a glass coffee table with gravel & some wood would look very nice. Heh heh heh he said wood.

Agree with you Parker. A keani king would have to be 75#. The thing about the kenai is, 20 years ago we had three at 70# in the boat by noon. In the last 5 years I've boated only one over 70#. I might consider a smaller mount on the kasilof, if it was out of my drift-boat with only one other guy in the boat.

I've hit several steelies on the clearwater that were mountable, but I just can't get myself to fork over the glue. One day last year I had a VERY MOUNTABLE head to the boat on a certain OP river. Actually I had it to the boat three times. That would have been on my wall, however I wouldn't have bonked it. The only other fish worthy of a mount might be an upper kenai bow, in the 10lb+ range.