A few years back I released a BEAUTIFUL steelhead that was pushin 20 lbs. This fish had been in the river for awhile and had that tademark, red and green with huge spots look to it. We had no camera, no tape measure, and I'll never forget my grandpa saying, " Take a good long look at that one boy 'cause it'll be a LOOOOOONG time til you catch another one like that". The image of that fish will be etched into my mind forever... but DAMN do I wish I would've had a camera and tape with me. To this day I don't leave home without both. I was 15 when I caught that fish, I'm 23 now, and despite getting pretty serious and much better at steelheading ,I haven't even came close to a fish that size. Does anyone have any advice on taxidermists for when I do bump into another big one?? Prices and pictures of their work would be cool but any advise is much appreciated.

P.S......... I think this might be my winter

Luke Filmer with Blackwater Fish Replicas period!.............

When you walk into Sportco and see the replicas of those giant steelhead on your right? Yeah those are actually some older ones he did like 10 years ago. His quality in my mind is unmatched. Yes there are some other good artists in the area as well.

Show him a picture of a steelhead resembling your fish as close as possible and give him close dimensions and he'll go to work!

The two guys that will get the most nods here are Filmer and Campbell.

Filmer did my steelhead and I'm completely happy with it. Did a superb job. I never got the sense he was in a rush to get it done, simply to move on to another. We sat, talked, drew out some design options and he even encouraged me to help pick the background wood from his supply out back.

Still looks great 8 years later.

I should add it is a fiberglass reproduction. He worked off my measurements of the fish and a photo.

If you want the best, there's only one guy to go to:

Dave Campbell

I've got three of his fish up on my wall and they all can be found in his online gallery:

http://www.davecampbellfish.com/home.htm

For reference, they are:

30" Rainbow



Close up of the trout head and how it changes/looks in ambient light.



Here's my 43" steelhead:



Here's the 58 lb Kasilof King:

Damn dude those are some nice replicas

Cambell's work is awesome. The website doesn't list any prices, do you know if he charges by the inch? I would imagine a taxidermist of that caliber would be pretty pricey but I'm sure you get what you pay for when it comes to mounting fish.