So, I'm looking to get another replica of my 10.33 made. I want one that gets as close as possible to the exact dimensions as possible, with the true color of the fish. The fish was a post-spawn female, so she was more long and lean, as opposed to short and fat
I had several people endorse Lake Fork Taxidermy for this, and I exchanged a couple of emails with Jason Pierce, and thought we were set, and then I never heard back from him (several weeks now). So, I guess they got too busy, or whatever. But, not a solid business practice, so I'm done with them, and now looking for someone else.

I basically just want someone who does quality work, can get the dimensions close, and is pretty good at airbrushing based on the pictures I took to match the real color.

Thanks for suggestions

****UPDATE****

I ended up going with Beverly Croy at Bev's Fish Creations on the North side of Fork. Picked up my replica today, and couldn't be happier. The quality for the price was unbelievable. Plus, Bev made some last minute airbrush changes that I made.

Here are the pics of the Replica, and the actual fish. I am overly pleased, thanks to the TFFers for all of your recommendations.

I think you are missing out by not sticking with Lake Fork Taxidermy. Have you spoken to them on the phone or just exchanged emails? Those guys are artists.

I'm still advocating Ron Kelly who is now in Rockwall. Best I've seen. 214-663-5299 He did mine back in 1993 and it's still beautiful.

Honestly, I'm not sure why LFT gets so much praise. I wonder if they've gotten so big they've sort of forgotten where they came from. The last couple of replicas I've seen really just looked like generic copies of a random fish. They looked nothing like the specific fish that was supposed to be replicated, both body wise and paint wise. I saw a SAL done by LFT that was honestly... just sort of terrible. It looked absolutely nothing that beautiful and absolutely massive 13+ that I also saw in person. It looked more like a 10-11 lb fish and wasn't even similar color wise at all. The fish that was caught was golden and the replica that LFT sent was dark green.

I had my at the time new PB of 10.5 done by Ron Kelly back in 2007. It took longer than expected, but the guy came through in the end and he did a pretty freaking amazing job on my fish. It's not exactly the same, and maybe I am a little biased, it being my fish, but he gave it an absolutely beautiful job and made it look pretty similar to my fish that had those unique pink and red markings on its tail and body when it was caught.

IMO he is as good as they get.

These are mine from RK


An 11 and a 13....

I�ve had three done. The worst one by far was from LFT.

Go with RK, just my opinion but all from LFT look the same to me.

Ron is extremely good. I have had good luck with LFT in the past as well tho. Try calling them.

http://www.finandbonestaxidermy.com

You can not go wrong, Bill is the best artist I've ever seen and his prices are fair, turn around is quick. I could not be happier with the work he has done for me and others I have recommend to him. Guy is crazy good in the paint booth.

Very nice. Like them both.

Sorry but I have never seen another one like my two from Lake Fork Taxidermy. I would be careful of Ron Kelly. When his shop burned in Emory there were lots of people that lost their trophy. Then he moved to a location south of Greenville on HWY 69. When it folded more people lost their items. If you want a dead fish stuck on your wall with it's mouth open, then it shouldn't be hard to find someone to do that for you. If you want a work of art, then go visit the guys at Lake Fork Taxidermy and tell them exactly what you want.

Not a fan of lft either. If my sal wasn't free I would've taken it back to them. 2" shorter than my real fish. Looks like a generic fish that honestly looks about the same size as my Toledo Bend Lunker replica that is a 10.5. I have another 13 skin mount that dwarfs the sal replica and weighed less.

LFT did my 12 and I thought they did a decent job. Colors didn't match perfectly, but I was just happy to have caught one that big and be able to get a mount. IMO it is pretty much impossible to get the colors to match exactly. I would not hesitate to use them again.