muskie replica

I picked up my tiger muskie replica on Friday. Turned out real good.

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Nice fish congrats

Cool looking fish. Any interesting story behind it?

Netguy wrote:

Cool looking fish. Any interesting story behind it?

I caught it last June on an east metro lake. I was by myself (other than the dog) but I caught it with another angler nearby in his own boat, and when he saw me hook into it he immediately started paying attention. It jumped right next to the boat and that is when I knew it was rather large. He came over to see it and snap a couple photos for me. I had hooked into another slightly smaller one about an hour earlier that got off boat side. You’d be surprised how difficult it is to net a muskie by yourself.

Cool replica. How big?

BigWerm wrote:

How big?

41 inch (tiger muskie)

That’s a beauty, congrats!!

Nice looking trophy. Congrats!

-J.

Congrats

Awesome fish. LAX does a great job on his replicas.

That’s a beautiful fish and mount! Tigers are one of the coolest looking fish. I have yet to catch one. Had them follow but never landed one. Congrats!

bzzsaw wrote:

LAX does a great job on his replicas.

If I ever catch a 50+ inch pure strain I’ll get a replica made by him in the future. He does other species too but its obvious that pure strain muskies are his specialty.

Quick Question: Were there any options regarding the finish (Semi gloss or Matte vs High gloss) and more importantly were there any examples to look at? I have a brook trout I may be interested in having a replica made but am not convinced on high gloss>

tegg wrote:

Quick Question: Were there any options regarding the finish (Semi gloss or Matte vs High gloss) and more importantly were there any examples to look at? I have a brook trout I may be interested in having a replica made but am not convinced on high gloss>

Great looking mount! Tigers are a real cool fish and mount.

I am in the same boat with a walleye. I’m committed to a replica with all the applicable measurements and photos, but have yet to take the time to research where and what look I’d want. I don’t mind the gloss if it’s in an area that doesn’t receive a lot of light, but would go for matte if I decide to display it upstairs by the big windows.

This place, along with fibertech and artistic anglers are the leading contenders so far.

gimruis wrote:

You’d be surprised how difficult it is to net a muskie by yourself.

I agree. I caught one a little over 40″ on Tonka on bass opener with my dog about 5 years ago. 8# test, 6′ 6″ rod on a Bayou Boogie in 4 feet of water. I got it to the boat fairly quickly but each time I went to net it she swam away 10-15 feet. I had so many tries I actually got some video of it boat side with my phone. Gotta teach my dog to net fish.

I have a couple of replicas that Lax did for me, a muskie and walleye with a gloss finish. I’ve also got a walleye and a couple of crappies in skin mounts. Overall I prefer the “clean” look of the glossy replicas over the matte skin mounts. I do think lighting impacts this, as does the background color where they are mounted. A light-colored fish with gloss finish pops more against color than against a white wall. The truth is that you will end up loving whatever you get.

Opinion only:
Lax and Fittante have the most realistic looking muskie replicas.
Lax is the best for muskies from Minnesota, clear waters in Canada, and the Great Lakes waters like Green Bay and Lake St. Clair, as his color palette better matches those lighter more gray fish.
Fittante is the guy for inland Wisconsin muskies and stained waters in Canada with their darker greens and coppers, and for any pike.
Artistic Anglers have been getting a lot better.
All 3 are really good at walleyes.

Very cool

tegg wrote:

Quick Question: Were there any options regarding the finish (Semi gloss or Matte vs High gloss) and more importantly were there any examples to look at? I have a brook trout I may be interested in having a replica made but am not convinced on high gloss>

I was not aware of a specific finish on the replica. It sounds like there may be different options available, although maybe not with LAX.

I narrowed my replica down to Artistic Anglers and LAX. The reason I went with LAX is because I was able to look at a friend’s mount that he had done by LAX a few years ago in person and I liked it. LAX was also slightly less costly too.

I was fly fishing in CO in 2018 and caught a toad rainbow–went almost 26″. there was a guide nearby who came and congratulated me and stated it was a wild fish (no clipped fin) and for that river etc said its a lifetime fish. This is a relatively large and popular river in CO but he said if 1-3 fish a season are hooked that are that size its a good season. Anyway it was C&R but i got great pics and measurments…I had Artistic Anglers make me a replica and I think it turned out fantastic.

Wow great looking replica.

I have a 42 3/4 tiger, skin mount . Just love the job LAX does. Congrats !

Congrats! Looks super.

Don Meier wrote:

I have a 42 3/4 tiger, skin mount . Just love the job LAX does. Congrats !

There was another tiger muskie replica next to mine that someone else was going to pick up. That one was 47 inches. Rick said he caught it on Lac Viuex Desert which is a sizable lake on the WI/UP border not far from Conover. The world record tiger muskie is from that lake.

Congrats on a good looking fish.

I personally have never had a mount done, replica or skin. Not planning on doing it any time soon either, lo I’m to cheap. wow is that thing glossy. I mean no disrespect, very nice fish great mount work but why so much gloss ? Is it mounted in a darker room ? I couldn’t imagine that on a lighter colored wall with a led regular room light shining.

Can you post pics of it mounted in its final place you put it, so I can get an idea please. Maybe the gloss is normal and I don’t know. Again I don’t mount anything.

Can you share pics of you catching it in your boat to the final product ?
I just like to see how these things look side x side.
Beautiful fish by the way.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Can you share pics of you catching it in your boat to the final product ?
I just like to see how these things look side x side.
Beautiful fish by the way.

I can take some new photos of it on the wall now that I found a stud to hang it on. The photos I took at the LAX display make it look glossier than it normally would because he had a lot of light above his big display of mounts to illuminate his work.

I’d like to see a picture of it against a darker wall or not under a light as well.

Again, great fish!

Nice looking fish gimruis, I’ll have to go tiger muskie fishing with you sometime so I can add a replica to my wall.

Looks very nice gimruis. Sorry if you’ve posted about this before and I missed it or forgot, but what steps did you take with the fish that lead to the mount? I’ve never gotten a replica mount but would be all for it, so I’m curious what measurements/pictures you got. Anything you’d do different or advice for anglers in the future who would get a replica mount?