An INEXPENSIVE Trophy Wall Mount

Photo Courtesy of Joe DiSilvestro

Trophy collecting is a ritual that begins during childhood in the form of ribbons, medals, plaques, sports trophies, or a variety of other physical icons that represent an accomplishment of significance or greatness.  As we get older, some of us still pursue trophies to display.  Some people are obsessed with it.  It is every fisherman’s dream and right to proudly display their trophies on the wall.  As fishermen, we take pride in showing off our catch to friends, family, or anybody willing to look at our pictures or wall-mounts.  We even take pride in gazing at our own walls for the sweet memories of the trips those fish came from. 

The recent awareness of catch and release, has brought anglers some alternatives to stuffing the ice chest with fish we would all love to catch again.  Life-sized replicas are becoming a popular method of mounting trophy fish.  Although replicas allow the fish to be caught another day, they will very often be on the spendy side and lack the realism of a natural fish.

Several weeks ago, a friend of mine sent me a photocopy of an original article that dated back from 1965, titled “Fishy Trophy”, by Don Shiner.  The article intrigued me, as did the photo of the trophy trout pictured above.  It described an unbelievably simple technique that offers anglers the opportunity to practice catch & release and to place realistic wall mounts on the wall without having to spend a small fortune.   The process is simple and can be done from any household with a computer, the right software, and a color printer.

The picture above is a life-size color printout of an 18” Apache Trout caught by my friend in November.  A quality scanned photograph or a picture from a digital camera is all you need to get started.  For the best representation, take a picture of the fish laying flat on it’s side, preferably over water so that there are no leaves, grass, or debris that might get on the fish.  Sprinkle some water on the fish for a shiny appearance and highlights and then take a picture of it.  You may also want to try and straighten or spread out the dorsal fin (on the fish’s back) for a fuller look.  It will help to try and make the fish take up all the space in the frame, but be careful not to get too close, as it will cut off part of the head or tail in the picture.  You will also want to make sure that you are still in focus.  It may be hard to tell if you’re using one of those compact instant focus cameras, so use your best judgment.  Take a few pictures just to be safe.  One recommendation from the original article was to place a ruler in the picture so that you have an accurate measurement of the fish.

Next, open your scanned image or digital pic using a variety of different software.  The program that I found to work best was Microsoft Word.  When using this program, you can simply “INSERT” the pic onto a blank document and then enlarge without distorting the image or losing resolution.  MS Word also has a visible ruler on the top of the screen, which will help to enlarge the image accurately.  Another helpful function on this particular program is the “Print Preview” function, which allows you to preview the image on your screen.  Clicking on this button will allow you to view your image exactly how it will print, only on a smaller scale.

When you are done adjusting the size, go to “File” and click on the “Page Setup” button.  This is where you can play with your printer settings.  Print the image using a “Landscape” layout, so that the image is printed out across the long side of the paper.  If using standard 8 ½” x 11” paper, it will print out on 2 sheets.  Simply tape the 2 sheets together to get a complete image.  During experimentation, I found that using expensive glossy ink jet paper (about $35 per package) worked best because it was of a thicker stock and the glossy finish added a nice touch to the realism of the fish.  If you use regular paper, you can also get a glossy finish by lightly spraying the image with a glossy spray finish available in arts & crafts stores.

Carefully cut out the image and mount it on heavy cardboard and cut out with a sharp knife.  Glue some 1” square Styrofoam blocks (or any other lightweight material) on the backside of the cardboard to give it a 3-D effect when hung.  You can mount the fish on a wooden plaque at this point or simply hang it on the wall.

Using this type of mount will allow you to fill a room with realistic 3-D trophies for a fraction of the cost of a real stuffed fish or replica.  If you’re creative, you can even “stretch” the truth a little and turn that 12-incher into a wall-hanger.

BEFORE

AFTER

Photos Courtesy of Joe DiSilvestro

Terry Chia

AZOD Fly Fishing Editor