King Sailfish Mounts In The News

Replica fish mounts offer detail without having to bring in animal
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By WILLIE HOWARD
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 14, 2008
FORT LAUDERDALE — There's no need to kill a fish to have a replica mount made for your living room wall.
Although most experienced anglers know that, some novices still believe parts of a fish carcass must be used in making a replica.
Since the mid-1970s, most replica mounts of saltwater fish have been made essentially like boats. They're created in molds made from real fish of various sizes. When fish are caught and kept to set world records, for example, new replica molds may be made from the carcass.
In the end, only a few fish are used as models so thousands of others can be released alive.
To produce replicas, fiberglass resin and cloth are worked into the mold. After the fiberglass dries, the replica is trimmed, sprayed with a base coat and painted to match the angler's catch. Snook from stained inshore waters, for instance, are often darker than those caught at inlets or in the ocean.
"It's amazing how the gel coats pick up the surface details of the fish," said Ray Douglas, founder of King Sailfish Mounts in Fort Lauderdale.
Douglas tells anglers to bring in overall length measurements, photos and other details about released fish, such as the number of spots near the tail of a redfish. If there's no measuring tape handy, he suggests holding the fish alongside the boat and marking the boat or measuring the fish with a piece of line before releasing it.
"Most people who mount fish are novice anglers who don't know what to do in advance," Douglas said.
Sailfish are the most often requested replica at King Sailfish Mounts, though the company's portfolio of release mounts includes a 13-pound bonefish caught by Andy Mill and the world-record 202.5-pound tarpon caught on fly by James Holland near Homosassa.
Douglas produced a replica of a monstrous marlin from the linen-line era that wasn't released.
The fiberglass replica of the world record black marlin - 1,560 pounds, caught by Alfred Glassell Jr. off Peru in 1953 - is featured in the Mighty Marlin exhibit at the International Fishing Hall of Fame in Dania Beach. The 14.5-foot marlin, caught on 39-thread linen line, remains an all-tackle world record.
Replica mounts of saltwater fish cost about $12 an inch, Douglas said, but extra charges may be added for fish that are difficult to paint or have unusual features. A typical sailfish replica costs $650 to $1,500, depending on size.
Douglas, who is showing his company's replica mounts this week in the Big Game Room at the Miami International Boat Show, plans to travel to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, next month with Ellen Peel of The Billfish Foundation, a non-profit conservation group, to promote catch-and-release fishing.
"Providing commissions for people to kill fish is not consistent with conservation," Peel said. "By releasing their fish, they have more job security."