Taxidermy Preservation Question

[Tigerhaze]

When I was living in Montana, a friend of mine up there who lives across the street from a renowned taxidermist was provided with a little preservation tip. I wanted to see if anyone had heard this one before, as I hadn't.

The taxidermist told him that if you catch a trophy fish and you know you want to have mounted, immediately if possible or at least right after death you should coat the outer surface of the skin with Borax. He claimed that the Borax locks in the colors for the taxidermist, regardless of how long you have to store the fish before it goes to them.

Anyone heard of this before?

[powerdive]

TH, I had my 12# walleye mounted a couple years back, at my employer's shop (BPS). It was a very pale fish, and I had some trouble with it after the catch, so it was unreleaseable. By the time I got to a friend's house, it was quite dead. We wrapped it in wet towels and put it in the freezer. I got it to the shop about two days later, and they were quite happy with the handling. Said they had a database that showed fish proportions and coloration from different lakes, and that's what they went used as a guideline at painting time. When I picked up the finished mount, the fish had been darkened and had more of the vertical striping than it originally displayed--but it really looks great. I'm happy with it. The database thing kinda surprised me...

[Tigerhaze]

Well, I caught a 4 pound brown earlier this summer in Montana. It ended up having problems reviving so I kept it. I out it on ice until I got where I was staying and then wrapped it in wet towels and deep-freezed it.

It was a warm day so the color faded pretty quickly, even being put on ice like I did. The taxidermist told me that it was in better shape than a lot he had seen, but that the Borax would lock the colors in perfectly. I had a hybrid mounted two years ago (whose color faded wquickly) and I wished I would have known that trick then.

The database is a neat idea for a fish that is faded out though.