Take care of your trophy the best you can. Wrap it in wet cloth (old towels work good), place in a good plastic bag, and freeze it whole. Do not gut it, scale it, or anything else!

Do NOT send your fish to me without first contacting me. Remember, I am retired from my professional career and sometimes decide to go on a fishing or other trip. I don’t want your fish to arrive and there be no one here to take care of it. Contact me by e-mail and I will respond as soon as I can. I would like to talk with you by phone and, if you agree to it, can then either obtain your phone number or send mine. It’s easier to actually talk about what you have in mind and give you shipping instructions than to exchange numerous e-mails.

Regarding shipping a frozen fish to me, once we’ve discussed it and I know to expect the fish, ship it early in the week by a two-day method. Wrap your towel and plastic-bagged fish in numerous layers of newspaper. Then, in a corrugated box that allows ten inches or more all the way around the fish, tightly pack crushed newspaper with the fish suspended in the middle. Other insulation such as dry ice is fine but not necessary if the box reaches me in two days.

As for a photo(s) of your fish, they are good for coloration purposes as long as the photo(s) are good and clear. If you couldn’t take photos, look on the internet for an acceptably colored fish and send me the link.

Replicas:

For a replica, I would need the length and, hopefully, girth. The weight is fine if accurately obtained, though to be honest, I have found weights listed for fish in the replica catalogs to not always be very accurate.

Please keep in mind that we are often limited by the number of body poses, etc., that are available. When I know what you are looking for, I’ll give you options to choose from.

A photo(s) of your fish can be helpful for coloration purposes as long as the photo(s) is good and clear. If you couldn’t take photos, look on the internet for an acceptably colored fish and send me the link.

I utilize blanks made by what I feel are the best manufacturers. Time in getting the blank to me can vary from a few weeks to a couple months. I will start on the replica shortly after receiving the blank.