Monster Saginaw Bay White Crappie

[7sigma]

I just took in 2 slabs from Saginaw Bay that were 17.25 and 18 inches. I am a taxidermist and my mouth dropped when I opened this guys cooler to take out the fish. I am a crappie freak and fish the bay and marinas in the spring and fall/winter but have always caught Blacks, never Whites.

I am thinking this is a pretty well kept secert. Any ideas ? Saginaw bay has a ton of water and this guy was pretty tight lipped when he noticed I had carppie pictures all over the studio.

-- 7Sigma

[FishCrazy]

Those are indeed some fine fish. I have been told that that bay has some great fishing though. Bigger than anything I ever caught. Biggest crappie I found was 2.5 pounds and I wish I had mounted it now. Just curious what it cost to have a crappie mounted if you dont mind me asking.

[7sigma]

It depends. Single side skin mount is $15/inch. Double sided coffee table type work is 20-25/inch.

Did you catch that 2.5 beauty from the bay ?

[FishCrazy]

7sigma I am from North Carolina and caught the fish from a local lake near my house. I post to the Michigan board sometime because I visit the Alpena area often to see my wifes relatives. I fish Fletchers a lot when up that way. If I get lucky I may have to get you to do some work for me. Couls a whole fish be frozen in a block of ice to preserve it prior to mounting?

[cstyle]

Congratulations on the catch 7sigma. I caught two nice size slabs in Belleville Lake on Saturday. Although they were nothing compared to yours. They were only 10in long and one of them was a stripped crappie (it had a beard and a mohawk).

[7sigma]

The best way to keep any fish long term is to wrap it in a sopping wet towel, put that in a plastic garbage bag and freeze. I have cuaght fish, prepped them this way and mounted them 10 years later. No freezer burn at all as long as the towel you wrapped them in was dripping wet.

[FishCrazy]

Thats very interesting 7sigma. I had no idea that would last that long. Im curious if you have to paint the mount or does the fish maintain its color?

[7sigma]

Not Crappie, they fade to a dull white/grey. Some do better than others but at best you can make out the spot patterns. Next to pumpkinseeds and Brook Trout the crappie is a pretty hard color scheme to get right.