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How To Make Fish Mounts 



tures are crippled. The fish appears to be in agony. Whenever 

 I see such a mount, I have a feeling that I should hit it over the 

 head with a club to stop its misery. 



Watch a fish in the water; its body movements are from side 

 to side, not from top to bottom. Look at an action photograph 

 of a hooked fish ( one that has not been faked ) ; again, the body 

 is bent laterally. Next time you see a movie of a marlin or of 

 any other fish jumping, note that its head and tail swing from 



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Fig. 185. The natural curvatures of a fish's body are lateral, that is, from 

 side to side as shown above— not twisted up and down into grotesque forms. 



side to side, not up and down. In other words, it is physically 

 impossible for a game fish to bend into violent curves which 

 bring its head and tail down or up at extreme angles. The 

 anatomy of the fish will not permit it. A slight downward or 

 upward bend in the tail region is fine, and any mount will have 

 plenty of action by turning its head or tail, or both, slightly away 

 from the wall (Fig. 185). 



2. Fins. Next to the body itself, the fins are the most notice- 

 able pieces of anatomy on a fish. With the proper angulation 

 and curvature placed in the fins, any type of action desired in 



