News -
Roger That! - A legend in his own right
While we would love to get every charter captain and their crew to stop by and visit our facility, we know this may not always be possible. However, if you are ever in the area, please stop by and check us out and get a personal tour, you are always welcome at Gray's!
Until you can visit us to see the process up close and personal, we thought we would give you a brief look inside and see how a trophy mount is made.
Captains and Mates know it all starts with the fishing trip and by you catching that beautiful fish. But after the decision to get a trophy mount, what is the actual process to having it made? Well at Gray's it literally starts with Roger, one of our Molding Experts! Roger who originally is from Bay Shore, NY started working for Gray in 1981 and he just celebrated his 30th year with Gray Taxidermy. He holds a degree in Veterinary Science as well as Biology. On Graduation day he decided to visit Ft. Lauderdale for Spring Break and luckily for Gray, he never went back. After exploring Florida on his bike – it came time to go to work, and in through our doors he came.
Over the years Roger has done it all, cleaning the fish, cutting fins and bills, silvering, touch-up and of course the actual molding. It has taken years to perfect the process of getting the highest quality product but Roger is a true expert and now considered “The Man” when it comes to his craft. We can proudly say that Roger has utilized and perfected the technique we invented 50 years ago and he has arguably molded more fish than anyone in the world! This is a bold statement, but considering his devotion and history we are confident that no one else can state the same.
At Gray we have the privilege to see the results that our specialists create on a daily basis. Needless to say that Roger, and all our artists take pride in their craft. Our entire organization has the same mindset, that only perfection is good enough and a repeat customer is our greatest reward.
It takes a quality fish to get the best quality mold. At Gray we only make a mold from a fish that is in 100% perfect condition. In order to ensure the mount on your wall will look the very best and resemble the trophy fish that you once caught, we do not accept a fish with even a minor imperfection.
The entire process is a very meticulous task. You cannot overlook any step or rush through any of the procedures. As mentioned earlier it starts with a fish in perfect condition, followed by cleaning it thoroughly, placing it in the sandbox in a realistic position, setting the fins, filling the belly, positioning the mouth, etc. Then comes one of the most important steps, the application of the gel coat, which is applied in order to pick up every detail of the surface of the fish, including each scale right down to the lateral line. This also means that any imperfection or dust particle can be picked up by the gel-coat, which is why every fish caught is not a candidate for a mold.
After it is cured, several layers of fiberglass are applied. When it’s all set, the entire fish is turned over and the process is repeated on the other side. Once left to set the mold is opened and thoroughly cleaned. We now have a new model that can be used to start making custom trophy mounts.
You can learn more about the molding process on the Gray Taxidermy website. For more information, please explore the site or stop by anytime!
Topics
- Fishing
Regions
- Florida