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Posts: 1185
Location: Iowa | So I have been doing some serious thinking about getting my fish from this past October replicated and I wanted some opinions from you guys who to get it done by...recently at the Minnesota Muskie Expo I talked with both Fittante and Lax about a fish and came to the conclusion that Fittante in my opinion has the best and most realistic paint job out there as well as the best looking fish...something about Lax to me just didn't make the fish look as real as the Fittante fish do...any thoughts, ideas, word of wisdom, etc...
Big Perc |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | Joe Fittante is doing a 51 1/2 for me right now. I love his work! |
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Posts: 32884
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I had my Goon fish done by Lax, and it's near perfect. Those fish are not easy to get the color right, and he nailed it and the markings. Beautiful mount, and a proud addition to my mantle. The second shot is a skin mount done by Al smith from about 21 years ago.
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 IMAG0007.JPG (97KB - 1931 downloads)
IMAG0005.JPG (73KB - 405 downloads)
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Posts: 578
Location: Sheboygan Falls, WI | .
Edited by C_Nelson 6/7/2008 8:29 AM
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Location: Minneapolis, MN | I just ordered from one of the artists you mentioned. I struggled with my decision because each artist has strengths and each has a few shortcomings IMHO. One of the guys you mentioned I really like his work with the exception of the fins especially the dorsal fin that looks rather square and upright to me.
Edited by Luke_Chinewalker 3/22/2006 2:04 PM
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Posts: 8775
| I too wish you could combine the two! The mouth detail is better on one, the paint jobs are better on the other, one has patterns that are a little too uniform...
Don't get me wrong -- they are both top notch IMO, just that there are things I like and dislike about each one. |
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Posts: 1060
Location: Palm Coast, FL | It was a hard choice to make also. I just got one done by Fittante. Although I like the open/see through area of the gills by Lax...the teeth on Fittantes are so realistic! They look like they are made of porcelain. They are set down into the jaw line instead of fiberglass pulled up. |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | I think you would be happy with any of the top repro guys out there. I chose Fittante for my pike due to his almost anal attention to detail. I took him photos of the fish, and I can find nearly every marking on the fish, that was in the photo. The Pike was also one of the pretty bluish/purplish greens that we sometimes get, and he really nailed the color. That, along with a mouth full of the most realistic teeth that I have ever seen on a replica, and a unique pose with my live smelt(he did a sucker painted like a smelt) closed in its mouth, and I have a true work of art on my wall. My only complaint was the fact that it took so long to get done(2.5 years), but I would do it again. Another first choice and a guy that does not get near enough recogntion, would be Gary Michaelson from Lake Tomahawk taxidermy. He is doing a Musky for me now. Awesome work!!
Tried to post the pics, but I could not. Would someone mind posting them for me?
Edited by Reef Hawg 3/22/2006 1:44 PM
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Posts: 332
Location: Michigan | When I do get a muskie done, Lax will have my business. Although I am impressed with Fittante's work also, along with advanced in Ontario and Artistic Anglers.
Here's my 44" Northern Pike from the French River Lax did a couple years back.
Jason
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N.Pike 44.jpg (56KB - 208 downloads)
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | Dan Johnson in Okauchee ranks right up there with the "big two". I'm having him do a big tiger and a smallie for me.
Steve W...I had walleyes done by Al Smith. He really does great work as well.
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rock base musky.JPG (49KB - 1216 downloads)
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| I just got mine back from Fittante and it matches the picture perfect. A member of my club had a 51 done by Lax. He is happy with the mount, but he said it did not match his picture very well. After he saw how my fish looked compared to my picture, he said he wished that he had Fittante do his. |
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| Both are excellant. My vote goes to Fittante. I have had work done by him and have steered friends his way and everyone is more than pleased. |
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Posts: 1243
Location: Musky Tackle Online, MN | Those already mentioned do great work. But I wouldn't make a decision until you talk to Mike with Fibertech. Let him explain what goes into his process. And if you get a chance to actually see his work in person, not just pictures, I think you'll agree that he does phenomenal work.
http://www.fibertechproductions.com/
Fibertech isn't known like the others because he doesn't do the advertising. But then he doesn't really need any, word of mouth is doing that for him. Some have said that they wish you could combine the strengths of each place into one. In all honesty, I think you're getting just that with Fibertech. I've never had a mount done by any of the mentioned people. But if I was going to have one done, it wouldn't be much of a decision, Fibertech would be my choice hands down.
Aaron |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Both Joe fittante and Rick Lax are very good. Joe did a 53-incher for a client in 2004 and a 50 1/2-incher for another one of my clients in 2005. Both were very happy with the job Joe did.
The only thing is the mouth and fins with Joe's mounts. Rick Lax has better heads, fins and gills. Joe's paint jobs on most mounts look great.
But, Rick Lax is working on being the man. His new fins, gills and mouth are by better than Joes. I have one by Joe and one by Rick that were done recently. They both have pro's and cons.
I also have two done by Gary Michaelson from Lake Tomahawk taxidermy. Gary is a artist and the paint jobs are great. The only problem with his work for me was he wasn't very honest with me about being able to repo the size of my fish. the 57 x 27 is actually 53 x 27 and the 53 x 26 1/2 is actually 53 x 24. Both are done with different molds and look completely different. I expressed my concerns with him and he just said "its the best he could do at the time". Gary is a great artist and maybe now he can get the correct molds.
Molds are very important. Rick has over 80 molds and still working on more. Not many repo guys have that many. Rick can also do any modifications needed in his shop.
IMHO Rick Lax is going full steam ahead with the latest and best improvements. He gets my vote.
You have to remember Ron Lax was Ricks dad and Rick had taken over in his dads footsteps. Painting is a art, you need lots of practice to be great. Joe had done it for lots of years, Gary also. Rick has come a long way in a few years. Just wait to see waht he is going to be like in years to come. He will be the man because he is always looking to get better in all aspects of the repo's.
Here is my latest mount that just got from Rick Lax, then Joes job on my boys 47, then Garys job on my 53. All have pro's and cons.
Edited by Mikes Extreme 3/22/2006 7:19 PM
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ricks52.5x22.jpg (24KB - 284 downloads)
joe47x19.jpg (11KB - 173 downloads)
gary53x24.jpg (8KB - 186 downloads)
joeshead.jpg (16KB - 189 downloads)
rickshead.jpg (17KB - 236 downloads)
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| Fibertech is WAY behind the "BIG-TWO" their fish dont even compare......Lax does the best work, he has more molds than anyone out there, his gills and heads are more life-like than any other fish I have seen.....I have many mounts done by Lax and will continue to have him do my work till I die......You cant beat his 100% guarantee either......My vote goes for Lax, #1 in my book...........Keep doing the great work Rick............ |
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| both guys are good there both good painters .. but lax my vote.. he has done many fish for my cliants and for me also.. nothing has ever been wrong there all ways done on time and they look like the fish that where caugth... his eyes see through gills and eyes arre the best you can find any where... joe is good but every time i loo at his fish i think of a flying muskie and its not a flying fish at all lax does a great job on tigers the most real paint job ever... i think you want the best go with lax... like he says no quotes needed and the work speaks for its self he dont need any quotes.... so its like this you want a t-bone ,go with lax,, you want a burnt hamburger gowith joe.... so you know where i stand and its on the lax side.... |
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Posts: 1243
Location: Musky Tackle Online, MN | Smokin' Joe,
Do you have a reason for saying that Fibertech is "way behind" the other two? I would be interested to hear your reason. I can tell you that Fibertech will continue to redo your replica until you're happy. Likely, this won't happen (having to redo the mount). But he'll continue to do this until you're satisified at his own expense.
Aaron |
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| here's some pics from Reef Hawg of a trophy pike that Joe Fittante did for him.
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reefhawg1.JPG (79KB - 169 downloads)
reefhawg2.JPG (67KB - 255 downloads)
reefhawg3.JPG (57KB - 190 downloads)
reefhawg4.JPG (92KB - 775 downloads)
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| people have lots of opinions, lots of pros and cons for each.
one thing that is clear: there are GOOD options available to choose from! |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | Sweet mount Reefer, and Mike is right, you can't go wrong with either one of these guys. |
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Posts: 1243
Location: Musky Tackle Online, MN | I have to say, that's one of the best mounts I've seen, even if it is a pike! Nice fish Reef Hawg! |
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Posts: 135
Location: Elgin, IL | Holy smokes! That is an unbelievable mount. I love the closeup shots of the "smucker" (smelt paint-job/sucker body) in the pike's mouth. You're a lucky guy Reef Hawg. Great fish.
Nice touch how the repo is hanging right above the wedding photo too. Sweet. 
Edited by muskypuke 3/23/2006 6:26 AM
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Posts: 2378
| That is one sweet mount Jason!! |
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Posts: 332
Location: Neenah, WI | I had Lax do a hybrid for me about 4 years ago and every time I look at it I don't know if it is going to jump off the wall at me or not. Totally Awesome
I have looked at Joe Fittante's work , And he also does a awesome mount.
The next time I have a mount done I think I'll go nuts making a decision. But one thing is for certain , You can't go wrong with either of these two gentlemen!!!!
SAINT 1
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| I had mine done by Fittante and it was a tough choice but i think Joes work stands out because not only are his painting skills better ,but i dont like the fin work on Lax's fish. Dont get me wrong you couldnt go wrong with either one as they both are tops in the field but there are things i like about Joes fish better. It all comes down to a matter of preference and what little quirks you can live with and what you cant . For alot of the mounts i have seen of Lax, the tail fins dont look realistic to me. Too squared off and the coloration on the inside of the mouth isnt as realistic.
There are slight drawbacks to both i think , but one thing i think most everyone can agree that if you buy a replica from either one of these guys you are getting a quality piece.
Joe will get my repeat business for now but who knows in the future i might get a Lax fish!
Dan Burrow |
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Posts: 1080
| It's definitely great to see some true artists giving their best representation of your fish as possible. That's all an artist can do...is give the best representation.
They all do great work.
The one thing that bugs me about nearly all of these repros though is they all seem to be in the same shape/position/mold with the turned down tail.
The repro of the pike above, Reefhawgs fish, with the smelt in it's mouth is just fantastic! I love how the tail position actually ads to the motion of the fish. Yes, it's turned down..but maybe with the fishes body actually positioned in the downward position, the turned down tail then makes sense and is more believable and more realistic vs. others that have turned down tails that just seem to hang on a wall motionless.
The large piece of driftwood in Reefhawgs Pike is excellent as well. Again...adding atmosphere and an environment for the fish to be in also adding to the realistic nature of the fish again. And then throw in the smelt/sucker in the Pike's mouth...and you've added yet again..one more true, life-like aspect to the fish making it all that much more exciting and realistic. There's a whole story going on in that reproduction. A believable body position, a believable angle, an environment and a reason for it being in that position: actually showing it's caught prey in it's mouth.
Very, very cool.
Lots of good artists to choose from out there that's for sure, no doubt about that. |
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Location: Chippewa Falls, WI | Heres my two cents,
they both do great work,
but Fittante does alot better PAINT JOB!!!!!!!!!!
I have two 50"ers done by Lax, and my buddies have theres done by Fittante, and hands down theres are a better paint job, than mine,
next one I mount is going to be from Fittante!!!!! |
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Posts: 32884
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I found that Fittante's paint jobs when compared at the shows this year to be as good on some fish, and a bit better on others, and not as nice on others; just like Rick Lax's work. Rick's work was as good on some, and a bit better on others, and not as nice on others. It's a personal preference in this case as both artists do a great job. As I said, I'm delighted with my Goon Great Lakes pattern Muskie Rick Lax did, he really nailed it with the color and the markings. The form is excellent, and I'm sitting here in my living room looking at two Al Smith skin mouts as comparisons.
Rick Lax will be supporting a new MuskieFIRST feature this year. The Muskies of 2006 feature will be designed allowing everyone who catches a muskie 45" or more in 2006 to post the fish to MuskieFIRST in a specially designed area. December 1, 2006 at 8 PM, the computer will randomly select one of those 'Muskies of 2006' fish, and that lucky angler will win a free reproduction by Rick Lax! The more fish you enter, the better chance you have of winning. Thanks goes out to Lax Taxidermy for thier support!!
The same feature will be added to WalleyeFIRST for Walleyes over 26". |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Mack,
I will show the nice comments you made, thanks. I asked him if he'd do the closed mouth on the mount with the Sucker(I caught it on a smelt but he could not do the smelt due to the thin skin they have), a few weeks after I originally ordered it. He said he never did a closed mouth on a pike like that and that he hoped I liked it when I got it. I did!! The fish has a slight s curve to it, but not a disproportional curve. The driftwood is cool, but weighs so much I needed to put an anchor bolt into the stud. Hopefully it holds... I said I wanted it to look like it was naturally feeding down, and he brought it out without making it look over the top. Also, I never liked how repro mouths were in the past. The top rows of teeth really seem much better on them now as I was very impressed with the mouth and gill detail, and I honestly think they look better than skin mount mouths now(never thought I'd say that).
Just saw the front page, and the pic of Rick holding a new rep. That thing looks like it should be swimming!!! Very nice!
Puke, my wife has an interesting way of decorating. We don't have a big house, so the 'regular' decorations need to fit in with the rest. Can't wait to see what type of 'doily' will be hanging from my Musky when I hang it......
Edited by Reef Hawg 3/24/2006 9:49 PM
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