Today my girlfriend and I had a "day of days" out on Lake "X"!!

Not wanting to play "bumper boats" on our local "home" water, we set out on a bit of an adventure and it paid off big time!!! I had the pleasure of watching her catch not one, but TWO crappies for the wall. The first was a spawned out female that tipped the scales at a solid 2 pounds! The second, unfortunately deep hooked, was even larger at 2.3 pounds. Not to be outdone, I came roaring back with my own personal best with a 18.25", 2.9 pound slab!!

All three are destined for the wall and we are in search of a taxidermist that will do these fish justice. With my very limited contact with taxidermy in general, I have no idea who should handle this project. Any assistance you could provide would be greatly appreciated!!

Craig's Taxidermy in southern MN. Kinda long drive but well worth it. He did an AMAZING job with my crappies and northern..very detailed, does all the little extras. He even uses the real gills, most taxis use fakes. You won't be disappointed with his work!

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[quote=dmcca212]Craig's Taxidermy in southern MN. Kinda long drive but well worth it. He did an AMAZING job with my crappies and northern..very detailed, does all the little extras. He even uses the real gills, most taxis use fakes. You won't be disappointed with his work!


Thanks for the tip!! A 507 area code... Is Craig's around the Mankato or New Ulm area? If that's the case, they are within striking distance as I am located in the west metro...

Let's see some pics. Just like seeing pics of those big ones is all.

I know of 2 who are very good. County Line Taxidermy in Rush City And Twin Cities Taxidermy in Maple Grove. Both are very good. They have both done several fish for me, i believe twin cities has a better turn time, it's only about a month or two.

Midwest taxidermy does awesome work in savage.

Jims Lakeland Taxidermy. Myself and a friend had some of our Red Lake slabs done by Jim. I think he does an excellent job! He's located on the west end of Lake Minnetonka right off Hwy.7

Paul Radde on the shores of Lake Waconia has done several mounts for me. I would recommend giving hime a call.

I see you're from Chaska, eh? Then you've GOTTA know about, or probably have even fished this lake "X". It's amazing how many people just drive right by without giving this lake a second thought!! I may hit it again today to see if I can confirm this honey hole really is a "hawg heaven"...

Threatened with penalty of death, my girlfriend has forbid me to post her pictures. However, I am not that bashful and would gladly post mine... However, the picture would certainly violate the site's Conduct code and would either be taken off quickly or result in me getting banned...

As it reads in the FAQ section...

"We're looking for fish pictures in good taste that encourage selective harvest principles so the dead fish rule is as follows: Fish pictures must be in the natural environment where the fish is caught that do not look frozen, stiff, bloodied or look like they were just poured out of a bucket, no alcohol beverage containers or cigarettes and no stringer or fish in a bucket pics. Fish Mount and live release tournament pictures are ok as well. All other dead fish pictures are not allowed."

Not having a camera with us on the water, the only pictures we have are from when we got back home. Sorry, but this time around, you're just gonna have to take our word for it...

Hi KOTTKE...

Can't get much more local than that!! Thanks for the tip!!

agroskreutz@gmail.com Send them over!

Dang! I live in Chaska and now you got me wondering what lake you might have been on! Its going to eat me up forever haha! Im going to go around to every lake in Chaska and see whose fishing and ask them if they have caught and 19" crappies lately!

My girlfriend put the bid "KA-BOSH" on sending her pics, but the one of "the beast" is on the way...

Hey Bassboy...

Maybe this will set your mind at ease.... Don't look in Chaska!

Honestly, I'd love to tell all my friends here at FM about this lake. I drove passed it on my way home from the cities today and not one boat was there!! However, if I were to "spill the beans", I'm sure it would be hit and hit HARD, ultimately winding up like the pool 4 "bumper boats" as well as being fished out in a very short time. I've seen this happen to lakes after articles are published or detailed info is posted on the net... Tragic results...

While my girlfriend and I may not have been the most conservation minded on our outting. I will be back to Lake "X" in the next day or so to hopefully confirm our initial results and to see if my thoughts that Lake "X" has more super slabs than the three we harvested...

Thanks for easing my mind, it defenetly would not be a good move to post a lake with fish like that anywhere on the internet!