While I was visiting with Matt, I noticed the way the back seams ontheir wall-mount fish had been finished. It caught my eye because thefinished seams looked very clean and professional. I immediately askedMatt how he achieved such a look. Matt said that it is was a very simpleprocess and he would be glad to show me if I had a couple minutes.

A couple minutes?! How could such a clean and professional seam becompleted in only a couple minutes? I gladly accepted his offer to showme this seam finishing technique. I also suggested that I take photos andwe do a joint article for BREAKTHROUGH. Matt thought it was a goodidea, so we got started. Sure enough, a couple minutes later and we weredone!

3. As I said earlier, they get a lot of big fish, like this 28- to 29-inchwalleye that we will be using to demonstrate seam finishing. This seamfinishing technique requires that you work on the seam prior to doing

Page 76 BREAKTHROUGH Issue 66

IRECENTLY VISITED THE TAXIDERMY STUDIO of my goodfriend, Paul Burczycki. Paul is the owner of St. Clair Flats TaxidermyStudio in Algonac, Michigan. Although Paul was not there that day,

I was able to meet and talk with his assistant, Matt Geremesz. Algonac,Michigan, is located on the east side of Lake St. Clair next to the Cana-dian border. As I discovered, this area is a sportsman’s paradise. Monstersmallmouth bass and muskies are common to taxidermists there, and thebird and deer hunting are also excellent. In other words, Algonac is agreat place for a taxidermy business.

1-2. As soon as I entered Paul’s studio, I was immediately impressedwith both the quantity and quality of work. Maintaining high qualitywhile producing in quantity is the hardest job of any taxidermist. Obvi-ously, Paul has done an outstanding job balancing the two.

FISH TAXIDERMY

Dan Rinehart (left) lends a hand to St. Clair Taxidermy employee Matt Geremesz. Dan is on the road quite often, and visits studios all over the country.When he learns of a great technique, he shares it with BREAKTHROUGH readers.

1

2

BREAKTHROUGH Issue 66 Page 77

any other finishing work, so leave all the carding on the fins to protectthe fins while you work on the seam.

4. This is an average gap on the back of the fish.

5. Mix catalyst with a good amount of Bondo. You will become ac-customed to the quantity of Bondo to use asyou become more experienced with thistechnique.

6. You will need to find a source of af-fordable Bondo. Ask the guys at a local au-tomotive store what kind of price break theywill give you if you order Bondo in cases ofgallon-containers. You should be able to geta good price break.

7. Once the Bondo is completely mixed,it is time to start pasting a layer along theseam of the fish. Start in the middle and start working toward the headand back toward the tail. You are striving for a thickness of ⅛-inch.

8. Matt has applied an even coating up to the gill cover.

9. Then he continues back to the tail juncture.

10. The smoother the surface, the easier the finishing work will be.Here the Bondo has been applied and smoothed. The time the Bondotakes to cure is dependent onthe amount of catalyst youhave added to the Bondo. Atthis point the only thing Mattcan do is wait for the Bondo tocure. Note: Do not over-cat-alyze the Bondo mixture or itwill become very brittle andhard to work with.

11. Use a knife to touchthe Bondo and check to see ifit has started to cure. Once the Bondo has started to cure, it is time totrim the edge. The edge must be trimmed immediately while the Bondois still soft and flexible at the early stages of catalyzing.

12-13. Use a sharp knife to cut along the edge of the seam. HereMatt is cutting the bottom edge of the seam. Again, the Bondo is easilytrimmed at this early stage. Once the bottom edge of the seam is com-plete, trim the top edge.

FISH TAXIDERMY3

4

5

7

6

8

9

10

11

12-13

Page 78 BREAKTHROUGH Issue 66

FISH TAXIDERMY

smoothed to achieve a professional ap-pearance. Use sandpaper to smooththe seam to the desired finish. Again,this should be done while the Bondois still flexible.

22. Use a brush to remove allshavings from the seam.

23. Notice how clean and neatthe seam appears. Also notice that thecustomer number has been written onthe seam next to the gill cover (veryimportant in eliminating confusion).

24-25. For large fish, such as muskies, Matt uses Super Glue alongthe edge to eliminate any separation of Bondo from the fish skin. Hecontinues to use Super Glue to secure along all edges of the Bondo.

26. Here is Matt Geremesz with the completed seam.27. Remember, I said that they get big fish and lots of them. Well,

here are just a few of the many muskies that are now ready for finishingwork and painting.

28. I would like to thank Paul Burczycki and Matt Geremesz forsharing this seam finishing technique. Sharing techniques and knowledge

14. Complete the edge trimming by rounding the tail juncture.

15-16. Pry a knife under the outer edge and remove the excess fromthe bottom seam-edge. Do the same for the top edge of the seam andaround the tail juncture.

17. Here is the catalyzed Bondo, neatly trimmed to the shape of theseam. Move on to the next step before the Bondo cures.

18. Now it is time to rasp the surface of the Bondo until it issmooth and even. Smooth the surface from head to tail.

19. The entire surface of the seam has been smoothed and is readyfor sanding and cleaning.

20-21. The rasp does a good job of making the surface even, how-ever, the rasp is rough and leaves a gritty surface. The seam must be

14

15-16

17

18

19

20-21

22

23

24-25

BREAKTHROUGH Issue 66 Page 79

will make taxidermy better throughout the world. When the public seesgood taxidermy, they will choose to have more game mounted, so in avery direct way, sharing knowledge creates more business for everyone! I

hope you enjoyed the article and gained someuseful tips. ■DAN RINEHART is a taxidermist and instruc-tor from Janesville,Wisconsin, and is currently of-fering weekend mini-courses in fish and deer taxi-dermy in his personal taxidermy studio. (Picuredhere is Dan with his 4-year-old daughter Sophia.)Dan also performs wholesale fish taxidermy fort a x i d e r m i s t sthroughout theUnited States. Ifyou would like in-formation aboutthe weekend mini-

courses or wholesale fish taxidermy, Dan canbe contacted at Rinehart Taxidermy, 410South Randall Avenue, Janesville, WI53545, telephone (608) 754-9804.

FISH TAXIDERMY26 27