The Work · Fish Taxidermy

Fish Taxidermy & Fish Mounts

Fish are where this shop began — and where it still defines itself.

Skin mounts are $30 per inch and replica (reproduction) mounts $35 per inch, measured by the fish’s length. Driftwood, habitat and water scenes are quoted per project.

Start Your Mount →See the Full Price List

Two Methods, One Standard

Skin mounts and reproductions — built on the same bench.

Method 01

Skin Mounts

The traditional approach, and still the right call for many warmwater and coldwater species. We carefully preserve the actual skin of your fish, sculpt a custom form to its exact measurements, and rebuild the color, fin tension, and detail that fades the moment a fish leaves the water.

A properly built skin mount is the closest thing to bringing the catch back into the room with you — same fish, same proportions, same story.

Best ForWarmwater & coldwater species
You ProvideThe frozen fish
Detail LevelAuthentic skin & fins

Method 02

Reproductions

For catch-and-release fish, saltwater and exotic species, or any specimen that simply can't be preserved as a skin mount, we build a fully custom reproduction. You give us length, girth, species, and a few photos — we hand-paint the rest from there.

The result is a piece engineered to last decades without fading, color-matched to the fish you actually caught rather than a generic blank off the wall.

Best ForCatch & release, saltwater, exotics
You ProvideMeasurements & photos
Detail LevelHand-painted, fade-resistant

1978

Founded On Fish

$30/in

Flat Skin-Mount Price

Wisconsin Locations

$35/in

Replica Mount Price

Largemouth bass habitat scene — custom water work

Chapter 03 — Beyond The Mount

Custom water scenes & habitat work.

A fish on a panel is one thing. A fish caught mid-strike, breaking through the surface of a sculpted lake, fins flared and water beading off the flank — that's a different kind of piece entirely. We've spent decades building custom water sculptures, habitat scenes, and full underwater dioramas for clients, museums, and sporting-goods retailers.

"A mount isn't something you produce, it's something you build."

See examples on our water sculptures and scenes page. If you're picturing something more than a wall mount — bring us the idea. Almost everything you've seen on a Bass Pro or Cabela's wall came off a bench like ours.

Fish Mount Pricing

Fish mounts are priced by the inch, measured from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail. That keeps it simple whether you bring us a 14-inch crappie or a 50-inch musky.

Mount type	Price	Example
Skin mount (your fish)	$30 per inch	28″ walleye = $840
Replica / reproduction mount	$35 per inch	48″ musky = $1,680
Driftwood, habitat, or water base	Quote on request	Priced with your mount
Custom water scenes and multi-fish displays	Quote on request	Send us a photo of the space

Pay in full, 50/50, three installments, or monthly through our Easy 8 Payment Plan. No banks, no credit checks. Delivery times vary by project. Contact us for current delivery times. Rush service is available on select orders. See the full price list.

How to Get a Fish Ready for Mounting

Don’t gut it, don’t fillet it, don’t bleed it. Leave the fish whole.
Photograph it wet, right away. Both sides, in good light. Colors fade within minutes and the photos are what we paint from.
Wet a towel, wrap the fish, and bag it. Lay it flat with the fins folded against the body. Squeeze the air out of the bag.
Freeze it flat. A fish frozen bent or with a fin curled stays that way. A frozen fish keeps for months.
Releasing it? Measure length and girth, take the photos, and let it go. Bring us the numbers and we build a replica.

The full walkthrough is in our fish field care guide.

Stehling's Taxidermy creates fish mounts in Wisconsin, offering both skin mounts and lifelike replica (reproduction) mounts for warmwater and coldwater species like musky, walleye, bass, trout, and salmon. We hand-paint every fish and build custom habitat scenes at our Jefferson studio, and you can drop off at Jefferson or New Franken (Green Bay area).

Brown trout skin mount — Stehling's bench

Our fish history

Fish since 1978: three generations on one bench.

Greg Stehling, a trained industrial engineer, founded the studio in 1978 and kept returning to fish: color, fin tension, the gill plate, the way light moves across a flank. Through the 1980s and 90s thousands of fish a year passed through the shop for sportsmen, museums, nature centers, universities and retailers such as Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s and Texas Roadhouse.

His sons Aaron and Austin grew up on that bench. Today they run both Wisconsin locations and still do the work themselves, and Aaron’s son Roderick is the third generation stepping onto the same bench. Read the full family story →

Rainbow trout skin mount — Rainbow trout — production fish room, Jefferson studio

Bring Us Your Catch

From the lake to the wall — the same hands, since 1978.

Drop a fish at one of our Wisconsin studios, ship it in, or start a reproduction with measurements and photos. Either way, the same family handles it from intake to install.

Start Your Mount Visit A Studio

Fish Work Trusted By

Anglers, institutions — and the brands that outfit them.

Bass Pro Shops

Cabela's

Texas Roadhouse

Wisconsin DNR

Museums & Nature Centers

Universities

Fish Taxidermy FAQ

Do you offer skin mounts or replica fish mounts?

Stehling's Taxidermy offers both traditional skin mounts and lifelike fiberglass replica (reproduction) mounts. Replicas are ideal for catch-and-release and for warmwater and coldwater species alike.

What fish species do you mount?

We mount musky, walleye, bass, trout, salmon, and many other Wisconsin and Great Lakes species. Each fish is hand-painted to match your catch.

How do I preserve my fish until I can get it mounted?

Freeze your fish whole as soon as possible, wrapped to prevent freezer burn. Avoid gutting it. Bring it to either of our locations and we will take it from there.

Where is Stehling's Taxidermy located?

We have two Wisconsin locations: our flagship at 913 North Parkway Street in Jefferson, and a second location in New Franken in the Green Bay area.

Where to Bring Your Fish Mount

Stehling’s Taxidermy builds every fish mount in our Jefferson studio. Drop off at our Jefferson studio in south-central Wisconsin, or our New Franken (Green Bay area) showroom in the northeast. We proudly serve hunters across the state — see all the areas we serve.

Looking for a fish taxidermist near you?

Stehling’s has mounted fish for Wisconsin anglers since 1978, from two locations. Our Jefferson flagship at 913 North Parkway Street covers Jefferson, Dodge, Waukesha, Dane, Rock and Walworth counties — Watertown, Fort Atkinson, Whitewater, Johnson Creek, Madison and the Milwaukee suburbs. Our New Franken showroom at 3861 Algoma Road sits just east of Green Bay and covers Brown, Kewaunee, Door, Oconto and Outagamie counties.

We do both skin mounts and fish reproductions — the replica route lets you release the fish and still put it on the wall, which matters on musky, sturgeon and any water with a slot limit. Whichever you choose, how the fish is handled in the first hour decides how the mount looks in ten years; our fish field care guide walks through it.

both locations take walk-ins during business hours, no appointment needed, and out-of-state clients ship to us regularly — read the shipping instructions first. Not sure what your project will cost? Ask us for a free quote.

Fish Mounts by Species

Walleye Mounts

Wisconsin’s favorite fish and one of the most common mounts on our bench. Walleye skin mounts hold their color well when the fish is frozen properly, and replicas are the right call for a slot-limit or catch-and-release fish. A 26 to 30 inch walleye on driftwood is a classic piece. See our walleye mounts page for pricing by length.

Musky Mounts

Most musky mounts are reproductions today, since serious musky anglers release their fish. Bring us the length, girth, and a few photos from the net and we will hand-paint a replica that matches your fish’s bars and spots, not a generic blank. We also do skin mounts for a kept fish. See our musky taxidermy page.

Bass Mounts

Largemouth and smallmouth bass, skin or replica. The open-mouth strike pose on a water base is the one everyone asks for, and we have built hundreds of them. See our bass mounts page.

Northern Pike Mounts

Long, lean, and dramatic on the wall. Pike skin mounts need careful fin work, which is where a studio that has mounted fish since 1978 earns its keep. See our northern pike mounts page.

Trout and Salmon Mounts

Brown trout, rainbow, brook trout, lake trout, chinook, and coho from the Great Lakes and the Driftless. Trout are the hardest fish to paint honestly, and they are the fish Greg Stehling built this studio on.

Panfish: Crappie, Bluegill, and Perch

A trophy crappie or a 10-inch bluegill deserves a mount as much as a musky does. Panfish are priced by the inch like everything else, so a big bluegill is one of the most affordable mounts we make. See our bluegill and panfish mounts.

Saltwater and Exotic Fish

Redfish, snook, tarpon, mahi, sailfish, and anything else you caught on vacation. These are almost always reproductions built from your measurements and photos.