# FISH SKIN CIGAR PEN "WENT FISHING"



## louie68 (Nov 7, 2010)

"WENT FISHING" in my pond caught a koi fish decided to skin it and put it on a Cigar pen.
the top portion of the pen was done with Brazilian Cherry wood/lower Koi fish skin Burgundy!!!
All comments are welcome !!!


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## Jim Smith (Nov 7, 2010)

Very interesting pen.  I would love to see more detail on fish skin portion of the pen.  I REALLY like your pond.  It is beautiful with a very nice shape and lots of nice plants.  THanks for sharing.  

Jim Smith


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## louie68 (Nov 7, 2010)

Try to double click on picture if you have the right software it will zoom in. Thanks for your compliment on my pond, I just won first place on a garden web site contest!!!


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## MesquiteMan (Nov 7, 2010)

Louie,

Where did you really get the skin?  I know you are joking on catching one of your fish and skinning it!  No pond owner would do such a thing!  I also know what Koi skin looks like since I have shot many of them while bowfishing and have skinned them hoping for a nice color but they were very plain once the scales were off.


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## ctubbs (Nov 7, 2010)

Louie,

Nice lighting.  Where did you buy that big main light you lit the pen with?  Just kidding.  Really nice pen and good photos.  Oh, yes, the pond is not just any ol' puddle either.  Way good!
Charles


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## bitshird (Nov 7, 2010)

Louie even enlarged there isn't a lot of scale detail like with a snake skin, but the pen is very pretty, and your Koi Pond is awesome, I'll bet it requires a lot of upkeep.


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## louie68 (Nov 7, 2010)

Ken thanks for your comments, actually pond at first was tough to balance now not that bad. It has 24,000 gallons, 70 koi fish bull frogs jumbo size tons of Tad pole.lizard frogs 50ftx36 ft
The fish skin on koi fish is kinda smooth with some texture.


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## louie68 (Nov 7, 2010)

Charles the good Lord supplies my lighting,  since the weather is still nice I will continue to shoot outside. My shooting luck Is way better outdoors. I'm pretty excited about my pond I enter a contest for outdoor garden pictures and won 1st place for my Pond picture


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## louie68 (Nov 7, 2010)

curtis I didn't think koi fish were down in Texas. Are you saying you shoot bow in a pond?You must have one heck cement pond. Maybe you are getting it mix with southern fish.Have you try to glue fish skin? If so what did you use?


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## smitty (Nov 7, 2010)

The pen is beautiful and your pond is awesome.  Where do you find all the time to  keep things up? I'm sure the pond is a lot of work.


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## MesquiteMan (Nov 7, 2010)

louie56 said:


> curtis I didn't think koi fish were down in Texas. Are you saying you shoot bow in a pond?You must have one heck cement pond. Maybe you are getting it mix with southern fish.Have you try to glue fish skin? If so what did you use?



Koi are pretty much everywhere since all they are are just ornamental common carp that have been bred for the color and pattern.  They are all still just _Cyprinus carpio. 
_
I shoot them in the rivers and lakes around here.  I believe they most likely get out of people's back yard ponds when it floods and then they thrive in the local waterway.  They are not native and as such, are bad on the natural ecosystem.

Here is a 23# I took a couple of years ago.


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## boxerman (Nov 7, 2010)

Cool pen.


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## jskeen (Nov 7, 2010)

Hey Louie;

I really would like some more info on your process for preserving and casting fish skins.  I've done the usual process of stretching the skin over a form and using a dry preservative to minimize shrinking and stabilize the collagen in the skin.  But every skin I have ever done lost almost all color and had to be airbrushed back after mounting to be recognizable.  

How did you retain that much color in a carp skin?  Did you dry with the scales on and remove after, or scale while wet?  

Thanks for any info.


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