A client reached out to me and asked if I could make a trophy for his annual red drum fly fishing tournament. His idea was to have a full underwater scene with the fish swimming through the reeds towards a lure. He wanted it mounted to a wooden base with room for plaques so that each year the winner could have their name engraved on it like the Stanley Cup! I was immediately in as this sounded like a very fun project.

First I sketched out some ideas and we came together on the basic design. I had made many red drum sculptures before so I started with the fish. I then designed the base, added some fun details like coral and a scallop shell, and then made a bunch of reeds to put in front of and behind the fish to flesh out the scene but also to hide structural bars behind them to hold the fish up. Lastly I created a stainless lure and then put some stainless wire behind the reeds to be the fishing line. This piece was very fun to create, especially the little details on the fly and figuring out how to get a greenish color for the first time with my torches!

The last step was to create the base which I made out of ambrosia maple (aka wormy maple) and then it was time to box up and ship out! I can't wait to see the first person to hoist the trophy!

For the standalone fish, check out my Red Drum sculpture.

This red drum scene sculpture is free standing but could easily be altered to be wall hanging, made entirely of stainless steel, colored using only heat patinas, and is safe to be kept outdoors!