My Old Friend Archie

Tuesday, October 9, 2007
by Ray Scott

Archie was one of the first people I called after my catch. Thanks to him, anglers can “keep” their trophies without killing them. As a matter of fact, all I had to do was give him the weight and measurements of my fish, and 4 short weeks later I got a beautiful realistic mount that is now hanging on the wall of my study.

Ironically, our history goes way back to our college days at Auburn University, long before our business was bass. We both just happened to be married students living close to one another in modest makeshift apartments, both broke and looking forward to graduating and making a buck.

Photo: Ray Scott Outdoors Taxidermist Archie Phillips puts the finishing touches on a bass mount. A college pal of Ray Scott, he is a pioneer and innovator in his industry.

He got his degree in natural sciences, which was fitting since he grew up in and around the woods and waters of Alabama – hunting, fishing, exploring. To say he loves the outdoors is an understatement.

He not only loves hunting and fishing, but is passionate about Second Amendment rights and protecting the right to hunt and fish. His work in conservation and the preservation of natural resources has earned him high awards in the state of Alabama for his efforts.

He even produces his own syndicated outdoor show, Outdoors with Archie Phillips. He’s also the author of numerous books and the producer of many videos as well. In my mind there’s not a whole lot Archie can’t do.

We lost track of each other for a while after graduation. He went home to the Birmingham area (Fairfield) with his wife, had three kids and, unknown to me at the time, established a highly successful taxidermy studio for both fish and game. All that practicing at Auburn paid off.

Today he has one of the largest freshwater taxidermy studios in the U.S. Believe it or not, I had a little bit to do with his success, but not in the way you might imagine – i.e. providing lots of fresh bass to mount.

No, I got a phone call from Archie back in l972 and it was not a happy call at all. My tournaments were really taking off and I could see competitive angling had a big future. However, I became very concerned with the possibility of over-harvesting the bass.

Even though biologists told me it wasn’t a problem, I knew there was definitely a problem with the public perception of killing too many fish. Piles of dead fish, although accepted at the time, were not pretty. Besides, the concept of a renewable resource just made too much sense.

In addition, I wanted the public to like and admire our bass boys. So, taking a cue from the trout anglers, I decided BASS should take it upon itself to promote the practice of catch and release. I even incorporated it into my BASS tournaments, requiring livewells and penalizing anglers for dead fish.

That’s when Archie called me, pretty upset. “Ray, what are you doing to me?” The practice of live release had struck a chord with the public and it was obviously cutting into his impressive bass-mounting business. But the tide could not be turned.

At that point, Archie, being Archie, took the chicken feathers and made chicken salad. It wasn’t long before he became an early pioneer in the hollow-mount method that used blanks instead of dead fish. He developed the Jiffy Quick System, which standardized mounting procedures and was one of the first to realize the full potential of fiberglass as a reproduction material. In short he was a superstar in the world of taxidermy.

Today a sportsman can give him the stats of virtually any game fish in the world and he can produce a mount that is more real than real. Even better, it can be enjoyed for years to come – without killing the catch.

Ariche can be reached at boonieout@aol.com or by calling (205) 767-6902. His website is www.ArchiePhillips.com.

Note: To read more about the inspiring story of Ray Scott and the multi-billion-dollar sportfishing industry he created, order Robert Boyle's biography, Bass Boss, at RayScott.net, or call (800) 518-7222..