Tall stories and legends of the one that got away are common among anglers.
But Matt Graves has found his calling by helping those who want something a little more permanent from the ones they manage to land.
They include Tim Buetel, who has fish and sea creatures on every wall of his Mackay home.
"People when they first see it ... they are dumbfounded," Mr Buetel said.
"They've never seen anything like it."
Mr Graves left behind a career in the mining industry to create fish and crustacean moulds full-time.
"It's like a trophy," Mr Graves said.
"I started this as a hobby for myself and someone found out about it and it went viral on Facebook.
"As soon as I make them they go ... I can't keep up at the moment."
Trophy fish
Mr Buetel has commissioned more than 100 moulds from Mr Graves.
A large fish can cost up to $2,000 and take five days to make.
Mr Buetel has two sons and between them they have five boats.
They spend alot of time together fishing, and call themselves the Buetel boys.
Some of their catches make up Mr Beutel's collection of rare and memorable replicas ... which he hopes to pass on to his sons.
"Originally, if I can be honest, I had cancer and I put it together for my kids," Mr Buetel said.
"I designed this idea of having something to leave behind for them ... so they had a huge collection that would be worth a lot of money one day."
Mr Buetel, who is now cancer free, said collecting the moulds had become addictive.
"The boys love it," he said.
"We're involved in football ... and I'll have half a football team here looking at it."
Making the moulds
Producing the moulds, which are modelled on real fish or photographs, is an intricate operation.
Mr Graves creates a fibreglass replica, trims it up, makes eyes, puts teeth in it, air brushes and then carefully paints it.
"I hand paint it as close to the photo as I can," he said.
"I've worked on boats over the years and also as an automotive car painter."
Mr Graves said creating a crustacean was more like a jigsaw puzzle.
"I'll pull them apart ... pick all the meat out ... and put it all back together," he said.
"Trying to get them all back naturally is probably the trickiest part.
"The crayfish have to come apart into 20 or 30 pieces."
Mould museum
Commercial fisherman James Forster said Mr Graves had done a couple of species for him that sat "really nice on our mantelpiece at home".
"It's one thing to have a photo of it but it's another thing to keep that fish for life," Mr Forster said.
His operation includes fishing to depths in excess of 400 metres.
"We're constantly catching things that I send down to the Queensland Museum," he said.
"Having an understanding of the marine environment from all aspects is really important.
"Being able to provide people the ability to see these fish ... without having to go hundreds of miles offshore is a really special thing."
Mr Graves and Mr Buetel also have plans to display different species of fish.
"I've built a massive shed at St Lawrence ... with air conditioning," Mr Buetel said.
"We're actually going to put a blue backing right across all the walls like an ocean, with down lights on it and they'll all go up in their own category."
He said they were also contemplating having open days for the public.
