The Fish Painter
Salt Water Sportsman|February 2023
King Sailfish Mounts is on a mission to get more anglers to release more fish. Chris Murrah helps them do it.
By Nate Matthews Photographs by Jon Whittle
The Fish Painter

Skin mounts kill. Replicas don't. But turning raw fiberglass blanks into lifelike reproductions takes an artist who knows his fish.

Chris Murrah is really into African pompano right now. Surfer, angler, jazz musician, and now lead painter at King Sailfish Mounts, he grew up in East Fort Lauderdale fishing on the Tarpon River. His dad was in the car business. His mom worked for St. Anthony's school. In the mornings before school, he would hear the bait boats banging cast nets off the metal poles on the bridge behind his house. In the afternoons, when he wasn't out playing his saxophone, catching sets off the beach, or chasing jacks and snook in the river, he liked to paint surfboards.

"I guess I always did art on my own," Murrah says. "I've never taken an art class. We were just into surfing, and I was into painting, so I would paint surfboards, skateboards, T-shirts, that sort of thing. I liked painting three-dimensional objects. I never really did sit down in front of canvas, but I was always painting something. Some kind of object. Maybe that's what drew me into painting fish."

African Pompano (top) are the hardest fish Murrah gets to paint. He uses colors that cost $400 per quart just to capture the changing patterns on their flanks, but he's still not happy with the result. "The next step is to get them fully chromed out first," he says.

And paint them he does, turning dead, gray fiberglass into bright, living creatures that look like you just lifted them out of the water. He loves the challenge of it. "That pompano is like an enigma," he says. "You can't figure out what's happening. It's so chrome, yet there's all kinds of interference. Iridescent colors flashing that you can only see at certain angles, depending on which way the light is hitting it. The color seems to dance across it."

Bu hikaye Salt Water Sportsman dergisinin February 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye Salt Water Sportsman dergisinin February 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

SALT WATER SPORTSMAN DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Jupiter 40
Salt Water Sportsman

Jupiter 40

The new Jupiter 40 shines brightly amid an increasingly crowded orbit of similar-size offshore center-console fishing machines.

time-read
3 dak  |
August - September 2023
Pursuit S 248 Sport
Salt Water Sportsman

Pursuit S 248 Sport

The new S 248 Sport offers a versatile alternative to the growing number of mega-size, multi-outboard center-console fishing boats.

time-read
3 dak  |
August - September 2023
Pressing Pause
Salt Water Sportsman

Pressing Pause

MAKING THE MOST OF THE TIDE'S RUNNING-SLACK PERIODS WILL UP YOUR GAME.

time-read
6 dak  |
August - September 2023
NEED FOR SPEED
Salt Water Sportsman

NEED FOR SPEED

SPEED-TROLLING WITH DIVING LIPLESS PLUGS HAS EMERGED AS THE NEXT BIG THING FOR FINICKY PACIFIC BLUEFIN TUNA.

time-read
6 dak  |
August - September 2023
FISH WIDE OPEN
Salt Water Sportsman

FISH WIDE OPEN

TODAY'S NEW BREED OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE OUTBOARD BOATS EXPANDS ANGLING HORIZONS

time-read
5 dak  |
August - September 2023
FLORIDA KEYS OVERNIGHTER
Salt Water Sportsman

FLORIDA KEYS OVERNIGHTER

THE DRY TORTUGAS IS NO LONGER THE FINAL FRONTIER, BUT THE BOTTOMFISHING IS STILL WORTH THE TRIP.

time-read
6 dak  |
August - September 2023
A Quiet Revolution
Salt Water Sportsman

A Quiet Revolution

Brushless saltwater trolling motors turn up the efficiency and turn down the noise.

time-read
6 dak  |
August - September 2023
The Right Propeller
Salt Water Sportsman

The Right Propeller

Changing out your props? Here are five things to know first, straight from the experts.

time-read
4 dak  |
August - September 2023
Topwaters for Every Speed
Salt Water Sportsman

Topwaters for Every Speed

There's nothing better than watching a fish slam a plug as it rips across the water's surface.

time-read
3 dak  |
August - September 2023
Don't Let Current Ruin Your Bottom-Fishing Trip
Salt Water Sportsman

Don't Let Current Ruin Your Bottom-Fishing Trip

Lengthen your soak time with this fast-current bottom rig.

time-read
4 dak  |
August - September 2023