Courtesy photo Tim Gorenchan, owner of North Country Legends Taxidermy in Escanaba, was recently crowned World Champion at the World Taxidermy and Fish Carving Championships in Springfield, Mo. Gorenchan is pictured with his skin mounted Musky, which was named Best in World Coldwater Fish.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Local taxidermist Tim Gorenchan, owner of North Country Legends Taxidermy in Escanaba, was recently crowned World Champion at the World Taxidermy and Fish Carving Championships in Springfield, Missouri. The competition was held April 29-May 3.

The competition, which is held every two years, attracted competitors from 28 countries and 46 states. There were nearly 550 individual pieces in the competition.

Gorenchan’s skin mounted Musky was named Best in World Coldwater Fish, and was selected by a popular vote of all the competitors as the Competitor’s Choice Best of Show.

The Musky was also selected for the Simon T. Blackshaw Award, which is given to the winner of the Judge’s Choice Best of Show. This award is voted on by the panel of 24 judges who select a winner from all the champions in the 17 Best in World Categories, including all birds, mammals and fish.

The fish, which weighed approximately 50 pounds and was 55 inches long, was caught by an angler from the Milwaukee area. The fish’s head and fins were custom molded and cast for the project, and each of the thousands of scales and the fish’s glass eyes were hand painted. The finished mount stands over seven feet tall.

The win marks the second consecutive Best in World title for Gorenchan, who also won the competition in 2017 with a Sockeye Salmon skin mount.