Don't tell anybody, but Randy Hill has started using his wife Janine's makeup.

No worries - it's just that the Lehighton taxidermist has found that women's makeup has some great colors, enabling him to further enhance his fish taxidermy.Hill's preferred method of fish taxidermy makes him part of a dying breed, and craft. Before the 1960s, all taxidermists who worked with fish had to skin them. The actual skinning didn't take long, but what followed was extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive. The taxidermist had to skin the fish, preserve the skin, and then restore every aspect of the fish's color with paint.The advent of fiberglass molds for fish, along with a growing trend for catch-and-release fishing, meant that skinning fish for taxidermy work began to fall out of favor. Instead, anglers chose fiberglass reproductions of their trophy fish, using photographs and accurate length and girth measurements that allowed a taxidermist to create a replica of their fish, which they had released.Hill supports catch-and-release fishing, but he also says there are times when an angler wants to know the mount is actually their fish."They know it when they land it," Hill said, working his way along a double row of trout, posed in various bends and twists, ready for the next stage of work. "There are some fish that the angler wants, even if it's not the biggest fish ever caught, there's something special about it, or the day."Many taxidermists don't do fish; they stick to mammals. Most would agree that fish taxidermy is very difficult, and that taxidermy work with skinned fish is the most difficult. Not only must the taxidermist sculpt an accurate body, he or she must paint like a master artist, mixing colors and creating shading.Within 60 seconds of being caught and removed from the water, the color of a fish starts to fade. The taxidermist must restore that color, with painstaking work, such as painting a multitude of black dots, each surrounded by a thin silver aura, on a trout."When the skin dries the color goes, and it must be redone, all of it," Hill said. "But when I was taught long ago how to do it, I knew that I really enjoyed the whole process; you're recreating it, bringing it back to life."Hill had some advice for anglers for the care of a trophy fish. First, if you opt for a replica, work fast to make sure the fish is released to live - get photos and length and girth measurements as quickly as possible.If you plan to have your fish skinned by a taxidermist, take the following steps:1. Photograph the fish.2. Choose the side of the fish that you want to show, and then keep that side up.3. Do not gut the fish.4. Do NOT place the fish in a bag or wrap it in newspaper. Do not pile it in with other fish. If you must keep it with other fish, keep it on the top with the "chosen side" up.5. If you can get it to a taxidermist within 48 hours, keep the fish on ice. Don't place it directly on the ice, but put it on a flat surface with ice underneath it.6. If you must freeze the fish, use a board that is as long as the fish. Cover the board with wax paper or freezer paper (with the shiny side up). Let it freeze whole, with nothing touching it on the top or sides.