Michael Reimer starting fishing at age 5, casting into a backyard pond during a neighborhood party. Ever since, he's been lured by the water, even while taking a walk with his wife through their Collegeville neighborhood.

"It's not always about catching a fish," he says. "Sometimes it's about going fishing."

He found that same relaxation and satisfaction in art, particularly after a watercolor class about 20 years ago.

But it wasn't until he was trying to decorate his office that he found a way to marry the two peaceful pastimes. The software development manager was searching online for fish prints when he came across a technique called gyotaku, the art of making a rubbing, or impression, of a real fish.

It sounds easy, but it's not. First there's catching the fish. Different kinds of fish. Sometimes specific kinds of fish, requested by customers.

Once the fish is cleaned, it's positioned and dried briefly. Then Reimer starts painting the fish, using block-printing ink. He paints the fish like a watercolor painting, being true to its colors, and trying to find just the right mix to match.

"You have to be an artist and have a good eye," he said. "None of the greens are fish green, and none of the reds are the same red as the color on the rainbow trout."

Then he "rubs" the fish, allowing the colors to transfer to the paper. After the ink dries, Reimer paints with watercolor the details of the eye, and the paper is then matted and framed. So far, he has printed 20 different species, from walleye to brook trout to striped bass. But there's one fish that's too much trouble to try again - the catfish.

He said the "pectoral fin - the one behind the cheek - usually lies flat with most fish, but with the catfish, it's a spike, so it goes right through the paper. And no matter how much you clean it, more stuff comes out. And it keeps coming out."

That would be fish guts. And water.

Most of the work is done in his kitchen with the help of his wife and daughter. His wife in particular is a good sport about a freezer and fridge filled with fish, he said.

His day job has taught him skills that have helped with his art. There are spreadsheets for inventory and spreadsheets for customers, so he can see exactly what kind of print someone bought in the past.

Reimer has moved from doing single fish to rubbings involving multiple fish, and his prints cost between $60 and $700. He's even rubbed a piranha, thanks to a friend who had three he no longer wanted.

Reimer says he now fishes 12 months of the year, with a group of friends who call themselves the "Trout of the Month" club. Mostly he eats the fish he catches. And he has caught all the fish he uses in his artwork, although once in a while he'll trade with a friend.

"I want that connection to the fish," Reimer says.

Are you a local artist? Whether you're a potter or a poet, a singer or a hairstylist, tell us about yourself and your work (please include a link to your Web site) in a short e-mail to dfallik@gmail.com.