RJB Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Hey Gang. I took my youngest son on a several state fossil hunting trip last summer. We went to our favorite fossil leaf and insect site, then after 3 days we were off to Utah to hunt for trilos for 3 days and then we stopped and dug fish at my friends fish quarry on the way back home. At the fish quarry we started off reall slow and didnt get much the first day. All my son wanted was a priscacara and on the morning of the second day he actualy found one. This kid was soooooo excited!!! I was super happy for him. It was a small one, but it was from the famous 18 inch layer and the fish is just barly underneath the rock and looks to be in really good shape! Its the lyops and a bit on the small side, but my son didnt care at all. After the end of the second day I had done purty good by finding some multi knitias and a bunch of singles in some rather hard, but nice marlston and a couple of really nice diplos along with one 11 inch myo, but my son didnt find too much that day. On the 3rd day and close to the end of the day, my son ran into a layer that was absolutly FANTASTIC!!! In less than two hours he had found 3 notos, two more prisci's with one being a rather large 10 inch serata, one 13 inch Phareodus and one big diplo but in bad shape. He had a constant smile on his face all the way home! So did I!!! We have been going to this fish site for 12 years and sometimes twice a year and we have never ever done this good!!! Here are some pics, but nothing has been prepped yet. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 Here is a most amazing find that my buddy Mike found! He wasnt allowed to keep it, but he got all the rest of his finds for free! The owner said its worth between 15 and 20 thousand big ones!! Wow!! It really was exciting being there when this fish was found! RB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 Here is a rather large Phareodus that I prepped out last winter. Its got some problems and I still have to clean up the rock, but its still purty dang cool!!! RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 Here is a very common Knightia, (the most common fish found in the Green River Formation), but this one is in some very hard marlstone rock and not one in those soft split fish layers. This fish has extreamy hard bones in a very sturdy rock!!! I shaped the edges and polished it making a nice natural frame for the fish. I think its purty dang cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 Ok, here are two photos of the same kind of fish. Both are Priscacara. One is 9 1/4 inches and the cute little baby one measures just over 1/2 inch. My goal is to get a baby one for each adult of all the different species I can get and have them covering one of my walls. Now how cool would that be?!!! RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebrocklds Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 great noto, it appears top have a diplo underneath it as well. i have never found one but i own several that are unprepared. the crossopholis (paddle fish) is extremely awsome. i would love to find and keep one of those. which quarry are you digging? looks like pete's. i have gone and dug 18 inch a few times. it is a blast. much better than the splits. although i did find a ray, a bird wing and a 3 foot gar in the splits in the last few years. they let me keep the bird wing, which i tought was pretty cool. great finds. if you are ever in utah again i can take you to some great trilo localities, all right around the wheeler ampatheater, but in several different formations. plus i am always looking for an excuse to go dig. brock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 Just for fun, here are two photos of two different kinds of fish from Miocene deposites in Nevada. The one with the big head is dorysuss and quite huge at about 6 inches, and the other is Funuluss nevadaensis, and also quite huge for this species! Thats the reason they are in my collection. I do have boxes of these somewhere and would gladly do some trading. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 great noto, it appears top have a diplo underneath it as well. i have never found one but i own several that are unprepared. the crossopholis (paddle fish) is extremely awsome. i would love to find and keep one of those. which quarry are you digging? looks like pete's. i have gone and dug 18 inch a few times. it is a blast. much better than the splits. although i did find a ray, a bird wing and a 3 foot gar in the splits in the last few years. they let me keep the bird wing, which i tought was pretty cool. great finds. if you are ever in utah again i can take you to some great trilo localities, all right around the wheeler ampatheater, but in several different formations. plus i am always looking for an excuse to go dig. brock Hey Brock, You have a really good eye! I thought that too, about a diplo being underneath that noto, but seeing it in person, I think it may just be some enomalys. Sorry about my spelling. I dont know pete, but I have dug at Warfields when we first started, then we dug for Bob and Bonnie, then we met the Tynskys. Old man tynsky has passed away, but his oldest son Duane took over. Not to be confussed with Jim Tynsky who also has a quarry too. Also, I would love to dig for bugs agian in Utah. I and my kids have all dug for those elrathias just above the U-dig site and found hundreds over the years, but I now know of the 'red beds' the 'gogia' site, the 'madocia' site, those little bugs at swazy springs and a couple of other sites at the drum mountains. Ive never been to the Weeks formation yet though! Dang!!! I have always wanted to find one of those olinoidies at the drum mnts,. but they seem to avoid me!!! Dang!!! Maybe someday. I have my calander purty dang full for this year, but things change, so let keep this in mind for a fossil outing? RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 great noto, it appears top have a diplo underneath it as well. i have never found one but i own several that are unprepared. the crossopholis (paddle fish) is extremely awsome. i would love to find and keep one of those. which quarry are you digging? looks like pete's. i have gone and dug 18 inch a few times. it is a blast. much better than the splits. although i did find a ray, a bird wing and a 3 foot gar in the splits in the last few years. they let me keep the bird wing, which i tought was pretty cool. great finds. if you are ever in utah again i can take you to some great trilo localities, all right around the wheeler ampatheater, but in several different formations. plus i am always looking for an excuse to go dig. brock Hey Brock, You have a really good eye! I thought that too, about a diplo being underneath that noto, but seeing it in person, I think it may just be some enomalys. Sorry about my spelling. I dont know pete, but I have dug at Warfields when we first started, then we dug for Bob and Bonnie, then we met the Tynskys. Old man tynsky has passed away, but his oldest son Duane took over. Not to be confussed with Jim Tynsky who also has a quarry too. Also, I would love to dig for bugs agian in Utah. I and my kids have all dug for those elrathias just above the U-dig site and found hundreds over the years, but I now know of the 'red beds' the 'gogia' site, the 'madocia' site, those little bugs at swazy springs and a couple of other sites at the drum mountains. Ive never been to the Weeks formation yet though! Dang!!! I have always wanted to find one of those olinoidies at the drum mnts,. but they seem to avoid me!!! Dang!!! Maybe someday. I have my calander purty dang full for this year, but things change, so let keep this in mind for a fossil outing? RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 Simply a very beautiful 17 inch diplomystus! Wow!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Those are nice. You sure do some nice prep work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Nioce FISH!!!!! very good prep job, cant wait to see some of those other fish prepped out aswell! One day I would like to come and dig the green river frmation, amazing beds and fossil accumulation, such a great variety and record of the time! Well done in finding all those fish :lol: nice specimins Got any pictures of the leaves and or trilos you found aswell?? Those miocene fish from Nevada are nice aswell! Thanks for yet another great post! "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Great stuff. I was fortunate enough to collect some fish at the old Warfield quarry in the early 90s. Got to camp for free and collect from sunup to sundown for $25. I was the only one in the quarry for the whole day. However, I sure didn't find the large/rare ones like you did. I found the common ones, but I did walk away with 15 fish. Does it break your heart to find a rare one only to have them take it from you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Sweet Fish I would love to find a sting ray but i would want to keep it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 hey guys got any tips what to look for tools or anything else you think would be useful? I'll be in kememmer Wy in may for a day or two to do some fossil fish hunting after 2 weeks hunting fossils in the badlands near crawford nebraska. darren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebrocklds Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Darren, if you are going to a pay to dig site they will provide all the tools that you will need. mainly a brickmason's hammer and a chisle. the badlands you will need any number of tools depending on what your objectives are. if you are just surface collecting a hammer and some collecting sacks will work fine. if you plan on finding something that needs to be excavated you will need picks shovels plaster burlap foil awls or any other standard digging tools. when you are at the fish quarries there are a few layers that are more productive than the others. send me a PM and i will tell you how to find them. Brock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomclark Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Oh man I don't know how I missed this entire thread! Killer supreme stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Great pieces! I really like each one a lot, excellent prep work too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worthy 55 Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Really nice fish fossils !!! :Thumbs-up: It's my bone!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 I have already shown a Funulus nevadensis, but it was very large for the species and not in the best of shape. Here is a real purty one that is about 2 inches in length. Quite nice! Miocene from Nevada. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 MMMMMmmmmmm.....wouldnt mind cooking that one up on the Barbie! "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Nice one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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