BilletHead

Pat asked yesterday. What do you want to do tomorrow? I said let's fishing 😄. That we did. Again at our favorite place to fly fish. With all the rain lately this place is full and it has not been that way for three years. Today the target was bluegill. It took three places of trial and error to find them. But find them we did. Annoying crappie and stinkin green bass keep getting in the way. Not a bad problem though. We kept 40 bluegill, 15 crappie and three bass. Bluegill should be getting ready to start nesting. Out of the 40 39 were bulls. One female. It was a hoot with non-stop action. Less than three hours and we were done. I used one fly the crawfish colored Grinch bug. It was pretty shredded at the end. Pat used a chartreuse bead head bugger. But instead of hackle I make that part with Angora goat. Also she used a crawfish colored craw I make with pine squirrel. I've done a step by step on here. Fish were in two to three feet of water over flooded grass and weeds. After the cast you had to strip fast to stay above the weeds and grasses. So lots of good eats here 😉. Two towels full. One is just bluegill and the other still had bluegill fillets with the bass and crappie, Best birthday ever for me today.

Que music, The plot thickens.

Oh definitely you get better prices when you put up fur like you did. When I sold it to Keller for an example he had to pay his workers to do what you did. I really liked Bud. You know my friend and bee keeping buddy is actually catching swarms in traps on Buds old farm by Weaubleau. We trade catches and I have two swarms in my yard in hives from the Keller place.

I never got into stretching and drying my catches. Just sold them to the traveling fur buyer or too them to Collins. My alum salt was used only to do a tan on squirrel when I was younger just for fun. I sent in well over a hundred tails to mepps a couple years ago. I may be getting closer to that amount salted up for selling after season ends in February. Some pictures of some squirrel hides. The last little piece of alum/salt tanned, VID_20250528_175656187.mp4 The rest are just fleshed and stretched and dried. Think rawhide with the hair on. I have already scraped bags of fox squirrel and grey squirrel backs. Also belly fur from both. The hides will last forever if kept from critters and dry. You are right I could probably pawn off some but I don't want a job. Also if I remember right the first fox squirrel nymphs did not use the slf or antron mixes. The fox squirrel belly was mixed with the back fur.😄

Chicks dig scars. I have heard that.

I will get you some pictures of what I have done with some hides. I can tell you I have just one half of a big fox squirrel that I couldn't use up at my tying pace for the rest of my life. Some were done with salt a alum and some stretched and dried. Fleshing is the worst part. Time consuming and a pain in the rear. I will post some pictures when I get home. This reminds me I owe @Ham some fox squirrel.

Yes we do 😁. VID_20250527_122353111.mp4

Saturday squirrel season started. I did not start then too much other stuff to do. However yesterday and today myself and the Air rifle got with the program. There will be a Dutch oven of squirrel aurora getting happy this afternoon.

There are 18 now in the small fly box. Six natural hairs mask with some tan antron mixed in with the pink head, six with same mix with a nickel head. Six more will nickel head with a mix of purple pine squirrel and purple antron. All on a Fulling Mill jig hook size 18. Might be a spell before we can try them because of the high water. Note mine are more like the Mad Rabbit fly having a rib and brushed out with more of a halo effect.

The last few days rain event has ramped down up here. 2.75 inches is our total in the BilletHead's yard. I'm not going to complain one way or another. Our ground needed it coming off of a three-year summer drought. too many places did get too much too fast. It will be interesting how the corps of engineers deal with it.

She thanks you.

Se is laughing out loud over this.

Me neither.

We wish we had of known and could have talked you into selling. I sent you a text by phone. Did you get it?

I get that, it is like multi tasking. I can only do so many things at once. Takes practice.

Pat is the proud owner of a renzetti traveler. Of course I get to try it out when she lets me.😆,

They might! We would invest a five-dollar bill for each of you. Gosh if you could get a five from each member, I think you could go in luxury. Go ahead Dave start a go fund page on here for the team 😃.

@Ham and @FishnDave, Road trip for team OAF multi species flyfishers? All Fins In - Central PA Fly Fishing Grand Prix 2025 — TCO Fly Shop

You are the essential fisher of all fishes.

What brand of beer did you catch it on?

Good for you Les! I am glad someone got this deal. I actually thought that some of the micro fishers would jump on this deal. They could use it for a live well to keep them fresh until they got home to clean their catch. 😁

Welcome, This place is like one stop shopping. Lots of information but unlike shopping it's free to utilize. Many will share tidbits to get you started.

Where's Waldo?

Ouchee Glen, Good luck.

Ours made it today.