BilletHead

Really looks good Ness, I thought about this when watching the morning news. They said at the 5 PM news they would be talking about how good fermented foods are for you. Sure enough it just aired. I need to do some controlled spoilage, I mean ferment . Showed a guy doing all kinds of stuff including squash. Says fermented foods cured his ulcers. I have gut issues off and on. I need some fermented stuff, BilletHead

Regardless you were out there fishing. That's a good report in my book. If I posted only the best trips you would think I did not exist, if I posted my poor trips you would soon tire of hearing from me. Thanks for posting, BilletHead

Or whizzing past your ear. That is how I learned to perfect the duck cast . Very similar to the chuck and duck but in my version you stand there erect and dodge the speeding fly milliseconds before it connects with your head. You can learn this real quick after it engages your noggin a couple of times. BilletHead

Hey you should see the BilletHead's. Smooth as silk and true to form until we get excited and then everything goes to heck! Especially on a hot pack of hybrids blowing shad out of the water . BilletHead

Oh Laker if you use the right color of cheesy trout worms you can wad them up on a hook, they look like guts and stay on the hook even if you collapse your loop , BilletHead

That would be one long walk. Get them into shape though. Oh I meant to say better shape than they are now. . BilletHead I am sure they could walk circles around the BilletHeads

Oh you are such a Rebel Wrench, BilletHead

Have a great trip Rick and safe travels. hahahhha BilletHead

Would you promise not to pass gas like Wrench? I am not sure I could survive a trip with you two . BilletHead

Monday 7-30 part 2 the Colorado River Cutt with bonus Brookies, Up early and headed to the Western divide and another fish. We have caught the Colorado Cutt in our Cuttslam in Wyoming and Utah but wanted one from this state so here we go. Up the Eastern slope we went towards the top. Here we are looking back to the sunrise and where we had came from, We continued our way up and started seeing elk, the bulls up high and cows and calves down lower, When we hit alpine altitude the big mule deer started showing up, That second mule deer pair I really liked as they were gazing at the same sunrise we had. I may need to print and frame that one. Still on the Eastern Divide close to the summit and continental divide we came upon the headwaters of another stream Randy said we should check out. The frost was heavy on the grass and the truck thermometer registered in the low thirties. We also had a thermometer that registers and records highs and lows and this was the coldest morning we had and it said twenty-eight. So we donned waders and wader boots. This would be the only time in waders on the whole trip as we like to wet wade. This is why the waders went on, Icy, frosty feet! We loved it as we love each other toe to toe. The grass was heavy with the frost and it covered the little stream as it bent over. We found very little fishable just finding a spot of water here and there. We knew there were fish under that grass hiding. We will go back for a long walk again someday exploring this stretch of water God willing, The way to fish this place, We each caught a bookie up here. Poor pictures I know so blame it on the one behind the camera, We walked back to the truck and peeled off the frosty waders. Loaded up and slipped over the top to the Western slope. Another drainage that ends up going towards the pacific. More headwaters. We arrived to the point to fish another suggestion from our friend Randy. We found a wider stream but thin water, We worked up the stream some and found two brookies for our efforts. No other fisherman we could see but we could of been following others working over the fish. Who knows but no excuses we just did not catch. After that we looked for a place to camp and fish more. Found that place and set up and went back to fishing. Better luck this time after getting away from campground. Children were enjoying the cool water wading, splashing and throwing rocks. Doing what kids do having fun. This part of the stream was the flat thin water plus deeper holes with wood giving fish places to hide from predators and fishermen and fisherwomen like ourselves. Many places you had to do your best to sneak and not spook the fish in the clear water. Other places you could see the fish but no way to get a fly to them, at least we couldn't. We caught, oh how we caught. Beautiful fish but one in particular was not landed. One of two fish on this trip I wanted to land. It was in a deep back eddy. Deep enough you could not see the bottom Came up and slurped the hopper. I set the hook and it instantly went back to the wood. I got him cleared and then it was into the moss with a roll and then it unbuttoned itself. We both seen it. For this sized stream maybe a 14 to 16 inch fish. So here is the typical sized we caught Colorado and brookie from this stream, Back to the truck camper, a good meal and nights rest and another early morning rise for what's next, BilletHead

There you go wrench, He never said he used the clicker. Time to get out the checkbook. Bet he takes Visa or MasterCard . BilletHead

Would that be 4 bucks a fish? I have seen this guy fish. Better take out a second mortgage. Prepare to go broke quick, BilletHead

JD buddy! Are we going to take your toys and put you in a padded cell? You are tough and I know it. To beat the big "C" twice I know treble hooks mean nothing. pretty neat to have the Docs as friends to fish with. BilletHead

We did 4 AM five days in a row, remember I said the first few days were a sprint? Are vacations supposed to make you relax? Can't let the sun catch you not on your feet and moving, BilletHead

The BilletHead's are still eating good stuff. A couple meals here and a bit more. Yesterday it was an old standby protein wise of grilled mallard breast over charcoal and oak splits. After the two week trip we were amazed there still was some nice tomatoes in the garden plus purple basil so with that duck there was a nice caprice salad stack, Today it was grilled burgers over charcoal and peach wood. A nice thick slice of blue cheese melted over the top, Sweet potato fries and a chunky salsa with more tomatoes and peppers from the garden, Now to the other part of the story food wise. On our trip we passed through a small town just outside of the White mountain Indian reservation. The White Mountain tribe. The town was Show Low. We went by a sign that said Fresh tortillas made daily and an arrow. We did a U-turn and followed the arrow to a small tortilla shop. Mrs. BilletHead grabbed my wallet and jumped out of the truck, in the door she went. A bit later out she comes with a warm sack with a dozen flour tortillas. She smiled and said four bucks, the smell was amazing. She then says we need to get rid of some of the tomatoes we brought. They are getting real ripe. i asked the guy making the tortillas if he would like a couple. So she got some and headed for the shop door. The guy opened it for her grinning from ear to ear. They both came back out and again the Mrs. had another sack. We all conversed about everything, He said he was going to eat the big rainbow and black krims like he would an apple. We bid farewell and the new sack contained a couple dozen little corn tortillas. The barter system is alive and well and kindness goes along ways. We left there eating warm tortillas and continued to eat them the rest of the trip. A few seconds ago the Mrs. warmed us one to split. Reminded me of the trip, BilletHead

That was just plain mean Wrench but I did giggle a bit. The trophy is in the eye of the beholder. I would try the Speckled Fart Darter if it isn't endangered. People eat tiny count shrimp in their salad. Quail eggs too. Tiny means nothing. Does it say something like chuck wagon? Hey buddy catch me a daily limit of Speckled Fart Darters. You can legally gift them to me. While you are at it do another limit the next day so i can have a possession limit. Box of Chuck Wagon too. Are they native to Maryland? BilletHead BilletHead

Too tired because I fished for the last two weeks straight or, because I am cleaning my daily and possession limit of non game fish. How many fish would that be Wrench? Well lets see it could be confusing and depending where you got them depends on how many you can have. so you see I could be very busy and do I have to label every package? Man I am way too busy, https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/huntfish/seasons/nongame-fish-gigatlatl-impounded-waters And that is impounded waters BilletHead

I know nothing about spoonbill because I don't fish for them. Well I read where you said several not 1 or possibly 2 supplying the fish fry. Maybe they are supplementing with Mrs. Paul's? Must be a small Parish. You and I know there are many laws broken and sidestepped. You shut up? in the famous words of the Wrench "No Freakin' Way" hahahahhahaha BilletHead

Pleasure was ours friend! Yes there is so much more coming on this trip. We even surprised you did we not? 😁. I hope we have many more trips together in the future Randy, Marty and Pat

This has nothing to do with selling fish. I was saying that according to MDC you are allowed 60 crappie in possession per valid permit. Count the licenses in your household and multiply that X 60 each. Same thing for Walleye, White Bass, black bass etc. That's a lot of fish per family, BilletHead

There are places where the possession limit is 30 per day. i guess you are more honest then the masses. Yes like in my neighborhood like yours in the main lake 15 daily with a length limit in Truman but you fish into the river proper and it is 30 daily any length. Doesn't matter where you live in Missouri you can have 60 crappie in your freezer. BilletHead PS I see nowhere in the law where you need to label where you caught your fish.

Stop and think about it Wrench. 60 crappie is a possession limit X several acquaintances = Lots of fish fro a fish fry. I know there are cheaters out there. I for one do as Phil quoted in the rules. Label, date, quaintly , species etc. There was a time I thought I needed to keep possession limit of everything I chased. Not any more. A guy unless he has a family tribe to feed can hardly eat to keep up. I was very glad when the feds gave us 3X the daily limit for waterfowl. More goose fajitas buddy . Funny though on some species you can only have so many hens in possession. So cleaned how can they tell what gender it is? How do you sex a duck breast? I bet there is a way. Got to be a joke in there somewhere, BilletHead

He is and we are blessed to have him as a friend, BilletHead

I struggled on where to post this story. Asked some friends what they thought and got the go ahead to post in General fishing. I think a few on here should see what is out there and we all get stuck reading only what interests us here. This trip we are about to take you on can be done by anyone. Nothing special is needed. Most places we have been can be accessed with the family sedan, a tent and your own two feet. Fishing equipment of your choice of course abiding by the regulations for the area. We choose fly fishing but don't let this keep you from coming along on this trip. We the BilletHead's fish with all equipment. One think that drives us is new species / subspecies in their respective native ranges. We try to access headwaters and small streams where the fish are genetically pure. The fish you will see are not big nor trophy's in the eyes of some but trophy's for us. This thread will be picture heavy at times and not all will be fish. We had laughing and some oh crap moments on this trip. This will all be broken down in the quarry we are after and places we visited. The trip started off as a sprint and ended up a marathon. Actually when we make our trips we have a plan and for some reason we end up winging it. We covered close to 4000 miles in two weeks. The original plan was to catch the three native cutthroat of Colorado. Actually this was Mrs. BilletHead's first time fishing this state and I had not seriously tried here. So what first with the OAF BilletHead's go? Part 1 the Greenback, This goes back one year and two weeks previous from now when we were driving back from our Utah trip. As we were coming back home and passing through Colorado I gave our friend Motroutbum (Randy) a text on the phone. Randy and us go back many years. I have to explain so bear with me please. I first met Randy when he worked for Backcountry anglers when he worked there in Springfield. I then had no idea how our lives would be entangled. 11 years ago Mrs. BilletHead was an alternate for Casting for Recovery and because of one of the picked ladies was unable to attend, she got to participate. So the next year Mrs. BilletHead and I volunteered. I as a River Helper and Pat on staff. Well we found out that Randy's Mom Dawn was the one that could not attend and Pat took her place. Not only that Dawn was attending the retreat we were helping with. When it was time for the ladies to fish that retreat we all lined up to be paired off. Generally the staff watch the ladies and know who should be paired to who but before pairing began there was a scream and Dawn dashed out of the line and said this one's mine as she grabbed my arm. . For the next couple of years at the retreat Randy volunteered and he and I spent time together. Back to story, so in the text I told Randy about our trip to Utah and shared pictures but I had alternative motives for the call and this brings us to us picking his brain about the Colorado natives, see Randy now works for the Front Range Anglers in Boulder Colorado. So a text and phone call before this trip to Randy and asking about where to start in seeking the fish we wanted to add to our bucket list. Randy was quick to say I want to take you for the Greenback! This elated us to the max. So we hit the road from BilletHeadVille at 6:20 PM on July 27th Heading West on 54 then to I-70. Driving hard until we had no way to keep our old eyes open and took a power nap at a rest area in Kanarado, Ks. Three hour nap we were behind the wheel until we arrived at Randy's home for a visit and plan. Met his wife and visited about everything under the sun. On Randy's computer we secured our fishing licenses. we were to meet him in Estes Park at 7 AM the next morning. Before we left his home I had a handful of hooks and fly tying material Randy insisted I needed and it will all be put to good use. We headed up out of the big city and found a place to pull off the road and get a full nights sleep. We went to sleep at 7PM and awoke the next morning at 4 AM. Up to Estes park to meet Randy, pitch our gear in his rig and up into Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) to fish the front range and hopefully a greenback cutthroat. Arriving the trailhead we grabbed our gear and up the trail we went. Randy in the lead, Pat in the Middle with me bringing up the rear. Nice and steep trail for us flatlanders. Some huffing and puffing from the middle and rear and the front man shot up the trail like a mountain goat. When we got to the point where we dropped into the canyon to fish Randy reminded me he had given us our choice for an easy place or a challenge. I had told him we did not necessary need it easy and we had worked to get to this spot for sure. Are you all ready for some fishing? I thought so . We strung up our rods. Myself with a hopper and Randy and Pat with hopper droppers. The fishing commenced with all of us fishing and leap frogging the creek. Randy was the first to set the hook!, Mrs. BilletHead was next, Yes I caught also, We worked our way up the creek working runs and plunge pools. One of Pat's greenbacks. We all took pictures but Randy can really capture the moment. This is a combination of the three of us but I can bet you can tell his from ours, Speaking of gear camera and otherwise Randy carried a huge pack and besides his rod he carried a full sized tripod and full sized DSLR camera on his side, in the pack extra shoes, pump water purification unit, big water bottle, fishing gear, snacks and who knows what else, As the clouds began to form for the afternoon monsoon it was time break down rods and pack back up for the trip back down the mountain. Randy set up the tri pod and punched up the self timer for a shot of the three of us, Back down we went to the Randy rig, then back to Estes Park to part ways but this would not be the last time we talked to Randy. The Mrs. and I then grabbed a spot in a commercial campground for the night. a good dinner and dessert was had, I may get some flack for this picture but I guarantee I had my pint too . Into bed early after dosing with arthritis strength Tylenol . Need a good nights sleep for the next day, another place and another native. My fingers are cramping and my eyes are crossed from all this post. You all will have to wait for more while I recover, BilletHead This post has been promoted to an article

Yes and compete , BilletHead