Mortoniceras+macraster near Downtown Fort Worth

[Shaun-DFW Fossils]

My favorite “homeless creek” with all of its dangers (I’ve been pursued by a guy with a rifle, watched suspected drug dealers meeting, etc) yields the biggest and best macrasters and clean mortoniceras ammonites, rarely do I have to bust out the hammer and chisel. It doesn’t hurt to have a concealed carry permit..I’m looking for fossils, not to become a candidate for fossilization personally. Occasional nautiloids too. Here are a few lunch break finds from yesterday. This is near downtown Fort Worth TX. Still the Wild West! The denture clam/devils toenail brownie (lol) was interesting to me. 

[Shaun-DFW Fossils]

Accidentally posted same big macraster twice, sorry. Well, you get the wet look and the dry look..

[SPrice]

Great finds in urban America! I might have to make trip back to Texas. Last visit was for Gar fishing in the Trinity River near Elkhart/Palestine. Ammonites galore in the river banks matrix. Fishing was the focus. None collected. The 7 foot 200+# gar made up for it.

[SPrice]

I had to take the "s" off of http"s" in the browser in order to react to the post.

[Mark Kmiecik]

Great finds.

[hemipristis]

Nice finds!

 

Hammer? Check. Chisel? Cloth wrapping material? Check. Water? Check. Glock? Check. Lol

[Coco]

What a beautiful big sea urchin !

 

Coco

[Ludwigia]

Nice haul!

[Shaun-DFW Fossils]

3 hours ago, Coco said:

What a beautiful big sea urchin !

 

Coco

Thank you! It is one of my 3 best..they are so simple, yet I love finding them, especially when they’re not pancaked, but sometimes even the cracks become crystallized and they shimmer under light 

[RuMert]

The description sounds like some of our "hobo sites". Urban fossil hunting is worth studying

Edited October 21, 2023 by RuMert

[Echinoid Express]

Lovely finds, those Macraster urchins are wonderful! Sounds like a heart-pounding adventure, and in more ways than one!

[Shaun-DFW Fossils]

On 10/20/2023 at 12:49 PM, SPrice said:

Great finds in urban America! I might have to make trip back to Texas. Last visit was for Gar fishing in the Trinity River near Elkhart/Palestine. Ammonites galore in the river banks matrix. Fishing was the focus. None collected. The 7 foot 200+# gar made up for it.

I think you may have mentioned this to me before! Thanks for the reminder. That’s an interesting geological zone, what kind of ammonites do you even see there? What do they look like in general?

[SPrice]

The fishing trip was August 2011...so a while back. First item onn my bucket list.  Catch a River Monster. Caught 2 dozen gar. The guide asked me what the Ammonites were. We saw a lot of broken pieces.  Many are weathered badly . I believe they are Metiococeras. 

 

Most were in the 8 to 12" diameter. Wish I had collected at least one. It was 110F and the water was 89-90F...

Hot was the word for 3 days of fishing. Probably a canoe or kayak would be the best way to hunt them. Put in near Elkhart and go down stream. Stop at flat banks and sand bars

 Lots of exposed layers with Ammos. 

Steve

 

All the Dino fish were caught and released swimming away strong.

[SPrice]

I think there are some posts/ threads on TFF about collecting Ammonites on the Trinity River banks..even in Dallas.

[minnbuckeye]

As a fellow fisherman, I appreciate the added pictures!!! Great catch (and release)!!

[hadrosauridae]

I dont know which is more impressive, that monster urchin, or monster gar.  Both are awesome!

[Shaun-DFW Fossils]

9 hours ago, SPrice said:

The fishing trip was August 2011...so a while back. First item onn my bucket list.  Catch a River Monster. Caught 2 dozen gar. The guide asked me what the Ammonites were. We saw a lot of broken pieces.  Many are weathered badly . I believe they are Metiococeras. 

 

Most were in the 8 to 12" diameter. Wish I had collected at least one. It was 110F and the water was 89-90F...

Hot was the word for 3 days of fishing. Probably a canoe or kayak would be the best way to hunt them. Put in near Elkhart and go down stream. Stop at flat banks and sand bars

 Lots of exposed layers with Ammos. 

Steve

 

All the Dino fish were caught and released swimming away strong.

Thank you! And very awesome catches, I too would be super thrilled! I’m also a catch and release guy….those look HEALTHY too! I caught a big spotted gar in Lake Whitney, hooked it actually, the one and only I ever caught. Thanks for the tips, I’ll have to give that a try.