Big Boys Hobbies

Best scoop/tool hard clay/gravel lake bottom

C

Crown Cap Mike

Junior Member
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Jun 26, 2016
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Question for lake hunters. I did some freshwater lake hunting for the first time this weekend and having some recovery issues. I am geared fine for sandy coastal beaches but this gear is not cutting it at the lake I was at.

The lake bottom is a mixture of tough clay and pea/marble sized gravel. I have a stealth 920 scoop and I can skim the surface and get down an inch at best. There are many many targets but I had to skip anything that seemed more than surface deep.

This did get me a small gold ring, 50 cents, and two pull tabs in an hour. Like I said, tons of targets, but I can't recover them with a scoop. What do you guys use. I have a lesche ground shark and Sampson but they are short handled shovels I use for relic hunting. I'm open to ideas.

Mike
 
If the lake bed is that hard I would think that drops wouldn't be as deep either. Perhaps other than a scoop you might try a T-handle shovel and maybe a floating sieve to screen for finds. Just my 2 cents worth
 
If the bottom is that hard... I don't think things lost would travel too far down in it... maybe you could snorkel and just fan for the targets... I have hunted a lake that's bottom was like cement and most targets were down an inch at most.
 
If you aren't hunting that deep i would recommend you start wearing some weight (weight belt) it will help you get some more bite on your scoops...
 
I hunt 1 beach that is similar. its surprising how quick high k gold and pt will sink. Coins, silver, flat stuff stays pretty shallow.
Stavr m9
 
Timely thread- on my last 2 lake hunts the bottom was hard to dig as well- anything from rocks to clay to dense packed sand. I typically use a "pull" scoop for leverage in the deeper water but I decided to give my Stavr beach "push" scoop a go. It took a little getting used to but I really like it. It lets my weight and bigger leg muscles do most of the work. The trick for me was getting the scoop pointed down at a steep angle (mostly for deeper targets) and then getting enough force on top to push it down. Here is a similar scoop to mine:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/251736930455?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true
Really takes a nice bite but small enough to maneuver with one hand. GL!
 
We hunt in water up to our chest and keep our heads above water so this way we can use our long-handled scoops and we get into that sticky mud then we just pull it up and drop it into the tow basket that we have floating behind us. You know you get one of those gold pan classifiers and you put a float Noodle around it and you tow it behind you and then you put scoops of muddy bottom in it , then you wash it out like a gold pan by hand. I don't snorkel much but when I do I just use my hand to fan and a screwdriver to pick.Getting to old and short winded to snorkel anymore!:no:
 
Like has already been said. Your hunt should not take you that deep with the rocks and a very hard bottom. I would use a smaller SS scoop. A 9" may be good for sand but that is a lot of metal to push through a hard bottom. Remember you are lighter in water so it takes additional effort to get that 9" down.
 
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