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Advice on creek and lake detecting

FLOOD

Forum Supporter
Joined
Apr 5, 2022
Messages
629
Location
Eastern NY
Hi, I want to get some more time in this year detecting, along and in, creeks and lakes. the few places I want to try out have gravel covered shoreline, and one lake in particular is a spot that my parents used to take us to swim when we were little. It’s a muddy bottom mostly, but some rocks. I will be using my legend and probably searching the lake out to about 5-6 feet of water. What I could use is some help with proper gear ( footwear, waders, for example) for walking creek beds and water a couple feet deep, versus if I want to wade into the lake and search water 3-6 feet deep. anyone witch freshwater hunting experience comments would be helpful. Thanks
 
Hi flood I have hunted fresh water lakes and rivers for quite a while. Lake hunting is easier than rivers for me as the water isn't racing by which causes the hole to fill in real quick. Lakes are great to hunt in and all you need is a good set of waders, or wet suit. For lakes I use my dry suit pants and a pair of wading shoes. Rivers are different in the fact current wants to upend you, rocks here get a slimy feel to them making walking difficult. Also having good solid sole wading shoes are a must for me. Unfortunately, rivers are a catchall for some trash like cans bottles and God knows what so you need protection for your feet. Equipment I use is a good beach scoop, and a mesh pouch for drainage. There are a ton of videos on youtube dealing with water hunting and you can get a lot of ideas from that as well. Good luck and happy hunting. Oh, and in rivers watch out for fishing tackle. Last thing you want is a rusty fishhook stuck in your foot.
 
I have not done much lake hunting but this summer I did hit a bunch of large streams due to the low water lever. For me, in my area a scoop is useless. A lot of shale and just too many rocks so I used my hand digger and just hands mostly. I hunted around bridges because they were most likely water crossing areas, old mill sites and swimming holes and I did quite well at them. I just wear shorts and some cheap mesh sneakers. Here are some creek finds from this past summer at two different sites.

Steve
 

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I hunted around bridges because they were most likely water crossing areas, old mill sites and swimming holes and I did quite well at them.
How did you identify old swimming holes? I know of a few old ponds out my way, but most have since been turned into private property owned by an HOA or something and I can’t get close. The Saco is one I want to get up to this summer. Figuring out where people would stop to swim is always hard for me though. I used to just swim down the whole river alongside the canoes instead of actually canoeing...
 
How did you identify old swimming holes? I know of a few old ponds out my way, but most have since been turned into private property owned by an HOA or something and I can’t get close. The Saco is one I want to get up to this summer. Figuring out where people would stop to swim is always hard for me though. I used to just swim down the whole river alongside the canoes instead of actually canoeing...
Deep spots in creeks, near big rocks where people could jump off. Places where I used to swim.

Steve
 
I have not done much lake hunting but this summer I did hit a bunch of large streams due to the low water lever. For me, in my area a scoop is useless. A lot of shale and just too many rocks so I used my hand digger and just hands mostly. I hunted around bridges because they were most likely water crossing areas, old mill sites and swimming holes and I did quite well at them. I just wear shorts and some cheap mesh sneakers. Here are some creek finds from this past summer at two different sites.

Steve
Thanks for the help. I used an old pair of sneakers for the creeks I tried last year, and just used my digging tool as well. Wet feet, but I dried them off and changed shoes later. I haven’t tried in a lake yet and don’t yet own a metal scoop, so I may have to stick to shallow, slow moving water until I get other gear suited for deeper water
 
Hi flood I have hunted fresh water lakes and rivers for quite a while. Lake hunting is easier than rivers for me as the water isn't racing by which causes the hole to fill in real quick. Lakes are great to hunt in and all you need is a good set of waders, or wet suit. For lakes I use my dry suit pants and a pair of wading shoes. Rivers are different in the fact current wants to upend you, rocks here get a slimy feel to them making walking difficult. Also having good solid sole wading shoes are a must for me. Unfortunately, rivers are a catchall for some trash like cans bottles and God knows what so you need protection for your feet. Equipment I use is a good beach scoop, and a mesh pouch for drainage. There are a ton of videos on youtube dealing with water hunting and you can get a lot of ideas from that as well. Good luck and happy hunting. Oh, and in rivers watch out for fishing tackle. Last thing you want is a rusty fishhook stuck in your foot.
Thanks, I will look around and see if I can get a decent wet suit, or at least a wet suit type leggings for a decent price. I have used old sneakers in the creek and was wondering how they might work in muddier bottom, but don’t want to lose one getting stuck. I will probably need to get a good scoop too, as I’m thinking the water will get pretty cloudy just from walking around. But the one lake I’m thinking of, we all swam in when I was little and parents often just rolled up their long pants and waded in with us, so I’m thinking coins or jewelry must have dropped in somewhat regularly.
 
Yeah a good stout scoop will be in order, along with a nice 4 ft handle. One thing that has helped me alot in deeper wading, especially with rocks/gravel, is a floating sand sifter. Don't have a pic handy but I devised mine with a .5 thick chunk of black plixiglas [I wanted to used something non metallic] then CNC drilled a bunch of holes in it then rigged that up to a frame of foam stuffed PVC pipes for flotation, I keep it tethered to my ankle with a surfboard strap and it just follows me around, ready to use.

Saves loads of time as you just take scoops and dump them in the sifter making any targets easy to find instead of fidgeting around in the scoop trying to locate them. Then of course you'll need a pouch or sorts to store finds, I hook a carbiner clip to my detector for rings, that way you don't have to worry about them falling out of the pouch.
 
Yeah a good stout scoop will be in order, along with a nice 4 ft handle. One thing that has helped me alot in deeper wading, especially with rocks/gravel, is a floating sand sifter. Don't have a pic handy but I devised mine with a .5 thick chunk of black plixiglas [I wanted to used something non metallic] then CNC drilled a bunch of holes in it then rigged that up to a frame of foam stuffed PVC pipes for flotation, I keep it tethered to my ankle with a surfboard strap and it just follows me around, ready to use.

Saves loads of time as you just take scoops and dump them in the sifter making any targets easy to find instead of fidgeting around in the scoop trying to locate them. Then of course you'll need a pouch or sorts to store finds, I hook a carbiner clip to my detector for rings, that way you don't have to worry about them falling out of the pouch.
When FSA46 quit the hobby he sold me a few things including his sifter... its made great... I can put up to 8 buckets of material in it if I so chose to.... I see some of these testers and the hoover boys using a sifter that is worthless, it nearly tips over putting 1 small scoop full into it.... mine is stable and Frank made it... Cupajo also has the same one just a different colored barrel was used... I tie it to my waist and it stays put with the weight attached to it like an anchor... Frank drilled a lot of holes in it, it will hold tiny targets like 22 cal bullets and such....
 

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When FSA46 quit the hobby he sold me a few things including his sifter... its made great... I can put up to 8 buckets of material in it if I so chose to.... I see some of these testers and the hoover boys using a sifter that is worthless, it nearly tips over putting 1 small scoop full into it.... mine is stable and Frank made it... Cupajo also has the same one just a different colored barrel was used... I tie it to my waist and it stays put with the weight attached to it like an anchor... Frank drilled a lot of holes in it, it will hold tiny targets like 22 cal bullets and such....
That looks well made and easy to use. I might have to try making something like that too. I’m hoping I enjoy the water detecting so it can open up a whole new aspect of the hobby.
 
When FSA46 quit the hobby he sold me a few things including his sifter... its made great... I can put up to 8 buckets of material in it if I so chose to.... I see some of these testers and the hoover boys using a sifter that is worthless, it nearly tips over putting 1 small scoop full into it.... mine is stable and Frank made it... Cupajo also has the same one just a different colored barrel was used... I tie it to my waist and it stays put with the weight attached to it like an anchor... Frank drilled a lot of holes in it, it will hold tiny targets like 22 cal bullets and such....
The only thing I can add is that I used a poly perforated sheet that I bolted to the bottom to have the hole pattern. The white strips were cut from plastic drain pipe and used so the tie wraps wouldn't cut through the "Boss Noodle". The Boss Noodle was used because if gave a lot more stability than the regular noodle.

Also,if you click to enlarge the pic you,ll notice there are two areas that extend up from the top of the rim. These were cut with notches that accommodate resting a scoop should you want to put it on top of the sifter

On a funny note......I gave that perforated sheet to my good friend Cupajo when I got out of
detecting. Lew contacted me years later asking where I got the sheet from or if I still had it. I reminded Lew that I gave it to him. Yup,he found it where he had stored it years earlier. lol
 
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The only thing I can add is that I used a poly perforated sheet that I bolted to the bottom to have the hole pattern. The white strips were cut from plastic drain pipe and used so the tie wraps wouldn't cut through the "Boss Noodle". The Boss Noodle was used because if gave a lot more stability than the regular noodle.

On a funny note......I gave that perforated sheet to my good friend Cupajo when I got out of
detecting. Lew contacted me years later asking where I got the sheet from or if I still had it. I reminded Lew that I gave it to him. Yup,he found it where he had stored it years earlier. lol
I found the thread am going to post it... with Cupajo's sifter when we took you to clean out the garbage from the beach PI Joe and I wanted to hunt... https://metaldetectingforum.com/index.php?threads/of-scoops-and-sifters.178217/#post-1921511

I was going to reply that the barrel you cut is about 5 inches deep...
 
When FSA46 quit the hobby he sold me a few things including his sifter... its made great... I can put up to 8 buckets of material in it if I so chose to.... I see some of these testers and the hoover boys using a sifter that is worthless, it nearly tips over putting 1 small scoop full into it.... mine is stable and Frank made it... Cupajo also has the same one just a different colored barrel was used... I tie it to my waist and it stays put with the weight attached to it like an anchor... Frank drilled a lot of holes in it, it will hold tiny targets like 22 cal bullets and such....
I like it, looks superior to mine or at least more eye pleasing. Think thoise holes might be a tad too small for my liking though. I was thinking about some sort of plastic grid but I had this plexi on hand so I went with that. I said .5 thats a bit much, its actually 3/8 which still is a good bit of weight for something like this, really its only downside. I squirted foam in the pipes before I sealed them together for extra flotation, then wrapped them with pipe insulation. Would have liked to have found some large enough to put them over the pipes without having to cut them but I couldn't find any that big, so I sue zip ties to secure them.
This wil lhold 2 scoops easily before it starts to bog down, and thats fine for me. In fact, I usually flip it and dump the contents after every scoop cause it doesn't make sense to let stuff build up on it, which would make it harder to find legit targets with the next scoop. Occasionally I'll find rocks I like that I keep on it until I get to shore but other than that, its usually clean when gliding behind me.

Is looking a bit bedraggled, think I'll redo the insulation before summer. edit: Ok great, won't let me attach a file
 
Hi, I want to get some more time in this year detecting, along and in, creeks and lakes. the few places I want to try out have gravel covered shoreline, and one lake in particular is a spot that my parents used to take us to swim when we were little. It’s a muddy bottom mostly, but some rocks. I will be using my legend and probably searching the lake out to about 5-6 feet of water. What I could use is some help with proper gear ( footwear, waders, for example) for walking creek beds and water a couple feet deep, versus if I want to wade into the lake and search water 3-6 feet deep. anyone witch freshwater hunting experience comments would be helpful. Thanks
Don't wear waders whatever you do, it's too easy to flood them bending over trying to scoop up a target, and then you're boned. Beach hunting in Florida I would wear a fishing hat with a neck flap, a good UV Gator with polarized glasses and a long sleeve UV shirt. For my finds I had a fanny pack with a vitamin bottle for fish hooks and other "sharps". And for shoes, I'd just get a $5 pair of water shoes from Wallymart each season. You may want to look at something more substantial for your area though. Plan on spending $150 to $200 for a GOOD scoop for dealing with those rocks. And I did the Michael Jackson "one glove thing" on my scoop hand for better grip. Go cheap and you will regret it (trust me, I speak from experience). Good Luck & Happy Hunting!

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:cool3:
 
Don't wear waders whatever you do, it's too easy to flood them bending over trying to scoop up a target, and then you're boned. Beach hunting in Florida I would wear a fishing hat with a neck flap, a good UV Gator with polarized glasses and a long sleeve UV shirt. For my finds I had a fanny pack with a vitamin bottle for fish hooks and other "sharps". And for shoes, I'd just get a $5 pair of water shoes from Wallymart each season. You may want to look at something more substantial for your area though. Plan on spending $150 to $200 for a GOOD scoop for dealing with those rocks. And I did the Michael Jackson "one glove thing" on my scoop hand for better grip. Go cheap and you will regret it (trust me, I speak from experience). Good Luck & Happy Hunting!

:cool3:
Thanks for the pointers. I use waders for fishing sometimes but didn’t consider them for detecting. I don’t mind getting wet, but I want to be mobile and flexible as I get around. The bottle for hooks, etc is also helpful. I know I will be co,I g across fishing tackle when I go out. Thanks
 
Hi, I want to get some more time in this year detecting, along and in, creeks and lakes. the few places I want to try out have gravel covered shoreline, and one lake in particular is a spot that my parents used to take us to swim when we were little. It’s a muddy bottom mostly, but some rocks. I will be using my legend and probably searching the lake out to about 5-6 feet of water. What I could use is some help with proper gear ( footwear, waders, for example) for walking creek beds and water a couple feet deep, versus if I want to wade into the lake and search water 3-6 feet deep. anyone witch freshwater hunting experience comments would be helpful. Thanks
Dive Boots are what u want for your feet- They zip on sides
& are neoprene. I have several diff pair / diff sizes for drysuit vs wetsuit also
a simple shorty wetsuit will help u the most too & save u some $$ - of course a solid scoop for digging
 
I like it, looks superior to mine or at least more eye pleasing. Think thoise holes might be a tad too small for my liking though. I was thinking about some sort of plastic grid but I had this plexi on hand so I went with that. I said .5 thats a bit much, its actually 3/8 which still is a good bit of weight for something like this, really its only downside. I squirted foam in the pipes before I sealed them together for extra flotation, then wrapped them with pipe insulation. Would have liked to have found some large enough to put them over the pipes without having to cut them but I couldn't find any that big, so I sue zip ties to secure them.
This wil lhold 2 scoops easily before it starts to bog down, and thats fine for me. In fact, I usually flip it and dump the contents after every scoop cause it doesn't make sense to let stuff build up on it, which would make it harder to find legit targets with the next scoop. Occasionally I'll find rocks I like that I keep on it until I get to shore but other than that, its usually clean when gliding behind me.

Is looking a bit bedraggled, think I'll redo the insulation before summer. edit: Ok great, won't let me attach a file
 
I like it, looks superior to mine or at least more eye pleasing. Think thoise holes might be a tad too small for my liking though. I was thinking about some sort of plastic grid but I had this plexi on hand so I went with that. I said .5 thats a bit much, its actually 3/8 which still is a good bit of weight for something like this, really its only downside. I squirted foam in the pipes before I sealed them together for extra flotation, then wrapped them with pipe insulation. Would have liked to have found some large enough to put them over the pipes without having to cut them but I couldn't find any that big, so I sue zip ties to secure them.
This wil lhold 2 scoops easily before it starts to bog down, and thats fine for me. In fact, I usually flip it and dump the contents after every scoop cause it doesn't make sense to let stuff build up on it, which would make it harder to find legit targets with the next scoop. Occasionally I'll find rocks I like that I keep on it until I get to shore but other than that, its usually clean when gliding behind me.

Is looking a bit bedraggled, think I'll redo the insulation before summer. edit: Ok great, won't let me attach a file
 

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