Detecting a shallow creek

[upnorth]

Has anyone had luck walking in and detecting a shallow creek\river ? There was a fair bit of activity around the turn of the century by a local creek here. I have been wondering if I would make any coin finds by wading through the shallow parts. I would have an eye out for old bottles also. I read somewhere once that guys were using garden forks to probe and pry up old pop bottles etc. I find old bottles to be very interesting.

 

[mudpuppy]

Man! You gotta watch Aquachiggers video where he found 7lbs of old silver coins in a shallow creek with the ATPro! Thats right! I've been hunting some shallow creeks and yes theres all sorts of stuff in them, especially if you can find an old creek bank with the big old trees along it..old campfire spots, pretty easy since there will be a lot of iron..old places to cross and swim...as soon as some ice gets out of the way, have a whack.
Mud

 

[Joel-Winnipeg]

If the activties were a long time back the lost items could be
buried deeper or moved down stream.
It depends on the water currents over the years.
Would be interesting to hunt these as likely older goodies
would turn up.
I'd defenately take a stab at those sites.
.

 

[John-Edmonton]

I have dug shallow creek beds many times (one of my favorites) and as I recall, have found coins, belt buckles, lead from bullets, an old cigarette case, old fishing tackle, tokens, old copper whistle and many others which elude my grey matter.

 

[upnorth]

Man! You gotta watch Aquachiggers video where he found 7lbs of old silver coins in a shallow creek with the ATPro! Thats right! I've been hunting some shallow creeks and yes theres all sorts of stuff in them, especially if you can find an old creek bank with the big old trees along it..old campfire spots, pretty easy since there will be a lot of iron..old places to cross and swim...as soon as some ice gets out of the way, have a whack.
Mud

You bet I will, thanks. Finding old bottles after the water levels petered out in the fall got me to thinking about detecting creeks.

 

[upnorth]

I have dug shallow creek beds many times (one of my favorites) and as I recall, have found coins, belt buckles, lead from bullets, an old cigarette case, old fishing tackle, tokens, old copper whistle and many others which elude my grey matter.

Wow, all that stuff is wonderful to find, including marbles. I have a bit of a thing for old marbles. This creek thing may be real fun this summer.

 

[396nova]

Man! You gotta watch Aquachiggers video where he found 7lbs of old silver coins in a shallow creek with the ATPro! Thats right! I've been hunting some shallow creeks and yes theres all sorts of stuff in them, especially if you can find an old creek bank with the big old trees along it..old campfire spots, pretty easy since there will be a lot of iron..old places to cross and swim...as soon as some ice gets out of the way, have a whack.
Mud

That is a great video, but here in SE WI we are walking on water (until it melts).

 

[widebody]

[size=large]Aquadigger didn't just happen onto those creeks. he did a lot of research to find the crossings and such. with a little research you can find some of the old swimming holes and such also. ya won't know til ya try it. treasure is where ya find it.

HH [/size]

 

[upnorth]

Other than a neoprene suit or chest waders................... is there any way of keeping leeches off your body in a slow moving stream ?

 

[mudpuppy]

Depending upon where you are at in the World, this may or may not be an issue...generally speaking if you are wading in shorts or even long pants and theres leeches around, they will stick to you...especially if you are kicking around in slack water with deep mud...moving water not so much...no big deal for the most part. I suppose somebody could try coating their legs with Vicks Vapo-rub, dont know for sure if this would work, just thought it up right now..Northern leeches are the biggest I've ever seen! Dont pull them off, burn them, pour salt or alcohol on them or anything like that.. you sort of have to scrape them gently off with your thumbnail, you dont want to be squeezing or otherwise making them puke whats in them into you..if you apply a light and gentle scraping action, they will let go on their own. The skinny end is where the mouth is, the wide end is where their foot is that has that disc on it to hold on while they feed. We'd catch a bunch for fishing by hopping over the side of a boat or canoe in the muddy area of a lake, and start rooting around in the mud with our legs and feet...this was in Northern MN lakes, and they were full of em! Same removal method for ticks. I didn't chose the name "Mudpuppy" for no reason!
Mud

 

[grumpysrb]

We used to either sprinkle a pinch of salt on them or put something hot near(not on them) and they'd drop off. I've brushed them off, but was told that was a bad idea. Had a Friend that kept some for pets, guess how he fed them. He was a weird.

 

[mudpuppy]

Up at appropriately named Leech Lake in MN for walleye opener, there was this one bar that served pizzas...you could get a minnow one, or one with leeches on it...once a fellow got a little drunk and stupid....well, who could eat anything like that sober?
Mud

 

[upnorth]

Depending upon where you are at in the World, this may or may not be an issue...generally speaking if you are wading in shorts or even long pants and theres leeches around, they will stick to you...especially if you are kicking around in slack water with deep mud...moving water not so much...no big deal for the most part. I suppose somebody could try coating their legs with Vicks Vapo-rub, dont know for sure if this would work, just thought it up right now..Northern leeches are the biggest I've ever seen! Dont pull them off, burn them, pour salt or alcohol on them or anything like that.. you sort of have to scrape them gently off with your thumbnail, you dont want to be squeezing or otherwise making them puke whats in them into you..if you apply a light and gentle scraping action, they will let go on their own. The skinny end is where the mouth is, the wide end is where their foot is that has that disc on it to hold on while they feed. We'd catch a bunch for fishing by hopping over the side of a boat or canoe in the muddy area of a lake, and start rooting around in the mud with our legs and feet...this was in Northern MN lakes, and they were full of em! Same removal method for ticks. I didn't chose the name "Mudpuppy" for no reason!
Mud

Thanks. I pretty much have a handle on ticks as I am outdoors a lot and have a good idea for the season around here, which is a bit too long for my liking. I have found them crawling on me and a few attached. No bulls eye though, luckily enough. As for leeches, I'm unsure if they are even in this creek, but lake fish manage to get in so I'm guessing that everything does. Leeches give me the creepin willys.

 

[upnorth]

Up at appropriately named Leech Lake in MN for walleye opener, there was this one bar that served pizzas...you could get a minnow one, or one with leeches on it...once a fellow got a little drunk and stupid....well, who could eat anything like that sober?
Mud

Lord knows that I would probably have a chew back in my drinking days, lol ! Sometimes I wonder how I managed to make 52 after all the booze/dope and falling off motorcycles.

 

[fongu]

There's no telling what's waiting for you in those creeks. I just got a lead last week and I'm trying to find the owner and get permission to work this creek. It was used as a swimming hole years ago but it's not as deep as it used to be. The church member who told me about it is in his 80's and he said they used to jump off the bridge over this creek when he was a little boy and I told him if he jumped now he would break his neck... But, that doesn't mean the coins they lost isn't still there. I use chest waders to stay dry and warm also, but hadn't thought about leeches. I hate those suckers. Good luck and happy hunting.

 

[rloph]

You guys r making me tink about hitting some of the small creeks, rivers, and streams here along the shoreline of lake huron.
As soon as our weather breaks and ice melts i m gettin my butt out there. Seeing everybodys finds while I'm unable to get out
bums me out!!!!!!! COME ON SPRING!

 

[upnorth]

There's no telling what's waiting for you in those creeks. I just got a lead last week and I'm trying to find the owner and get permission to work this creek. It was used as a swimming hole years ago but it's not as deep as it used to be. The church member who told me about it is in his 80's and he said they used to jump off the bridge over this creek when he was a little boy and I told him if he jumped now he would break his neck... But, that doesn't mean the coins they lost isn't still there. I use chest waders to stay dry and warm also, but hadn't thought about leeches. I hate those suckers. Good luck and happy hunting.

Sound like a fantastic spot. Yes, I'm about 90% sure that I'll be getting some waders also. Some spots of this river (it's more like a creek to me) is shallow and rocky, other parts are deeper and mud filled. I'm unsure about an old swimming hole in the deeper muddy spot. I wonder if it will be super deep sucking mud. It's a quirky water body.

 

[upnorth]

You guys r making me tink about hitting some of the small creeks, rivers, and streams here along the shoreline of lake huron.
As soon as our weather breaks and ice melts i m gettin my butt out there. Seeing everybodys finds while I'm unable to get out
bums me out!!!!!!! COME ON SPRING!

Sweet. the Huron shore line would likely pop coins and old buttons etc. Fur trade silver or rings are a distinct possibility.