Good Luck Goby!

[mudpuppy]

Up 4am-ish and checked the Forums, then flipped and checked the NOAA station for wind/wave info and headed for the beach...![attachment 312303 goby-2.jpg]

Got down in a few cuts and worked them as well as the black sand slope...I look for a spot like this where the dune grass roots are exposed...they trap all sorts of coins and hopefully rings and chains...this is a good example, [attachment 312304 goby-1.jpg]..

Its a long walk to do this stretch, couple miles down and then on back, so a guy sort of smokejumps into deepish water in prime spots depending upon what you see on the bottom...I saw this little Goby! So I went in there and chased him around, pinned him down with the coil and scooped him up! I dont know why? The Pursuit Orientation streak in me does this all the time for no reason other than the thrill and challenge of the capture! '[attachment 312305 goby.jpg]

Gobys are relatively new invasive species here, discovered in our waters in 1990...Theres 185 known invasive species in Lake Michigan, and it seems I've lived through them all, starting with Alewives and Lampreys back in the 70's I remember.....Most rode here in the ballast waters of ships from far off places like the Black Sea...Once here, the Goby population really blew up! Diver friends tell me the Lake bottom is carpeted with them in astounding numbers...I played with him a bit, you are supposed to kill them, but he was so cute and helpless and ugly, so I let him go...

Anyway, not 50' from him, I was wading along hunting in the water, 15' from shore easy, but I was looking up on the black sand slope as I hunted along, and in the rising Sun, I once again eyeballed a Silver Rosie dime! They are nice and shiny from being tumbled in the black sand...plus I got two 44 wheats and this mess...wish I could have typed up a 'Golden Goby' post today...[attachment 312306 goby-3.jpg]
Mud

 

[bootyhoundpa]

Great post and pics mud...hmmm ,you've got me thinking now.. 2 days in a row the silver has been found on the surface hmmm... maybe the trick to getting more silver is to leave the detector at home and just walk as far as ones able with eyes down... its amazing how wave action can classify objects of slightly different weights and sizes to different depths but ive seen it before as im sure you have too... but i do have to wonder if your not missing other silver under the surface..not that i dont think you know what your doing as im very sure you do but it sure does get me to pondering ... congrats on the pocket full of finds...

 

[nagov]

"I look for a spot like this where the dune grass roots are exposed"

Same trick I used on Lake Erie a few years back..... had one cut dune I dubbed "Penny Dune" but did find a few silvers on it too... You are bringing back memories, keep up the good work.

Cliff

 

[Syd BC]

Great photos Mud. You have us all analyzing this beach. Here's my 2 cents worth. I wonder if those silvers and other old coins were lost in the dunes and are now exposed by the erosion of the dune. I mean rather than being dropped in the water by swimmers. A couple of years ago I detected a similar eroded beach and found a lot of old coins, some over 100 years old. Later when talking to the beachfront homeowner, she told me that they had lost at least 10ft. of their beach. I found black sand and shallow coins just like you found. There will be a lot more, and older stuff along that edge so keep digging. Syd

 

[Pete in MI]

Took mine to the DNR Fisheries office in Marquette...was told Trout like them to eat and yep...invasive species. Good hunt mudpuppy

 

[bootyhoundpa]

Syd,your theory of the silver coins originating from the dunes makes alot sense. ...

 

[OldBeechnut]

That is one heck of a cut!! Wow!

 

[goldnugget]

Nice cut on the Beach. I hit my Beach hard last week, It had lost about 15 feet of Oyster Sheel and sand in Front of the Dunes since November. Only thing now is that the Oyster Shells are still about 4 to 5 feet tall. Found ( 46 ) pieces of small lead and some other small pieces of green copper. Wish someone new how to get the Green Corrosion off of Coins. Finally hit a patch of coins. Some Spaniash 1/2 Reales, 1843 with Arrow Seated Liberty Quarter- Seated Dime and about ( 1 ) dozen Flat Buttons, still trying to bring out dates on the other coins.