Lake Michigan Ice Out! :clapping:

[mudpuppy]

Nice and warm today...wadered up and hit a place I know very well...spent 2hrs dinking along where the beach used to be and where the icefloes sort of stacked and classified finds @20 yards offshore...

I believe this set of keys came from the Louis and Clark expedition, although someone pointed out they predated cartridges and keyless entrys, so maybe Custers?..[attachment 311526 apr17-15-4.jpg]

Got a little 925 toe ring, which as you know throw a trash signal on account of they are open, sound a lot like a bottlecap...pulled a lot of nickels, should be gold in here, found it here before...water is probably warm enough to go in in a 5mil wetsuit...7 for sure...

Big cut as you can see...Lake Mich water level is up 2' so what used to be beach and waters edge has changed dramatically in one year...it takes a long time to learn how a specific beach and its drops move with the prevailing weather...nice pocket of finds in a little area on the downwind side of the main beach where everything seems to have gotten pushed, nothing on the upstream side at all..very few light targets, the heavys were all a few scoops deep...still learning what this particular beach's secrets are, how it moves and under what conditions that make for a chance for gold!....[attachment 311527 apr17-15-1.jpg]
Mud

 

[bootyhoundpa]

Nothing better for ones spirit than swinging the coil in calm waters....nice toe ring mud...slim pickens for me so far this year...happy huntin..

 

[mudpuppy]

Yeah BH!

I'm off to a very slow start this season as well...you can imagine from these pictures the kind of weather we get here that can move this amount of sand this fast..theres 50' of beach completely gone here.... theres some good live feed webcams a guy can watch to try to monitor conditions or watch the storms from the house...good NOAA sites that forecast wind, waves and water temp too...so a fellow can sort of try to plan a hunt...still, it changes so rapidly, it takes boots on the ground to take advantage of those once in a Lifetime blowouts when it gets knocked down to the hardpan for sometimes only a few hours before its all sanded in 10' deep again..

Man, when a fellow is out in it, or shortly thereafter, all sorts of old stuff is exposed!....we dont get those 50' Hawaii Five Oh waves, but we do get some massive 20' steep ones with big gale force winds, they are steep and close together with a furious longshore rip...I've been monitoring and hunting about a 10 mile stretch in the past 5yrs...a guy really only has about 5 perfect days/yr after a big blow, when the wind sweeps in strong out of the East, and knocks the surf flat enough to get in the water and hunt....theres gold here, old silver too, but damn tough duty most of the time....Its a bad Lake for people to be in or around, it comes up fast and mean and cold...I've lost 2 cousins in it myself...lots of people that drown here are never recovered....where this cross is planted, 10' of sand is missing and it would be in the water this year...I dont know the guy, he was a full grown adult that got caught in the rip a few years back... I spend a lot of time down there with him early of a morning on this desolate stretch where he lost his Life...His cross is now up in the dune grass in a safer spot....its one mean Lake....
Mud

 

[bootyhoundpa]

Be safe out there.

 

[Dancer]

Water very clear that day too. You guys upere sure deserve it. Real nice hunt. Try & keep your name off of those beach monuments.

 

[mudpuppy]

Thanks guys...Yeah, I went back in there this am, nice and flat conditions again today!...ran into another Forum member here, didnt recognize him right off on account of he grew a beard over the winter...I recognized his scoop though!
I hope he finds some gold, I had to go home on account of my Wife wanted me to do some yardwork or something.. I'm gonna start looking at hookah rigs and gear pretty seriously today.. Cell phones dont work underwater, might be the only place left where a guy can find some peace and quiet, and gold and silver!
Mud

 

[OldBeechnut]

Good Hunt MP, I love those keys....poor soul will never forget losing those....Nice silver also, ...then being a toe ring, just like the broken rings are tuff..

 

[Sandtick]

Really like following your posts Mud! Wishing you much success this year!

 

[PSS1963]

What are those rings encased in? Its looks like sponge . . . do they have that in fresh water?

-pete

 

[Prairie Prowler]

Nice haul of finds... still cool in ILL.too..

 

[mudpuppy]

Hey Pete, thats just a rust bloom...I found a few items today in this exact state of rust, and thought about your question..it does look cool though!...it generally means they have been there a while and a guy is on some good pay dirt area...

We dont have freshwater sponges here that I know of, but we DO have fresh water jellyfish in a lake not far from here that I detect...people come from all over to scuba dive and try to see them...small lake, very clear water..
Mud

 

[PSS1963]

Hey Pete, thats just a rust bloom...I found a few items today in this exact state of rust, and thought about your question..it does look cool though!...it generally means they have been there a while and a guy is on some good pay dirt area...

We dont have freshwater sponges here that I know of, but we DO have fresh water jellyfish in a lake not far from here that I detect...people come from all over to scuba dive and try to see them...small lake, very clear water..
Mud

Ok, neat!