As a young child I was brought along on a trip to a local lake. I knew that I would be trapped with the adults with no one my age. I knew that my brother in law was a jerk and figured it wouldn't hurt to ask him if I could go swimming. He didn't care so I made my escape. I swam out to the dock after passing the informal life guard swim test after they saw a little kid coming out. I swam and dove off the board but noticed that three boys were throwing a can out with a rope attached and trying to scoop up muck from the bottom. They weren't having much luck but another group of four were diving and seemed to be finding stuff. They gave funny answers to people asking them what they were doing but did not feel threatened by me because of my age. I found out that they were making ten dollars an hour diving for change. They did this every summer and were paying off college with the change. I remembered that my father was quite upset that plumbers were making ten dollars an hour at the time so knew that this was a good way to make some money. I went and found a 32 oz peach can and had my brother in law use a can opener to put triangle shaped holes in the bottom and sides of the can. The college students were using a three pound coffee can so I knew that I would not find as much. I went to the other side of the dock which was in deeper water and dove down. On my first dive I found two quarters a dime and a big 14k mens band. I showed the guys and they about killed me but then congratulated me. I found out that the jewelry was above the ten dollars. With my 60 cents and ring with little can plus my views of their loot I knew they were doing great.
I was able to see them a few more times but once they all graduated they stopped going to the lake. I was able to dive the lake when I was older but they had cleaned up much of the change. I did find five to ten silver coins each day and gold and silver rings. I got stuck on finding gold rings and couldn't see straight. I was searching a clay area and was finding quite a few silver coins which at the time were paying off due to Hunt brothers. I moved down the dock and was finding gold chain but was throwing this up on the dock. I surfaced and saw a kid holding the chain and teasing that he would throw it. I calmly told him to put it down but he chose to throw it. He doesn't swim at the lake anymore. No, he's not at the bottom. I should have thanked him as he made me think. I'm going after rings but chain is gold too. I wondered why I was finding so much chain. Did people only lose it in this area? Not a reasonable explanation. I had lost my dive can and had made a new one with an old screwdriver instead of my drill which someone had borrowed. The holes were clean on the outside but there were ragged edges on the inside of the can. These edges caught the chain. The clean round holes on old can never had caught a chain. I started focusing on the chain and wound up finding several cans full of chain. I acid tested and separated plate from solid and had a friend get the gold off the plated and cashed out all the gold due to high value and did much better than the old ten dollars an hour. The college guys did not find the chain and it was worth more than all the clad that they had found.
Years later I helped a couple of friends dredge a swimming hole and noticed that we found no chains. I didn't say anything but asked them to lower rpm and reduce amount going into sluice. When I watched closely I saw the chains snaking their way down the sluice and go out the holes in our screen. I got a few metal bars and bolted them on two parallel bars and made a sort of ladder this was fitted to the end of the sluice. I secured strips of spring steel which was sharp on the end and curled up to make a furry beard of sharp spring steel to catch the chains. On our next trip I hooked it up and my buds looked at me like I was crazy. I just told them that they could have whatever was in the screen and I would keep what was on the beard minus any rings caught. They were both rather pi@!$ come the end of the day when I showed off the chain. That beard has paid off on every trip. We have dredged areas where the detector does not sound off but still find the chain so the trip is not ruined.
I was able to see them a few more times but once they all graduated they stopped going to the lake. I was able to dive the lake when I was older but they had cleaned up much of the change. I did find five to ten silver coins each day and gold and silver rings. I got stuck on finding gold rings and couldn't see straight. I was searching a clay area and was finding quite a few silver coins which at the time were paying off due to Hunt brothers. I moved down the dock and was finding gold chain but was throwing this up on the dock. I surfaced and saw a kid holding the chain and teasing that he would throw it. I calmly told him to put it down but he chose to throw it. He doesn't swim at the lake anymore. No, he's not at the bottom. I should have thanked him as he made me think. I'm going after rings but chain is gold too. I wondered why I was finding so much chain. Did people only lose it in this area? Not a reasonable explanation. I had lost my dive can and had made a new one with an old screwdriver instead of my drill which someone had borrowed. The holes were clean on the outside but there were ragged edges on the inside of the can. These edges caught the chain. The clean round holes on old can never had caught a chain. I started focusing on the chain and wound up finding several cans full of chain. I acid tested and separated plate from solid and had a friend get the gold off the plated and cashed out all the gold due to high value and did much better than the old ten dollars an hour. The college guys did not find the chain and it was worth more than all the clad that they had found.
Years later I helped a couple of friends dredge a swimming hole and noticed that we found no chains. I didn't say anything but asked them to lower rpm and reduce amount going into sluice. When I watched closely I saw the chains snaking their way down the sluice and go out the holes in our screen. I got a few metal bars and bolted them on two parallel bars and made a sort of ladder this was fitted to the end of the sluice. I secured strips of spring steel which was sharp on the end and curled up to make a furry beard of sharp spring steel to catch the chains. On our next trip I hooked it up and my buds looked at me like I was crazy. I just told them that they could have whatever was in the screen and I would keep what was on the beard minus any rings caught. They were both rather pi@!$ come the end of the day when I showed off the chain. That beard has paid off on every trip. We have dredged areas where the detector does not sound off but still find the chain so the trip is not ruined.
