I detect in southern Michigan, so it is in fresh water lakes. This is the first year that I have yet to find gold. Detected several lakes. Many of them I start at 5:30 in the morning, and the first one out. I can only imagine that their are twice as many people detecting this year. Sure makes it hard for me to enjoy this hobby, when all I find are pennies and deep holes left from others. I also go out all different times so the only conclusion is to many detectors and not enough gold. Anyone else finding it harder to find gold in lakes this year.
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WHERE IS THE GOLD THIS YEAR.
- Thread starter Roman44
- Start date
scubadetector
New member
Well I am in Port Huron Michigan (60 miles above Detroit) and I have turned in to ARA over 5 grand in gold and silver this year so far. Not my best year but I still found a little bit.
bob.oz
Active member
I'M hoping its at the beach tomorrow morning...I'm shooting for a early morning dry beach hunt(X705) under the full setting moon,others are too,I'm sure...and then into the gulf with the DF at sunrise..We are getting more beach action this weekend at least,we got screwed out of the RNC beach activities by Isaac last week...But this holiday looks good! Good Luck All
I wonder if this might have anything to do with this New Reality
TV Metal Detecting Show thats out. I have never watched it but I
understand that because of it, more people are buying detectors and
hitting the beaches. The economy is so bad people are willing to try
anything. I also understand the show is misleading; people think they
are going to makes lots of money finding all those gold rings and
valuable coins...in their back yards (or other peoples yards) no less.
Anyone ever watch this show?
Salida
TV Metal Detecting Show thats out. I have never watched it but I
understand that because of it, more people are buying detectors and
hitting the beaches. The economy is so bad people are willing to try
anything. I also understand the show is misleading; people think they
are going to makes lots of money finding all those gold rings and
valuable coins...in their back yards (or other peoples yards) no less.
Anyone ever watch this show?
Salida
I have given this question, where is all the gold, some thought. I have come down to three reasons:
1. People are settling their discrimination too high and they are knocking out gold because they don't want to dig foil and pulltabs.
2. With the price of gold, it isn't selling in jewlery stores like it used to, and the result is that people are wearing less gold jewlery.
3. There are more detectorists hunting, especially on the beach, than any other time I have ever seen.
1. People are settling their discrimination too high and they are knocking out gold because they don't want to dig foil and pulltabs.
2. With the price of gold, it isn't selling in jewlery stores like it used to, and the result is that people are wearing less gold jewlery.
3. There are more detectorists hunting, especially on the beach, than any other time I have ever seen.
Clad 2 Meet U
New member
I live in Southeastern Mi on Lake St. Clair and finding gold is tough. My thought is not much is lost from year to year. You hit a virgin spot and you might find some in your scoop. I started hitting a local swim area around 5 years ago and there were a ton of targets to be had. Wasn't uncommon for a few of us to bag a ring or two each time out. Now your lucky to find 2 to 3 bucks in clad. I have pulled 2 gold rings there this year and I consider myself lucky. I pride myself in finding the swim areas that have the old stuff ala' silver coins, rings and neat brass artifiacts. To me, that is much more rewarding then finding gold.
Clad 2 Meet U
New member
Mudpuppy, I had the pleasure of detecting over in your neck of the woods. A standing lib and a wheat were my notable finds from White Lake. Tried Lake Michigan but just couldn't find anything, pretty much sanded in and could not locate any cuts. I'll be back next year thou... Found a spot that is just begging me to explore. You do have some of the most beautiful scenery in Michigan.
Thank you for all the positive feedback. I will keep trying. That TV show with Savage recovery is SO fake. I am sure many new comers are trying the hobby. That means 90% will give it up, and the detectors will be sold on eBay soon. Wake up time for me is 5:00 am and out to the lakes.
scubadetector
New member
Want to find gold? Here are some tips. DON'T go where everybody goes. Do some research. Find OLD swim areas. Anywhere in Michigan along ANY shoreline. So you don't get a signal for a half hour, so what? Most people back then didn't swim with coins in their pockets, just rings and jewelry on.
When you find a good target SLOW DOWN. Do circles around it. Make sure whoever lost it was either swimming alone or was the only person that dropped a ring or religious medal.
Dig IFFY signals. Dig iron signals and move them aside or take them out if small enough. LOTS of good targets are masked. I know that for a fact by being able to see while diving.
If you do go where everyone else goes, Go late Sunday night or early Monday morning after a weekend. Just because you never see anybody else doesn't mean nobody else ever hits the area. I have found gold rings ALL along the shore of lake Huron from Port Huron to Lexington. I have found gold where NO other targets existed except a few sinkers.
Same for lake St. Clair. Find the party spots sure, but don't expect gold every time or get discouraged. I pulled almost 1200.00 in one day in lake St. Clair. Kevin got nothing. Kevin got 700.00 in one day in Lake Huron, I got nothing but silver.
The key is you HAVE to get your coil over it. I have found gold in weeds that are 5' tall and had to move them around with the coil. Also in the muck which isn't a great place for waders!! I was in Pine lake in West Bloomfield on a drop-off and found a Barber quarter. I went slow and was rewarded with a 14 gram 14K signet ring. Didn't expect anything but sinkers and fishing lures out there.
I know Metamora recreation area, Brighton Recreation area, Vandercook lake, 7 lakes, Cass lake, Pontiac lake, Island lake, Pinckney Recreation area, and a lot of others get hit HARD. But I found a place in Pontiac lake that nobody ever touched. I pulled over 100.00 in new coins out of there and a lot of silver and gold. I also pulled nice gold out of the recreation area BUT in deeper water.
Tomorrow Kensington Recreation area, Stoney Creek and Detroit Metro park open for the first time of the season. TONS of detectorists will be out there. I will NOT be one of them.
Before air conditioners EVERYBODY swam. Before multi million dollar houses sprang up on the lakes, cottages were there, hidden swim areas for teenagers in the 30's - 70's and in some lakes Amusement parks were built over the lakes. Google Vandercook Lake and Walled Lake. FANTASTIC information, HOWEVER, they have been beaten to death. But, other areas of BOTH lakes have been super productive for both gold and silver.
I found a coin in Vandercook that was redeemable for 5.00 in gold if presented to the Citizen Press BEFORE OCT. 14, 1914. How cool is that? It was about 15' deep on a drop-off. The bottom is muck, as is a lot of other lakes. I still detect them. In Pinckney the main swim area gets hammered. Snorkel in the rest of the rec area among the weeds, I got a nice 22K bracelet out of them and the trash.
Yes you have to work for the gold here in Michigan. It just doesn't jump under my coil. I move rocks, hunt among weeds and push my coil in the muck to find it. I will never get it all. But my underwater hoover seems to find a lot that others have missed.
When you find a good target SLOW DOWN. Do circles around it. Make sure whoever lost it was either swimming alone or was the only person that dropped a ring or religious medal.
Dig IFFY signals. Dig iron signals and move them aside or take them out if small enough. LOTS of good targets are masked. I know that for a fact by being able to see while diving.
If you do go where everyone else goes, Go late Sunday night or early Monday morning after a weekend. Just because you never see anybody else doesn't mean nobody else ever hits the area. I have found gold rings ALL along the shore of lake Huron from Port Huron to Lexington. I have found gold where NO other targets existed except a few sinkers.
Same for lake St. Clair. Find the party spots sure, but don't expect gold every time or get discouraged. I pulled almost 1200.00 in one day in lake St. Clair. Kevin got nothing. Kevin got 700.00 in one day in Lake Huron, I got nothing but silver.
The key is you HAVE to get your coil over it. I have found gold in weeds that are 5' tall and had to move them around with the coil. Also in the muck which isn't a great place for waders!! I was in Pine lake in West Bloomfield on a drop-off and found a Barber quarter. I went slow and was rewarded with a 14 gram 14K signet ring. Didn't expect anything but sinkers and fishing lures out there.
I know Metamora recreation area, Brighton Recreation area, Vandercook lake, 7 lakes, Cass lake, Pontiac lake, Island lake, Pinckney Recreation area, and a lot of others get hit HARD. But I found a place in Pontiac lake that nobody ever touched. I pulled over 100.00 in new coins out of there and a lot of silver and gold. I also pulled nice gold out of the recreation area BUT in deeper water.
Tomorrow Kensington Recreation area, Stoney Creek and Detroit Metro park open for the first time of the season. TONS of detectorists will be out there. I will NOT be one of them.
Before air conditioners EVERYBODY swam. Before multi million dollar houses sprang up on the lakes, cottages were there, hidden swim areas for teenagers in the 30's - 70's and in some lakes Amusement parks were built over the lakes. Google Vandercook Lake and Walled Lake. FANTASTIC information, HOWEVER, they have been beaten to death. But, other areas of BOTH lakes have been super productive for both gold and silver.
I found a coin in Vandercook that was redeemable for 5.00 in gold if presented to the Citizen Press BEFORE OCT. 14, 1914. How cool is that? It was about 15' deep on a drop-off. The bottom is muck, as is a lot of other lakes. I still detect them. In Pinckney the main swim area gets hammered. Snorkel in the rest of the rec area among the weeds, I got a nice 22K bracelet out of them and the trash.
Yes you have to work for the gold here in Michigan. It just doesn't jump under my coil. I move rocks, hunt among weeds and push my coil in the muck to find it. I will never get it all. But my underwater hoover seems to find a lot that others have missed.
I kind of felt that way last year but this year is better. I think a lot of valid points have been brought up and it isn't any one thing but a combination of factors, I believe. I also hunt lakes and one thing that has worked for me is to watch where people go into the water- it isn't always only in designated "swim" areas. Some of my best finds have been in boating areas where people wade out and in from their boats. HH!Roman44 said:
SCUBADETECTOR IS ON TNE MONEY WHEN IT COMES TO WATER DETECTING!!!! i moved from michigan a few years ago and spent alot of time in the same lakes he did before meeting him and starting detecting together
we both found gold and silver sometimes he did better sometimes i did better but we both researched alot of lakes in the area to find the spots that were hot,one spot we hit the swim area and did'nt find anything but went outside the area and started finding OLD COINS AND SWIMMING BUCKLES,i don't remember if we hit gold that time but went back again till we cleaned it out now you go there and you might find one or two things in a few hours that are old but its mostly fresh drops for the most part...THE TICKET TO GOLD IS FIND THE OLD!!!!!
we both found gold and silver sometimes he did better sometimes i did better but we both researched alot of lakes in the area to find the spots that were hot,one spot we hit the swim area and did'nt find anything but went outside the area and started finding OLD COINS AND SWIMMING BUCKLES,i don't remember if we hit gold that time but went back again till we cleaned it out now you go there and you might find one or two things in a few hours that are old but its mostly fresh drops for the most part...THE TICKET TO GOLD IS FIND THE OLD!!!!!
Critterhunter
New member
Where I live we've hardly ever seen any dry beach hunters let alone water hunters in several years. Maybe a total of 4 water hunters in two years and maybe 7 dry sand hunters on all the beaches we hit. And these are beaches you are only allowed to hunt sunrise to about 9AM when the swimmers start showing up, otherwise they'll kick you out or worse. So it's not like we are missing the guys, because these parks are closes to patrons at night. Probably 5 to 6 beaches in total in a 30 mile radius my little circle of hunting friends frequent, so we keep tabs on just what kind of competition we are seeing, and it's hardly any at all. Always like that. BUT, the gold? Last 3 or 4 years the fresh drops aren't usually gold. More often stainless steel, titanium, or some other junk metal. Reason being in the bad economy, along with high gold prices, people have scrapped their gold for money, and people buying new rings aren't paying the high gold prices.
So I wouldn't blame it on the shows IMO. We aren't seeing really any new hunters from the shows out there. And fact is that sure, a lot of people may think they are going to get rich by watching those shows and so go out and buy a detector, but here's the thing...Detecting, like it or not, (AND NO INSULT INTENDED because I obviously hunt too), is an "odd" hobby to most people. You have to have a certain personality to get heavy into this hobby. For that reason many people might buy machines, but they quickly either lose interest, or they get sick of digging all the trash looking for old coins or rings. Sure, they might hit a modern park and dig a bunch of clads, but even us die hard guys who detect don't often do that. Only a few in our hobby enjoy going to modern parks and digging only clads all day. Got to turn down the discrimination to find the gold, and frankly most people don't have the stomach for digging trash to do that. So it takes a certain character or quality to be a die hard guy who detects.
I would estimate that maybe 5% of our population at the very most has the qualities and personality to find this hobby a true addicting and hard core hobby to pursue for years. Just like some guys love to make their own wine (I do by the way), or fly fish, or hunt, and so on. And I would wager more of the population are die hard hunters or fisherman then those with the traits to find detecting a hard core type of hobby they dive into. Sure, you've got more people who still enjoy it, but many of those are the kind who take the detector out of the closet only a couple times a year just to kill an hour or two of their day, and never dive into it with a passion like those of us who frequent these forums revolving around this great hobby of ours. I'm not of course knocking us as being that "odd" group out there who waves around a funny machine. In fact, I prefer it that way that we are a more rare type of personality. Otherwise every other house on your street would own one and the public (and many private) sites would quickly dry up.
So with these detecting shows..Yes, more people will buy detectors, but all that is going to mean is more used ones on the market, because you can't change personalities. It takes a certain person with a certain fascination with history or exploration to really get into this hobby IMO.
So I wouldn't blame it on the shows IMO. We aren't seeing really any new hunters from the shows out there. And fact is that sure, a lot of people may think they are going to get rich by watching those shows and so go out and buy a detector, but here's the thing...Detecting, like it or not, (AND NO INSULT INTENDED because I obviously hunt too), is an "odd" hobby to most people. You have to have a certain personality to get heavy into this hobby. For that reason many people might buy machines, but they quickly either lose interest, or they get sick of digging all the trash looking for old coins or rings. Sure, they might hit a modern park and dig a bunch of clads, but even us die hard guys who detect don't often do that. Only a few in our hobby enjoy going to modern parks and digging only clads all day. Got to turn down the discrimination to find the gold, and frankly most people don't have the stomach for digging trash to do that. So it takes a certain character or quality to be a die hard guy who detects.
I would estimate that maybe 5% of our population at the very most has the qualities and personality to find this hobby a true addicting and hard core hobby to pursue for years. Just like some guys love to make their own wine (I do by the way), or fly fish, or hunt, and so on. And I would wager more of the population are die hard hunters or fisherman then those with the traits to find detecting a hard core type of hobby they dive into. Sure, you've got more people who still enjoy it, but many of those are the kind who take the detector out of the closet only a couple times a year just to kill an hour or two of their day, and never dive into it with a passion like those of us who frequent these forums revolving around this great hobby of ours. I'm not of course knocking us as being that "odd" group out there who waves around a funny machine. In fact, I prefer it that way that we are a more rare type of personality. Otherwise every other house on your street would own one and the public (and many private) sites would quickly dry up.
So with these detecting shows..Yes, more people will buy detectors, but all that is going to mean is more used ones on the market, because you can't change personalities. It takes a certain person with a certain fascination with history or exploration to really get into this hobby IMO.