Winter Water Hunting

[FinnishPolefromSWDetroit]

Was out at the Lake a few days ago, was hoping to go out further past the edge of the ice but got to cold again and the opening iced up again.Started back in Feb when we had a couple days of warm up in the mid to late 40s.Last Saturday tried breaking pieces of ice from the sheet but it was to thick, was worried I was going to break my scoop pounding on it.Had some nice finds back in Feb at first thinking they were junk, the 1970s peace ring turned out to be 10kt gold, thinking it was bronze or brass, the other two the religious medallion and the ear ring, instead of plated gold they turned out to be, 10kt and 18kt.Last year at this time on St Patricks day found that 22Kt cross.My mother just passed away 3 weeks before that , she could of been looking down on me and said this is for you on St Patricks Day.When she was very sick I cheered her up by showing what I found at the Lake. You,ll notice the orange bucket with the homemade drill holes one of 4 shifters and catchers I use to collect what I dig out of the water.

 

[mudpuppy]

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[scott.f]

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[jyt2017]

Very nice finds. And what a diehard. How are you getting deeper, waders or do you just go as high as boots? I was thinking of working a few spots as soon as ice cleared too...just not sure on the approach. I am thinking neoprene waders...and prey they don't leak. hh an gl -Joe

 

[Water wizard]

Hi great finds well earned! I have the same scoop as you I think, mines a metal jacket. It is awesome! I was going to put some narrow gauge screen in the bottom to stop necklaces falling through it though..... Good luck and happy hunting

 

[KinTN]

Very nice finds!

A tip on breaking perimeter ice is to do like the Icebreakering ships do; the ships dont ram the ice, but propel themselves onto the ice and let gravity work for them. So instead of pounding on the ice to break it, place your scoop near the edge and lean on it, basically transferring your weight onto it. If that doesnt work, then you can step onto the edge (carefully of course), and if it still doesnt break, its probably time to hunt elsewheres!

 

[fongu]

Fantastic find on the 22K cross and those other finds. WTG.

 

[FinnishPolefromSWDetroit]

No it was pretty thick Kin, I,m called Mr Ice Man, I know ice since age 7 ))))))). Love winter and ice. It was Close to 4 inches thick. Usually in past winters and a few days before I would just get on top of the ice sheet ( making sure I wasn,t in water deeper than what I was wearing, boy that would of been a shocker you fall in waist high water and you only have knee high boots OUCH!!!!) and just walk kinda of hard along the entire opening lenght, which was 80 feet, you could hear the popping and cracking, than later get up again and instead of walking , every 4-5 feet jumped a few times up and down.That would break off and entire 80 foot piece or if I wanted to go in shorter ones, halved it or tripled it, once they broke I pushed them to the shore of the beach with my boot, sometimes the winds would help. Yeah it was way to thick for one, ( could of broken it with a sledgehammer if I had one in my trunk) but the main reason I stopped, GOT SOAKED, the pounding from scoop caused alot of ice chips to go all over me,

 

[FinnishPolefromSWDetroit]

Mines that Galvanized Steel from Kellyco that cost me $200 something bucks Water Wizard, don,t care for the holes very much, way to big, also its alittle bit to narrow, scoop that is and the lip sticks out too much, doesn,t give you enough of a CATCHER.Its a good thing the inland lake that I dig , the soil is like wet concrete, so nothing spills out of the holes, stuck like glue.This summer going to have it redone, make the scoop about 2-3 inches wider and the lip shorter and the holes filled up and have new ones redrilled to the same size I have in my homemade catchers and shifters, about the size of an eraser head on a pencil,

 

[FinnishPolefromSWDetroit]

I start off with my Cabellas 400 Thinsulate ( they cost but they are worth it, bought it at their store down near Dundee) they go almost to my knee.Than when I approach near the end of my boots ( I usually stop about a half inch from the top, depending how the lake is at that time, calm or wavy, 50 something degrees outside or still 20 something. I never ever go out in the water when its windy specially real windy, doesn,t matter what temperature. the WIND churns up the bottom actually and also with all those ripples running on top of the water, makes it very very hard to see your foot prints and also gives you more trouble pinpointing and digging up your target, I don,t like to be like those others that dig stuff up in the water, lose it because of fog out and wave effects. I,ve found quit a few goodies just sitting there on top and knowing the "" OLDER GUYS""" who got into the water right after Labor Day LOST it by rushing going here and there.Than I would use Hip Waders but the new ones I bought from Dunhams not long began to "" LEAK""" in the area where the rubber was connected with that neoprene, plus I accidently punched a hole in it when I was carrying my homemade shifter I made from a used Life preserver the wrong way . ( It has a screen mess I had bought at home depot , two piece and screwed on all the way around, the edge are sharpe). I didn,t go ahead and buy another. I have a "" DRY SUIT""" that I had bought about from a Scuba Shop that was going out of business on Allen Rd in Allen Park, it was located not far from that Golf place you see from I 94 before Telegraph.So after I,m up to the top I,ll be using my Dry Suit. Forgot the price I paid but it was something like $400, Canary Yellow. I,ll make a photo of it its downstairs in the basement and post it later .

 

[FinnishPolefromSWDetroit]

Oh yeah forgot to say since it makes a big difference the reason I don,t go into the lake until late fall , they LOWER the lake every year.Most detectorist don,t start to show up until right about first week of April ( I wouldn,t be surprise if we keep having winter until LATE APRIL ) hopefully I want to be done searching my lake by the end of March and head out to that big beach on Lake Erie with all those lost $$$$$$ I,ve heard of down in Ohio.

 

[KinTN]

No it was pretty thick Kin, I,m called Mr Ice Man, I know ice since age 7 ))))))). Love winter and ice. It was Close to 4 inches thick. Usually in past winters and a few days before I would just get on top of the ice sheet ( making sure I wasn,t in water deeper than what I was wearing, boy that would of been a shocker you fall in waist high water and you only have knee high boots OUCH!!!!) and just walk kinda of hard along the entire opening lenght, which was 80 feet, you could hear the popping and cracking, than later get up again and instead of walking , every 4-5 feet jumped a few times up and down.That would break off and entire 80 foot piece or if I wanted to go in shorter ones, halved it or tripled it, once they broke I pushed them to the shore of the beach with my boot, sometimes the winds would help. Yeah it was way to thick for one, ( could of broken it with a sledgehammer if I had one in my trunk) but the main reason I stopped, GOT SOAKED, the pounding from scoop caused alot of ice chips to go all over me,

Sir, you are one Hardcore Detectorist!!!

 

[shortcut1224]

My hat is off to you sir, too cold for me right now just a short drive away in Ohio. Maybe we could meet up when you come and get all our Ohio treasure. Good find and keep it up.
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[TRIPLE-SSS]

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