This month's article is for all the newbie's out there just starting
out. To let you guys know... Shallow water hunting is very frustrating at first.
It will be very awkward till you get your digging pattern down pat. Equipment
costs can run high, but if you get into the right groove, you can pay for
your detector in just one scoop.
One of the biggest Don'ts is... DO NOT take a land based detector out into the
water unless you can chestmount the detector. A rigged up hipmount is ok but
this is even more riskier than the chestmount, since your control box will be
closer to the water when you have it hipmounted. A clear gallon sized freezer
bag must go over the top of your control box to keep the splashes off of it.
Tripping and falling in the water does happen. So if you're hunting
where there are a lot of big rocks then be careful.
To hipmount or not to hipmount your water detector that is the question?
I always hipmount my CZ-20 and the Stingray II is chest
mounted. If you keep
your detector on the stem then this puts too much pressure on your headphone
cable, especially when you're hunting in only one foot of water, besides
some water detectors do not float even when the control box is left on the stem.
Below is a photo of how I like to rig up my detector. I have
tied a soft nylon chord to the handle and tied a loop on the opposite end, of
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which my belt will go thru. When I am ready to dig a target I let go of the
detector over on my far right hand side, where it will be out of the way.
It sinks slowly to the bottom while I retrieve the target. After I have
placed the target in my water pouch, I then pull on the nylon chord to
retrieve the detector. Sometimes the target will be right on the surface
and I will just lean the detector up against my hip while I make the easy
surface scoop. At no time do you ever pull on your detector cable to retrieve
your machine. This method that I've described may or may not work for you,
but you might want to give it a try. |
There is one very important thing you must remember when hunting the shallow
water. SLOW DOWN! Remember our main bounty is that elusive gold ring. Some of them are very tiny and weigh around 1 gram each.
Some of them will sometimes be on edge. Tiny gold rings give off
very soft signals and if you're going thru the water at 90 mph you're not
going to hear them. If there is a lot of iron present then I suggest almost
slowing down to a crawl.
In the lakes we dig everything that we think is not iron. Some targets are
going to be the size of coffee cans and you can skip these if you want. The
small targets are the ones that pay the dividends. If you get into an area
that has multiple targets, don't pick, just start scoop'in. The more you dig
the more you're going to find.
Here are 10 quick & easy tips for the newbie water hunter...
1. Always keep your eyes focused on the bottom. It doesn't happen very often
but you will eyeball gold rings from time to time.
2. Once you've taken the target from your scoop bucket beware of other
goodies inside of your bucket also. Two rings in one scoop... You betcha!
3. Always shake & sift the contents of your scoop underwater. The rocks
inside your bucket hitting against stainless steel make a very loud noise.
4. Always recheck the hole for a second signal. We do this on land and we
also do it in the water.
5. Use very little discrimination in the water. Set your detector to accept
all foil.
6. You just found a nice ring? Then immediately put it in your water
pouch. If you stand there and admire it while looking for a "K" stamp on it,
you could drop it in the water and you may never see it again.
7. If you're hunting a sandy beach where there is hardly any iron present,
then hunt in all metal.
8. When hunting in
disc mode, listen closely for the short blips and beeps.
These could be gold chains, tiny oblong shaped
pieces of jewelry or broken rings. The targets
will be shallow and under the center of your coil.
9. You'll be surprised how many goodies you'll find in just 2" of water. If
the water is calm when you get there, do the deep water first. The deeper the
water is you're hunting in, the harder it is to retrieve a target.
10. If a storm is brewing then get out of the water!
Be persistent and have patience. If you stick with it, it will only be a matter of time before you strike gold. Good Luck!..... LW
theringdaddy@foxinternet.net
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