Metal Detecting In Silty Lakes

[joebob24]

I dove a small local lake recently that has a very silty bottom with a metal detector. It was so silty that as soon as I would stop to dig for what the metal detector found, the visibility would instantly drop to zero. Has anyone had any luck using a metal detector in these conditions? I am thinking I might be able to use a scoop of some kind and try to dig the find by feel. Anyone ever have any luck metal detecting on a silty bottom and have any recommendations on equipment or strategy?

 

[rjack321]

Bare hands and slotted spoons. And yeah its a shitshow. I've tried to find wedding rings lost while swimming and its rough

 

[rfwoodvt]

The simple answer is what rjack said.

All we have here is silt. I try to fan with any current and always try to move in clear water from above to drive out the cloud

 

[Celt]

I dove a small local lake recently that has a very silty bottom with a metal detector. It was so silty that as soon as I would stop to dig for what the metal detector found, the visibility would instantly drop to zero. Has anyone had any luck using a metal detector in these conditions? I am thinking I might be able to use a scoop of some kind and try to dig the find by feel. Anyone ever have any luck metal detecting on a silty bottom and have any recommendations on equipment or strategy?

Poor vis and silt can actually help making your searches more detailed, your not inclined to just casually cover the area like when searching in good vis. Lay good search lines and search along both sides marking any hits and stay off the bottom. With the first run covered go back with the pointer and check the hits, from here on your hands are your eyes so get rid of the gloves, slide in the pointer till you get the highest ping and with the other hand check the head of the pointer, I’ve found tiny coins like this, silt can be a good thing.

 

[joebob24]

Bare hands and slotted spoons. And yeah its a shitshow. I've tried to find wedding rings lost while swimming and its rough

I was afraid someone would say bare hands. I was thinking some kind of thin cut resistant gloves possibly. In other lakes, I have found a lot of very sharp objects while metal detecting.

 

[joebob24]

try to move in clear water from above to drive out the cloud

This has worked well for me in other lakes, but this is one of the most easily disturbed lakes I have dove. By the time I get low enough to run the metal detector, I am already leaving a cloud of silt that instantly envelops me when I stop moving. It is good practice for proper fin techniques though. I was thinking if I had one of those tiny little DPVs I might be able to blow some clear water in, but I don't ahve one to try.

 

[joebob24]

Poor vis and silt can actually help making your searches more detailed, your not inclined to just casually cover the area like when searching in good vis. Lay good search lines and search along both sides marking any hits and stay off the bottom. With the first run covered go back with the pointer and check the hits, from here on your hands are your eyes so get rid of the gloves, slide in the pointer till you get the highest ping and with the other hand check the head of the pointer, I’ve found tiny coins like this, silt can be a good thing.

This sounds like it might work pretty well. I hadn't really thought about running a line. One of my concerns with silting it out badly is that I can't see obstacles and wouldn't see something until I ran into with my face. If I ran a line across an area, then I could make sure there is nothing dangerous there while I can still see. It might be hard to keep track of the line while using a metal detector and pinpointer, but I guess it isn't like a cave where if you lose the line you die either.

Do you know of any pinpointers besides the PulseDive that are waterproof lower than 10'? Seems like there should be more options.

 

[Celt]

This sounds like it might work pretty well. I hadn't really thought about running a line. One of my concerns with silting it out badly is that I can't see obstacles and wouldn't see something until I ran into with my face. If I ran a line across an area, then I could make sure there is nothing dangerous there while I can still see. It might be hard to keep track of the line while using a metal detector and pinpointer, but I guess it isn't like a cave where if you lose the line you die either.

Do you know of any pinpointers besides the PulseDive that are waterproof lower than 10'? Seems like there should be more options.

The garret pro is 6m. What I like about the pulse dive is its depth rating, if you go up one side of the line and down the other you can keep your detector in your favourite hand. Once the hits are marked clip the detector to a weight at the end of the line and go back around with the pointer, 20 feet of a run is plenty long in bad conditions. Shorter if needed. I use a nice long pin on the other end so I can move it to the opposite side of the weight and cover another 20 feet. A slightly heavy line I find works best, 3/8 white and a little floaty. A bit of practice and you’ll get into laying and following it. Try it on land first.

 

[rjack321]

I was afraid someone would say bare hands. I was thinking some kind of thin cut resistant gloves possibly. In other lakes, I have found a lot of very sharp objects while metal detecting.

In my case I was feeling for a ring. Depending on the size of the object you could try knit kevlar fish processing gloves. Or move much much slower - although water temp can numb your hands to the point you don't feel them being cut.