Digging in the muck.

[Vikingblood]

Wanna MD the bay, but the bottom is mostly muck. One scoop weighs about 15 pounds and I have to smear it out on the beach and pull out the chunk with the target. Is this worth it. Is there a scoop that would work better? Or should I just skip the mucky bottom parts? It seems futile but I am sure there are lots goodies in there

 

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[Sir Gala Clad]

Wanna MD the bay, but the bottom is mostly muck. One scoop weighs about 15 pounds and I have to smear it out on the beach and pull out the chunk with the target. Is this worth it. Is there a scoop that would work better? Or should I just skip the mucky bottom parts? It seems futile but I am sure there are lots goodies in there

Assuming that you are shallow water hunting and the water is protected as it is a bay,
this is where a towed sifter comes in handy as it provides a platform to work your load of muck on.
You can speed the process of finding the target in the muck by using a waterproof pinpointer such as a treasure Products 580 which you can attach to the sifter with a lanyard. All you have to do is flip the sifter upside down after you have found the target to dump.

I like to use a 15 inch diameter inner tube with a low cost gold classifier (green) zip tied inside.with holes small enough to stop dime size and larger objects from falling through. It will take two of the longest zip ties to go around the innertube. I use red colored zip tubes near the valve as the metal in the valve will trigger the pin pointer.


The inner tube can be used as a float, as an added saftey feature if you get in too deep.
Further, You can keep the weight down by digging shallower scoops.

 

[OBN]

I hunt the mucky bay, seems some places are more then others. More or less you have to pick out where all the activity was then use a sifter like SG said. after I get a scoop full I slowly lift and shake with my left foot under assisting. Also I have pool noodles on my scoop which is amazing at helping the load come up. All this seems to help enough for one to heave it in the sifter then it breaks down quickly. Video Of a less mucky place ... And testing some dry gloves for cold water..

 

[Vikingblood]

Great advice thanks so much guys.

 

[meMiner]

I don't know if this helps in your situation, but I find that where the bottom is muck, two things are usually obvious. Where people come in and out is usually the best spot for bling and there is less mud or compact mud in these spots because they have moved it with their feet. As nobody likes mud between their toes, people dive in much sooner and don't wade deep. The very shallow is usually a waste of time, because nobody is ever sitting in mud. As for recovering targets, I like a smaller scoop with lots of holes or even wire mesh - as long as it can reach down to where the mud is compact enough to stop the target from sinking. The advise about a sifter is very good. I have used a plastic Garret classifier in an inner tube too. I never tried using a pin pointer to find the target in the sifter, but it makes good sense. Usually, I just let it float with the sifter underwater and with time it clears itself anyway. I don't bother looking into the sifter each time. Instead, I dig until the signal disappears and drop it into the sifter and move on. The only time I check the sifter is if it is filling with debris and needs to be cleaned out or there are waves and I am worried that it might upset or there are people around who keep looking into my sifter.