Straight as a string line, now what?

mike(swWash)

Hero Member
Feb 6, 2008
755
1,433
Grays Harbor in Washington state
Detector(s) used
Whites Spectrum XLT with about 1/4" of dust on it and can't even remember how t turn it on?!?!?
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
If you get some colors in your pans then go right down the middle and both sides also. Head for bedrock, if you can.
 

et1955

Hero Member
Jan 10, 2015
910
1,780
Shoreline,wa
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Dig behind any big rocks in or on the side of the creek, next check the plant and tree roots on the side of the creek for gold but also check out Google Earth maps of the area to see if the course of the creek has changed over the years maybe you could find an ancient flow untouched by the old-timers full of gold.
 

et1955

Hero Member
Jan 10, 2015
910
1,780
Shoreline,wa
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Roots!

Never tried that, looks promising. Thanks Et1955.
Don't forget moss the on the rocks or on the bank of the creek, mossing is an easy way to tell if you got gold in the creek or river, I have pulled out several ounces of gold mossing in my area.
 

Capt Nemo

Bronze Member
Apr 11, 2015
1,058
1,609
Oshkosh, WI
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I'd look for any natural riffles and/or pools. At Nugget Lake, I'm on a straight stretch of shallow rapids that drops into a shallow pool. The gold follows the left side to middle (looking upstream). My first hole there was a large rock with a sand trail into the pool where the current would slack. That tail was yielding about 5-10 colors per pan. Going upstream from there, the color continues.

I'd first test in a line across the stream to figure out where the gold line is, and then work upstream from there. If there is a pool, work on the upstream side first using the pool as a safety pan. Then go back and hit the pool to catch what your gear might have lost. Someone sluiced into my first hole at NL, and I pulled some real fines out of their tailings. Once I'm done working upstream, I'm hitting that pool and dumping my tailings in the hole on the downstream side.
 

OP
OP
D

Duckshot

Silver Member
Sep 8, 2014
4,455
9,643
trapped on the earthly plane of causation
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
That's me I guess, always a prospector and never a miner. :laughing7:

Ran the sluice twice with about a half five gallon bucket worth of 1/2" classifed each time. Found a peice of bird shot on the first run from around and under a rock, but no gold. The second run was perpendicular, across the stream. Found a couple cups worth of black sand and it was loaded with small round pieces of clear quartz. Spent about fifteen minutes each pan checking for cubic pieces (diamond). Nothing.

Oh well, maybe next time I go back. A significant amount of gold was found on the river just a mile downstream from this feeder creek. Next I'm going to try closer to where creek meets river.
 

benny

Full Member
Sep 15, 2012
189
169
Oregon
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
If the grade of the creek levels out, the gold will drop out. Anything that will cause the water to slow.
 

Gold4Mike

Full Member
May 10, 2017
230
718
Mount Vernon, Washington
Detector(s) used
Angus Mackirk Foreman
Grizzly Goldtrap Explorer
Gold Hog Piglet highbanker
Home made slate miller table
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
My wife and I were once forced into a straight stretch of creek by a hornet nest instead of the nice inside bend we were aiming for. We had driven too far to just give up. We ended up choosing the side of the straight stretch of the last inside bend upstream and then dug behind obstacles, in this case large boulders imbedded in the gravel. We did pretty well I thought. Others can chime in, but I would think that gold would probably stick to the side of the last inside bend upstream, before crossing over to the middle and other side.
 

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,222
Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
in longer straight sections gold tends to get pushed towards the bank.

Be midful of the last/any major features that would affect flow. I would also try to determine what side of the creek the gold is entering from if possible
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top