Does anyone detect in streams/shallow rivers?

[gates21]

Just curious if anyone detects in creeks/streams/shallow rivers? I would think it would be a good place escpecially near old bridges, etc....maybe people throwing coins into the water as a wishing well? Maybe broken hearted men throwing engagement rings into the water after they caught me and there fiance together? (J/K) Just curious if anyone has tried it, and with what luck. Would you just use a sand scoop like at the beach?

Aaron

 

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[Highwater]

Aaron,
Creeks and streams are always a good place to search, especially in an area that has some good history. Waterways have always been a travel route, either on the water or along the banks. A lot of trails in the old days often started out as game trails so when mankind arrived on the scene it was natural to follow "the path of least resistance". After the animals came the Indians who would use the animal trails, then the white man who used the Indian trails. Some of these trails later became roads.
Also, when travel was made across country they had to find places to ford the waterways, rivers, streams, creeks, ect... A lot of stuff was lost or left behind at water crossings.
Cabins and settlements were developed next to waterways.
This is a very good place to hunt. A lot of things have changed since something may have been lost or left. Highwater during heavy rainfall would sweep things down a river and a lot of times this stuff will be covered beneath many feet of mud, dirt and debris. Maybe during the next heavy runoff these things might be washed clean and will be laying very shallow.
One method I have found to work very well around rivers and streams is to work the side banks. The natural erosion of the bank exposes a lot of goodies. They tend to slowly migrate their way downhill. It is a slow form of a "cut" like a storm can do on a salt water beach, only on the beach it can happen in a few hours or a couple days. With a river bank it happens over years.
If you have a certain place in mind then google on an aerial view and look for old trails or roads along the waterway. You can usually even see old building sites. If you look around, even when you are driving along a river, you can sometimes look across to the other side and see little bits and pieces of old trails and roads. These trails and roads are what serviced farmsteads and communities up and down the waterway back in the old days. If you go for a walk along these old ghost trails with your metal detector and make big loose sweeps along the way you will surely run across some interesting sites to hunt. Sometimes you can just walk along and you will see a natural place for an old cabin or house and walk right up to it and start finding targets with your detector, then go look for the dump site. It can keep a guy busy for a long time.
When you ask about what to use for recovery in a creek or stream it all depends on what the bottom is like. If everywhere you dig it is sandy then a reinforced sifter might do the trick, but you will more than likely be digging where there is gravel and debris. In this case you will want a good heavy duty 'Mega Scoop'. If you search on this site you will find many threads about scoops and where to find them. For the creek bank you would want a small shovel and a good smaller digging tool. So the tools of choice would be directly related to the kind of material you are digging in and how much material you have to move.
Also keep in mind that certain areas may be environmentally sensitive and against bank erosion so there may be rules and regulations as to digging on the bank of certain streams and rivers. You would want to know about your area. But also keep in mind that what you are after may not be as easy to dig in the bottom of the stream as it is on the side banks and upper banks of the river. Also, if the water is deep enough get a wet suit and a diving detector and go snorkeling. If it is too deep for a snorkel than get a hookah system. My dad made a 'poor mans' diving hood one time when I was a kid and when we were at a swimming hole in the river he would go under and pick things off the bottom, without a detector. So if you can find swimming holes it is a good place to hunt.
I hope this gives you some ideas and inspiration. Do some research and some looking around. Now days with good sites getting harder to find you have to come up with good ways to find good sites. There is no better reward in this hobby than to do some research, learn some local history then go out and touch it on your own site. One thing will lead to another and pretty soon you will find a new type of hunting to get excited about. Now days a lot of it has to do with research. As you read through this forum and look who is finding all the good tickets you will probably find someone who has spent some time tracking down the sites. This will naturally lead to a better understanding of local history and by the time you find a good site you will usually know something about the people that walked there before you. It can make the finds so much sweeter.
Your main question was about hunting below bridges. I have known a couple people that have worked below old bridges that cross gullies and waterways that have found some interesting things, including guns, knives, jewelry, period artifacts and lot of scrap metal. This is a good place to hunt, but I did want to point out that there is a lot more scope to this type of hunting than just searching below a bridge. HH Highwater

 

[deepskyal]

I attempted only once to detect a shallow portion of a river near a well known artifact/landmark. It was called the "Indian God Rock" along the Allegheny River.

I modified a detector to go detect in about 4' of water and the one thing I didnt take into consideration was...the current. Even within a couple feet of shore, it was almost impossible to stand it was so swift....and that was late summer with the water level fairly low.

I was looking for a lead plate buried by France in the late 1600's and the rock was a marker.

But, as you can imagine, the rock had also been a very popular swimming place, with graffiti from the early 1800's on it along with the ancient indian carvings almost obliterated from erosion and modern graffiti.
You can still see the carvings from out in the river when it rains. Pretty cool...

But anyhow...I didnt have any luck because I couldn't get underwater without being pushed away from the current.
I had snorkeling equipment....I just needed a crew to help, which I didnt have.

I do want to do the creek up in N.Central Pa some time where there was a big flood and a town was leveled...but most of it goes thru private property.

Al