Why yes I have. I tried panning Lake Michigan. I found black sand layers on the beach just north of Navy Pier in central Chicago! It was fun being the weird dude with the gold pan on the beach ;-)
On Goldfever, Tom Massie ran a Goldgetter on the beach in Chicago and found gold on his show... I didn't.
Well, I gave Lake Michigan a good try this weekend. Due to a BIG lesson learned letting a friend gouge up my pans with sandpaper, I got nothing out of it but some time in the sand. Its still some experience though.
What gold I may have found is so tiny that grabbing it is presenting a big challenge. I'm not sure how to collect the tiny grains.
Better luck next time....