Swimming hole

[Skrimpy]

my buddy lives near an old swimming hole. It is a creek where a 15 foot or so dam had been erected to create a reservoir. when the reservoir was in use the company that needed it, needed the water deep so they would bulldoze all the sand over the top of the dam. after reading the blockers pond story i got excited and figured there was going to be all sorts of things up against the dam and down below in the pool. We tried to syphon using a piece of pvc, rake, and pool hose thrown over the top of the dam to try and excavate some right up against it but we got skunked. didn't find one penny but...we had a problem. the pvc kept getting plugged with rocks that were almost 1 1/2 inch would clog up the pipe and we didn't get very far down. My question is...what do you all think? Is there going to be stuff up next to the dam, down below in the pool, or would it have all been on the shore next the swimming hole, and not bulldozed over the top? If you think there will be stuff up against the dam is it going to be worth excavating, and if so, short of scuba gear and buckets do you think there is an easy way of getting it out of the water and into a sifter?

[Sandman]

If it is an old swimming hole there could be some targets on the bottom. You have to remember that the people that may have been there didn't wear the jewrly we do today and they didn't take money into the water in the tiny pockets the suits had back then, if they wore suits. Trash was also tossed into water as it was easier to get rid of it than digging a hole.

However, a scuba outfit or hookah system with a small dredge could sift the bottom fairly easy for the targets. The dredge would drop all the coins/rings onto a screen where the dredge runner would remove them and clean the screen of rocks, clam shells, etc. Check out Keene Engineering's site for dredges.

good Luck,
Sandman

[Jeffro]

Try sticking a rod across the intake of the pipe. This won't let anything that is big enough to plug the pipe get in. Even better is to make a ring slightly smaller than the ID of the pipe, and mount it about 1/4 inch in front of your intake.

Either way will reduce plugups big time.

[Skrimpy]

I know that it was in use as a swimming hole during the 60s and 70s and possibly the 50s. This tells me that there is the possibility for silver, and hopefully a lot of it. I do not know if it were a swimming hole before the dam was there. There used to be a rope swing above a deep hole (where they used to bulldoze the bottom out over the top to keep the water deep for the paper company below), but it is now about ankle deep. Plus I gave the detector a once around in the pool and didn't get anything. We did find a couple of wheats, pull tabs and old beer cans on the shore where the rope swing used to be. I'm starting to think that in the pool is pretty much a waste of time and we should concentrate on the shore, although the thought of stuff a few feet down against the dam like blockers pond still sounds like a possibility.

[Postalrevnant]

I feel your delimma Skrimpy.

There is a local shut down swimming hole near me. I have permission to hunt on the grounds, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to get to the deeper end stuff. I am Scuba certified, but the gear and underwater detector are out of the question. The guy has fixed up the place wonderfully so pulling stuff on the shore is out of the question. The pond is not just pure sand, its got a lot of gravels inside. Have tried to sift but the gravels make it very hard to do so, so no effect there. ITs a fairly sizable pond as well.

I know "one would say this could be a waste of time", but I have seen a pic of the rings they have detected over the years. A great big full bag. Just recently he had some larger machinery in there to landscape. They dipped out 3 buckets of the sand / gravel. Within the buckets was 2 rings found. One a huge 18k mens ring. They were dipped out to add gravel to a monument they built.

The guy is very very well off and doesn't care or need rings bad enough to check the place out. They like the look of the pond being there, and the ducks that stop in the summer. LoL, so no way I can see atm to get at this. In case you are wondering I am the only one that has been allowed to MD there. IT's a very long story, but lets say I was fortunate enough to help them out and get to detect. There are that we know of according to description atleast 22 rings lost there that have not been found by them.

HMMM LoL so close yet so far away. Anyways, as much as I would love to find a way to dig into that pond, the rings could just as easily have been buried along with all the landscaping that was done. So I agree could be loads of work without anything, but I have to admit atleast I know there are rings there to start with.

Somewhere.

Hope you find some good stuff at whatever you decide to do.

Postalrevnant

[Skrimpy]

Well, there are a couple of really old swimming holes along this stream along with this newer one. We just thought the situation was prime (the bulldozer pushing all the stuff over the dam), for having lots of stuff right up against it. No dice yet. It seems we won't try again until the spring.

[Night Stalker]

You best be careful pokin 'roun them old swimmin holes

[Nashoba]

If it is an old swimming hole there could be some targets on the bottom. You have to remember that the people that may have been there didn't wear the jewrly we do today and they didn't take money into the water in the tiny pockets the suits had back then, if they wore suits. Trash was also tossed into water as it was easier to get rid of it than digging a hole.

However, a scuba outfit or hookah system with a small dredge could sift the bottom fairly easy for the targets. The dredge would drop all the coins/rings onto a screen where the dredge runner would remove them and clean the screen of rocks, clam shells, etc. Check out Keene Engineering's site for dredges.

good Luck,
Sandman

Yep....Dredge it and you'll find somethings. I would put money on it.

~Nash~