Clam Rake for hunting submerged bottles in muddy water

[FLauthor]

Has anyone ever heard of anyone using a Clam Rake for dragging muddy lake bottom for old bottles? I have an area where steamboats traveled to various docks for off loading freight and passengers from 1868 till 1899. I figured in that 30 years that a lot of bottles were probably flung into the water for disposal. Those were heavy bottles that didn't float long before sinking into that silty bottom. I've retrieved a few by grope and feel and they came out as new as the day when they were tossed. Always got that fear of grabbing a snapping turtle or a piece of alligator as once the water is stirred up, its absolute blackness. It's not for the faint of heart but I'm searching for a method for raking the bottom and maybe snagging some antique bottles and maybe produce a story or two . Thanks!

 

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[Harry Pristis]

A clam-rake sounds like a great way to build upper body strength! I have thought about the concept myself, but never got around to doing it.

I have dived up some bottles in Lake George and the St. Johns River. The best luck has been around old pilings at steamboat landings. In Lake George and the margins of the river (and in other lakes in Northcentral Florida), the muck is very deep as soon as you get beyond the depth (say six feet) where wave action will keep the sand clean.

I kept thinking about the decades of toxins - dioxins, mercury and DDT and other durable chemicals - which are sequestered in the muck (this is a serious problem in the St. Johns River system).

I have had better luck (and felt safer) in swifter currents where the bottom is swept clear of muck.

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[curbdiggercarl57]

If you have one, use an old pitchfork.
Just stab slowly, when you hear/feel the glass "tink", scoop away.
Good luck!
Carl