Im making my first trip to the lake.......

[dustbuster]

I'm making my first trip to the lake.......

and I have never tried to check the water. I have an Ace 250 and only a short handle scoop. Anyone have any tips on how to go about hunting the water and how to find when I have a hit. I only plan on going out a few feet. Is that good or bad?
Mainly, I'm concerned on how to make a retrieval. I don't have money right now for better equipment to dig with.
Thanks for listening and any help offered.
Dustbuster

 

[Miningtown]

Re: I'm making my first trip to the lake.......

Dustbuster... If you can't see the bottom, walk very carefully..holes don't fill in at the lake like they do in the sand at the ocean.. there are often holes,stumps etc and one misstep could ruin your detector.

Good luck

 

[Tank69]

Re: I'm making my first trip to the lake.......

#1. you can use the Ace 250 in the water almost waist deep ,just remember DO NOT get the head unit wet or you will kill your machine.

#2.you don't have to have alot of money to make a scoop , you can go to walmart an buy a feed scoop in the pet section for $4.00 an all you have to do is drill the desired size holes you want . I use em all the time in sand an water ,if it breaks which is hard to do your not out much.

I have also just made a scoopout of PVC pipe didn't cost much ,haven't gotten around to taking pics of it yet as I just finished it.

#3. when you detect try to keep it where you can see your coil then when you get a hit you know where to dig , that's how I do it an I've gotten jewelry an coins doing it this way .


I hope this helps you if you have any questions just pm me.good luck on your hunting.

 

[MEinWV]

Re: I'm making my first trip to the lake.......

With detector in hand, lay on the ground with your detector/arm sticking straight up in the air. Measure the distance from the ground to your wrist. Then, stand up and measure from the ground up the side of your leg to that same length, and remember that depth when you walk out in the water. If you ever fall down out there, just make sure you stick you tectin arm up in the air.

I'm not being all that serious here , but this actually happened to us once with my little brother. I told him to do it if he fell in the water, and lo and behold he did great. I heard a splash, and when I turned around all I saw was his arm and detector sticking out of the water. When his head came out of the water he looked right at me with a big smile on his face and said, "I did it"!

I used a grain scoop from Agway that I drilled a bunch of holes in. Find a log that the scoop will fit on and this will make it easy to drill the holes. It won't take long to learn to dig your hits, even in muddy water.

Good luck! HH

 

[Sandman]

Re: I'm making my first trip to the lake.......

If you have a detector that has the control box attached to the shaft, never raise the coil higher than the controls after you have had it in the water. Water in the shaft can travel to the box and fry the guts. Some land detectors can be hip mounted or carried from you neck, you still can't fall down.

The scoop is the part that needs a longer handle or you need to keep bending down. Good ones that you don't have to replace often are pricey but will last many years of hard use. The RTG scoop is more for dry sand as it has no foot plate like the real Sunspot scoops.