Is there a tool to cast into a lagoon and draw back top inches of soil/sand?

[Bidbusters]

Greetings. I’m new to these forums. I’m magnet fishing a lagoon at Omaha’s oldest park. The lagoon used to be host to ice skating and other events years ago, but no swimming allowed now. I imagine there are coins embedded in the muck but how do I draw them back to the shoreline? Is there a tool I can attach to a cord as I do with my magnet that will bring soil back and sift it?

 

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[Nitric]

There might be a tool for this. I'd imagine it would have to be made for what your wanting to do. That stuff gets heavy too! Trying to drag a few inches at a time is going to be real heavy! Not to mention, you'll probably get shut down real fast. May depend on the area and who's watching.

We tried to drag 5gl bucket type size up out of an old strip mine pound. It was crazy heavy. But we were also kids at that time trying to get all the old shell casings from years of shooting back there.

 

[Hawks88]

Welcome to tnet from Niagara Falls.

 

[Bidbusters]

Thanks for the reply. I was told by a guy who’s over 60 that when he was a kid there was a little building near the lagoon where people could warm up who were ice skating... that means probably lots of stuff falling into the water when the ice melted each year which of course makes me a trifle greedy LOL. I tried putting my magnet inside my coin sifter but turns out the sifter is made out of aluminum. The magnet was to try to hold down the edge so soil will be trapped inside it when I dragged towards me, And all the holes in the sifter might allow some of the soil to escape out of the back as I pulled it in

 

[Nitric]

Thanks for the reply. I was told by a guy who’s over 60 that when he was a kid there was a little building near the lagoon where people could warm up who were ice skating... that means probably lots of stuff falling into the water when the ice melted each year which of course makes me a trifle greedy LOL. I tried putting my magnet inside my coin sifter but turns out the sifter is made out of aluminum. The magnet was to try to hold down the edge so soil will be trapped inside it when I dragged towards me, And all the holes in the sifter might allow some of the soil to escape out of the back as I pulled it in

Maybe you would have better luck with a sifter on a pole. Not sure if that would work or not, but then you could put some down force on the pole as your dragging it back.

 

[Plumbata]

As Nitric suggested, it sounds like you want a modified "Clam Rake" or something similar, with a sturdy pole necessary to dig deep and sift the contents underwater in a controlled and efficient manner. I would line the tool with an internal basket of 1/2 inch "hardware cloth" (steel wire screen) to serve as the sifter. Smaller items like earrings will fall through but it will catch most good stuff and would be much faster and less prone to clogging than the 1/4 inch screen.



Also, if there are older concrete sidewalks with vertical lagoon-walls around the perimeter, lots of coins and other items will have rolled off and into the water so scraping the rake sifter along and near the walls will likely be productive.

Just tossing something tied to rope into the water won't get the results you want, you will need a handle on the tool if you want to get deep into the mud and sift it.

 

[vpnavy]

Greetings. I’m new to these forum...

Welcome Aboard! You didn't list your state (or country) in your profile. So, you might consider jumping over to Sub-Forum: Select Your Area.... and selecting location information (i.e., clubs, hunts, finds, legends, maps, etc.) directly related to your state (or country). You might also consider adding your state (or country) to your displayed profile (SETTINGS -> EDIT PROFILE).

 

[huntsman53]

Yep, Steve and Shawn Pomrenke have the perfect piece of equipment but getting it from Alaska and to the lagoon might be tough.