travelingjack1 said:
I have been doing research on older swimming holes in large creeks here in my general area. After I come back from vacation in a few weeks, Im gonna try some of them out. Some of the places ive read about the water levels have changed some over the years. Also you have to wonder with the years of flooding, if it has covered the majority of items with soot or mud over the years. I'm interested in putting some time into it. Hope to find some items, i would think the creek bank areas could also be good. I also wonder in creeks with the changing currents if things could be scattered downstream some. Someone need to write a book on creek and small river hunting!
For sure you want to hunt them down stream. Also, and this is why I like a 4" coil, I find quite a bit of stuff trapped in the fist sized rocks and large gravel. Try right in the bottom of the narrower runs, especially where there is a sudden drop at the head of the run or pool, a lot of things will get deposited here as they are pushed down stream. And one of the best signs is this, if you start finding a lot of larger lead fishing sinkers in an area then you want to hunt that area and the area just below it real well. Just use the same sort of logic prospectors use when trying to find gold in a stream, most items are pushed along by the currents in much the same manner. Old swimming areas below small damns can be really good because during times of high water the areas below these dams will get continuosly dugout and moved around by the increasing force of the water, the effect is much the same way a hurricane dislodges and redistributes the sandbars and reefs along that coastline. The best places to hunt below these dams is right along the down river slope of these digouts, and then the areas just above and down stream from them. Also, it can pay to visit these streams during times of high water so you can see where the stronger currents are possibly pushing items into the shoreline. A lot of coins will often be found in these areas. I wish I could find more of these areas to hunt because they have produced "really well" for me over the years. Another area to checkout is bridge overpasses, especially the old ones. When I was a kid it was quite common for people to treat these like wishing wells, thus flipping coins into the water for good luck. As for thick layers of silt and thick layers of soft sand, I skip these areas because they are simply to hard to hunt unless you want to try to sink your coil into it and swing it through these layers, and even then you probably won't be able to sink your coil deep enough without serious risk of damage to your coil, shaft, or cable. Just sharing a few thoughts for you to consider. If you can find the right places it's usually tough hunting but quite often the reward is well worth it. OH, and one last thing, I made a "steel" scoop for these tougher hunting conditions, it has a 48" x 3/8" black pipe looped handle and a 6" bucket with 3/8" holes, it is all welded. You'll be lifting a lot of rock so if you go over a 6" bucket a full scoop of these stones can get really heavy. The leading lip of the 6" round bucket is serrated in three places with 1 1/2" "V" cuts so it is easier to work into the gravel and layers of rock. If you decide to build your own, think, "prybar!" Good luck!
You brought up alot of great points and some awesome tips. I have currently have 2 scoops but they probally are not made well enough to handle the tough rocks and hard bottom. I will have to see if I can buy or make a heavy duty one. 
