Small items that go through scoop

[pdunc]

Any suggestions on how to get those small items such as earrings that go through the 5/8th inch holes of my scoop? Suggestions and pictures of solutions would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

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[Sandman]

There isn't to much you can do and keep the fast sifting qualities of your present scoop. You and add smaller screen to catch the small items, but it should be welded. It will not sift well after that. You can carry two scoops, impractial.

I have a retreiver with a 6 ft. handle that has a 3/8's screen on the back and after a small item falls thru, you use the flat edge to pick it up as it is close to the surface. I wasn't sure if the pic would load, but I see it has. I normally use the Sunspot scoop, but depending where I am going I can take this one. I hesitate to call it a scoop cause it isn't. You pull it toward you and in a lot of places it is faster than a regular scoop. The Sunspot has smaller holes up front to catch the small targets, the Stealth doesn't have these.

 

[DaChief]

In my short experience of a month or so water hunting, I have learned to identify when items are falling through. When that happens, I scoop where I think it is and then try to bring the scoop up really slow where I cradle it in my hands and then try to catch things sifting through. I have gotten pretty good at it. I had a heart stopper on my last water hunt when I got a 1Ct. Cubic Z stud earring in my hand. It had fallen through twice before I finally caught it in my hand. For that one brief second, I thought I had the big one only to realize that the mount was junk metal thus the stone was also.

I though about adding something like Sandman has on his pic to the handle end of my scoop to turn the scoop over end over end and use that one those small things but I think it would be as much of a pain as the drops.

A little more brainstorming needed to come up with that million dollar gadget that everyone will want.

Take Care.

Jim

 

[G.I.B.]

I hunt with a PI machine, so I'm chasing bobby pins and such occasionally. They would keep slipping thru the holes, along with lots of tiny small things.

Someone on TN suggested a good magnet glued inside the scoop. It has worked well for me.

I spent 10 minutes one time chasing, what turned out to be a small gold earring clasp. It can be frustrating, but I refused to give up.

Good luck with the hunts.

 

[Glenn-RI]

pdunc,

What conditions are you talking about? In the Surf, wet sand, dry sand, fresh water lake, etc.....

Glenn

 

[pdunc]

Glenn, I primarily hunt fresh water lakes.

pdunc,

What conditions are you talking about? In the Surf, wet sand, dry sand, fresh water lake, etc.....

Glenn

 

[JOE(USA)]

pdunc,

Use 1/4" hardware cloth inside your scoop and dump into a floating 1/4" screened floating box. This gets you away from the slow sifting problem. This will not work in SURF! Joe

 

[kaptainkosmic]

pdunc, heres how to make your trips much more productive

use a sifter, it completely eliminates time wasted looking for targets in the bottom of your scoop.
i use a vibra probe along with my sifter and now spend most of my time looking for targets in the bottom instead of my scoop. it also is a very good place to put your scoop and any accessories that you might take along. i put my vibra probe, my scoop, a mesh bag for junk and a water bottle on mine. i can put multiple scoops of bottom, everything listed above and myself on the sifter and it still floats. i hook it to my scoop to carry down to the water on my shoulder and once in the water its like is not even there.
wind, current or large waves (lake michigan) may require that you modify your hunt style but i think that it is more than worth it!

hh steve

 

[karib2517]

thats a nice setup.

 

[Highwater]

Hey Kapt,
In one of your photos the handle on your scoop is square, the way they come. In the other photo, of you holding your scoop, it looks round. What happened? Did you break your original handle and replace it with a round one?

 

[kaptainkosmic]

sandscoop handles

Hey Kapt,
In one of your photos the handle on your scoop is square, the way they come. In the other photo, of you holding your scoop, it looks round. What happened? Did you break your original handle and replace it with a round one?

Highwater, if you look closely you will notice that the scoop floating in the sifter is angled (30 deg from perpendiculiar) and the scoop on my shoulder is perpendiculiar to the scoop. i've had the perpendiculiar handle now for 3 yrs. and got the 30 deg handle this yr. they are both round about 1/2 down changing over to square at the bottom end. i haven't had any problems with either handle. i got the angled handle because i thought it would be easier digging, after using it this whole summer i will be going back to the perpendicular handle and keeping the angled handle as backup. the baskets on both are identical and can be interchanged. the angled handle is a little bit easier to dig with especially in deeper water. but i don't have the wrist to control the basket while lifting so it wants to hang down that 30 deg and in turn dumps material out (bad) it seems to get worse as the day wears on (fatigue).
with the perpendiculiar handle i can just pull straight up and the contents seem less likely to spill out of the scoop.
the perpendiculiar handle is also much easier to carry on my shoulder, it's basically hands free with or without the sifter.

hh steve

 

[Doctor Detroit]

I was using a sifter with my older small scoop in the freshwater lakes till I got the Sunspot scoop. I should probably still use the sifter mainly to float my scoop.

 

[kaptainkosmic]

that is exactly why i wanted a sifter to begin with

I was using a sifter with my older small scoop in the freshwater lakes till I got the Sunspot scoop. I should probably still use the sifter mainly to float my scoop.

then after i found out not only how much time it saves locating targets, but i started recovering targets that you would never find in the bottom of a scoop, like small round fishing sinkers that have grown a coat of algae. they look like a pc. of gravel but the vibra probe picks them right out. on my cz they sound just like gold so i hate to pass them by. it doesn't cost much to make a sifter, my first attempt was a 5 gallan bucket cut in half with the bottom drilled and a swim noodle attached. it worked but i wanted something that would be more stable than the bucket and also hold more. the tube doesn't weigh much more and really floats good, i wouldn't go without it, period! earlier this summer i was hunting with a buddy from our club, he is an experienced hunter and expressed doubts about using a sifter. i asked him to try the sifter that my daughter usually uses and if he didn't like it we would just let it sit on the beach. within 15 minutes he was making plans to get his own.
alot of the guys that hunt in the ocean have concerns about the thing in waves but i regularly use it in waves on lake michigan. i was hunting in august of this year and a squall line came in, the waves went from 1' to 5' with in 10 minutes the sifter didn't have any problems, i on the other hand did! this sifter will work in any wave that you can stand in!
the only drawback is that it is strictly a water hunting device, it becomes a nuisance if you want to hunt the wetsand line, or dry sand.

oh also young folks like to try and snatch stuff if given the opportunity.

hh steve

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I made a sifter using a small tire tube, and a black rubber oil drain pan at Daytona one time, it will not work in the surf, the breaking waves just turn it over. On the rare occasions the waves are less then a 1.5 foot it would be fine, but most times surf is breaking 2.5 foot and greater every 8-15 secs.

Onlakes and springs they are great.

 

[diggerfororo]

I had this problem many years ago. But I cured it by using an insert in my scoop. This insert is made from plastic mesh you can buy at the hobby store. I don't know what the craft is called, but you make pictures with yarn. It is cheap to buy and you cut it to fit the bottom of your scoop. I carry mine in my trash bag and slip it in the scoop when I get one of those small targets. I think this is alot simpler than anyother thing I have seen.

Les

 

[pdunc]

Les,
I like your idea. Seems quick and easy and can be used only when you need to without impeding the sifting of the scoop when it's not needed. I think my wife has some of that hobby mesh hanging around the house. Seems to me it could easily be rolled up and put in a pocket or pouch when not needed. How do you attach it to the bottom of your scoop? Bread ties attached to the mesh would probably work.

 

[diggerfororo]

Hi:

I just cut a round piece the size of the bottom of your scoop.(If your scoop is round) When you want to use it, you just slip it in. When you scoop just skim the bottom, taking only a little sand. When you lift the scoop keep the bottom level and you will trap the target on the mesh. With a little practice it will work almost every time. The only target that will still give you trouble is split shot, or any small round targets. They tend to roll out the sides. If you go slow when you lift you can still get them. I have retrieved hundreds of earrings and small charms this way.

Good hunting

Les