River Detecting

Intro: 

Hey Everybody. Welcome! to Episode 36 of the metal detecting show podcast. My Name is Ciaran and I have been Metal Detecting for nearly 30 Years and This week I want to talk to you about River Detecting, We discuss Safety, Essential Equipment and Technique.

So lets get on with the show.

Music

Hey everyone before we start I want to thank you for listening to the podcast and I hope you enjoy the show this week  but before we begin I want to give you the following information. 

If you want to give me feedback or interact with the show, please reach out to me on twitter @detectingthe or Instagram @themetaldetectingpodcast or If you want to pop me an email to ciaran@themetaldetectingshow.com  

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Content:

Hey Detectorists! Firstly  Happy Thanks Giving to our listeners in the United States of America or as I like to call it the day history began in the USA.

A few Shoutouts to the people who have sent me coffees this week I am fully caffeinated for the week, many thanks to gdzag  declangrace and wayne Kelly  for their support as always very much appreciated.

Quick update this week firstly if you follow me on Instagram you will be aware of this already but just today I woke up to the following message from the metal detecting subreddit on reddit.com 

“You have been permanently banned from participating in r/metaldetecting. You can still view and subscribe to r/metaldetecting but won’t be able to post of comment” 

Now for what I hear you cry out in disgust did I receive such a heinous ban well if your aware there are separate chat rooms to each subreddit and I was in the chat room just yesterday, when someone came on looking for suggestions for gifts for their partner who metal detects. Now seeing this I felt this was an ideal scenario that episode 27 The Top 5 Metal Detecting Gifts 2020 covered in detail, check it out if you haven’t already just to be clear I posted it in the chat not on the subreddit which received a thanks and that was that so I thought. I wake up this morning to the message above which you can imagine ticked me off because I have been a very active premium member of the subreddit for years with both my ancient personnel account and the podcast account of which I have awarded 1000’s of coin from both accounts. Now they will stipulate that I broke the rules of the subreddit which is “No YouTube links/promoting YouTube channel or any other platform” is a podcast a separate platform hardly. Needless to say I have cancelled both premium subscriptions I did appeal the ruling but its clear that the moderators don’t see value in valid information but happy to bend the rules when promoting brands so I guess I’ll stick with detector network in the future make sure to check it out.

This week I want to talk to you about River Detecting now this is something I used to do a lot of in my youth says the old man but it was I would bring my Quick Draw II with a bag over the control box, I would cycle 8 miles to a local swimming/fishing spot with my detector and shovel on my back. This was an exercise that was reserved for warm days which are few and far between in Ireland.

In those days I wasn’t in possession of a wet suit or waders and had to make do with a pair of Bermuda shorts and old sneakers. Some of the things I learned about river hunting still ring through today firstly you’re going to get a lot and I mean a lot of rubbish and fishing hooks are  a nightmare especially if you can’t see under the surface before you put your hand on it and it is quiet very quiet with long periods of time between finds which as I said normally turns out to be rubbish but the good finds can be rewarding especially if you find a swimming spot to hunt, these honey holes are pinnacle of river hunting. Other things I learnt back then was that a river has the potential to be a border between two estates and that you need permission from both land owners to detect in the river. This lesson came in the form of one farmer giving me permission while the other didn’t but luckily the side where I didn’t have permission was the deep side so I just stayed away from there. Right to start I’ve broken this week’s topic in three sections Safety, Equipment and Technique.  Starting with Safety you can never be too safe when entering the water no matter how warm it is you will get wet and cold this needs to be managed to ensure you can stay hunting for a worthwhile period of time. If you get cold you will make bad decisions and risk hypothermia early symptoms of which include Shivering, Exhaustion or feeling very tired, Confusion and Fumbling hands. So watch out for these. Get yourself a good pair of waist waders which can be tied closed tight at the top do not and ill repeat do not use chest waders as these can fill up with water in the event of a fall into the water and believe me you will fall or will bend down too far to pick up a gold doubloon.

If you can’t swim get yourself an automatic life jacket these are very low profile offering a wide range of motion and flexibility so much so you won’t even notice them in your hunt. These will auto inflate if you fall into the water and will save your life. Add some water proof socks and sensible boots to stop you slipping on wet and slippy stones and your set from the waist down. Wear Gloves I see people free balling it and not wearing gloves will it’ll only take a severed radial artery on a cold hand where you slowly bleed out without even noticing it for you to learn this lesson but let’s hope it’s only a fishing hook that teach this one.

Insect repellent no brainer mosquitos thrive on the river and you are a tasty treat just waiting to wonder onto their dinner table so repel these monsters. Watch out for another other indigenous animals down the river there’s always a wineo or two drinking cans down the river so keep a sharp eye for these. 

Finally on safety  if you can bring a buddy it a makes total sense that you bring someone that has your back and you can have theirs especially if the water is deeper than you knee and you’re going somewhere that is far from the beaten track.

Almost a safety point but really a technology point. 

Nothing can destroy your detecting equipment quicker than having water egress so before every hunt check the seals on your detector and pin pointer ad some appropriate grease to maximise the life of the seals but to continue the technology and equipment vain obviously the advice is to only use a water proof detector or pin pointer for river hunting but if you fancy taking a risk like I did years ago and your detector comes with a water proof coil like most do then you can wrap your sensitive bits in plastic but don’t get carried away and dip the control box in the drink. 

A top tool that is not essential but definitely handy is a strong magnet on a pole once you detect a find you can probe about the hole with the magnet and if it’s a bit of iron or trash you will attract it easily this is especially handy for fishing hooks. Finally Headphones are an essential part  of river hunting you will not hear your detector over the burbling water so headphones are a must. 

I think the technology side is common Sense just make sure what your using is water proof or water proofed.

To wrap up river hunting there are a few techniques to consider that includes where to hunt on a river.

Great places to hunt that have proven to be successful time and time again are under bridges this includes if your magnet fishing this is one of the best places to hunt FACT. People have thrown stuff off bridges for millennia either for luck, to appease the gods or to dispose of something in a hurry as they walk over it. Bridges are a prime spot to jump off for an adreline inducing pocket emptying dive resulting in a honey hole that cant be compared. 

Artificial Dams can be included here I remember reading a story on line of a chap that would  spend his whole time hunting in scuba gear at the bottom of a dam he would pick up all sorts of dropped valuables and coins, there was so much of it there he would hardly have to hunt for it. So bridges and dams are good but remember to look for places that used to have a bridge maybe that bridge is run down or maybe the river was shallow enough years ago that horses could cross. The sight of this should get you excited. 

River banks are a great spot to check but there is a lot of it so check places where a natural beach has formed or the bank has fallen away due to erosion and finally check bends in the river my understanding is that heavier objects such as coins and gold will accumulate on the outside edge of the bend based on the direction of the rivers current. So be sure to check these places. 

Some top tips in metal detecting technique when hunting a river.

Travel in the direction of the current this will result in the silt being carried away quicker when digging a hole but it also means that if your find pops out of the hole mid dig it will be more likely to travel forward back in your hunting zone. Traveling in this direction will help you  conserve energy also as you will not have to fight the current. 

Sweep your detector very slowly you will tire yourself out quickly using your detector as a paddle. 

Always ground balance as soon as you get in the water and repeat regularly during the hunt. 

Use your foot to help mark you find when pinpointing, pinpoint the find with your detector  and mark this spot by keeping your foot in front of the spot then place your sand scoop on your toes and dig down this will help you become consistent in digging finds. 

Have I missed  anything I haven’t hunted a river in a while let me know but I think safety for you and your detector is the most important things to take away today.

Wrap Up 

That’s it for this week’s I hope you liked this episode of the metal detecting show podcast.

Check out our website www.themetaldetectingshow.com for this episode show notes. 

Check out our Patreon page if you want to help the podcast stay alive or just want to buy me a coffee. Actually if you want to buy me a coffee you can do so at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/metaldetecting also

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If you like this content and would like more please don't hesitate to tell your friends and don't forget to hit that subscribe button.

Once again, I hope you have enjoyed this episode and we will chat to you all again next week. 

Get out there eyes down and Happy Hunting.