Anyone try magnet fishing before???

[njnydigger]

I live right on a river here in NJ. Was thinking of tying a magnet to a rope to try some fishing. Anyone ever try this? And if so, what type of stuff did you find?

BTW...Jimmy Hoffa. There, I said it. Now nobody can post that

 

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[mr_larry]

I used to do it off of a fishing pier in the San Francisco Bay when I would go fishing as a kid. I got an absolute ton of knives. Everyone would cut their bait on the wooden rails and then knock their knife in. Some were old and rusty but many were perfectly usable. You need to keep checking your knot on the rope. I used nylon cord, and I would always lose the magnet after a while because the knot would come undone.

Other things I found were sunglasses, a watch, lots of fishing tackle, lighters, flatware like spoons and forks, pliers, etc.

 

[m bryan]

There's a place I hunt that was an old school in the thirties. The owner wants he and I to get a large magnet and fish the old school cistern. Will a magnet pick up coins?

 

[DigginThePast]

There's a place I hunt that was an old school in the thirties. The owner wants he and I to get a large magnet and fish the old school cistern. Will a magnet pick up coins?

No U.S. coin (other than the 1943 steel cent) has been magnetic. Much of the modern Canadian coinage is magnetic.

 

[battlecat]

I tried it once, Got my magnet stuck to something huge and couldnt get it back.... two of us pulled on the rope for about an hour

 

[colorado14ers]

my dad tried to find his leatherman he lost in our canal but didnt find it . I should try it along our peir!!!!

 

[BobinSouthVA]

I think it was on this board somewhere someone posted a video of some guys in Europe using magnets in rivers to get WWII bullets. I think they even might have pulled a helmet out.

 

[Sandman]

This is another form of treasure hunting as you don't know what you'll find. I tried this years ago and saved a few cans from being eatten by rust off our dock. Some of the big magnets you can't get back if they latch onto a car.

 

[SvenS]

I thought about going to all those water fountains where folks throw coins in.....

 

[EpicDeuce]

I've got my hands on a 250lb rated magnet from Harbor Freight. Just trying to figure out what the best line/rope to use was? I have about 60 feet of rock climbing rope I thought might work well. Rated to hold over 250 pounds, anyone have better options though?

 

[lonesomebob]

I have done this for years. I use a hundred pound magnet with a nylon 200 pound test. alongside lake docks you can retrieve a pile of screwdrivers and wrenches and knives. latch on to something big , you lose the magnet or go in after it. Outboard motors dont stick well, too much aluminum. nailed a sunken snowmobile, had to get a diver. Just good clean fun. Bob

 

[relichunters]

I tried it once, no luck.

 

[spartacus53]

njnydigger, you're not looking in the right area.... I did find a money clip with the initials JRH on it... After exhaustive research, I believe it may have belonged to James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa

I never tried that, but it sounds like it may be fun... I guess you may find an old knife, perhaps even an old pistol

 

[Terry Soloman]

I LOVE this thread! Color me stoo-pid, but I never even THOUGHT about magnet fishing! I have used rare earth magnets for years on my gold prospecting picks and it never even occurred to me Thanks for teaching an old dawg a new trick!

 

[RGINN]

We always thought about that, but figured an electromagnet would be the thing, cause we could shut it off in case we were out in our innertubes and hooked onto a submarine.

 

[hmmm]

Tried it yesterday.
dropped a rod holder over board and tried the magnate, then figured out the rod holder was stainless.
i switched to a large triple hook and got it.

 

[OhioDeb]

They look for meteorites with magnets. I ran across an article somewhere that it was speculated a meteror crashed between Ohio and Indiana. I'll have to look that up. We live close to the Miami River and thought about 'magnet fishing'. Too bad coins are not magnetic. OhioDeb

 

[NOLA_Ken]

A friend of mine got one up in Illinois to try and get his fishing rod back out of an irrigation canal. Ended up pulling out nine guns. All stolen in a burglary a few months before. Never did find his rod and reel though.

 

[dahut]

When I was a kid it was pretty common. In the back of every comic book or Popular Mechanics was an ad for these large magnets. My dad had one that he used every time we went fishing on the docks.
Most of the time he pulled up junk, but occasionally something interesting was found. I don't recall anything specific, except maybe some part of a boat. It was a long time ago.
Like all treasure hunting, it is only as good as where you pursue it. Busy docks, fishing piers and other places where people come and go are likely candidates. And no, they wont find US coins of any kind. Or Leatherman tools, either, which are stainless steel.

 

[OhioDeb]

where would you get these magnets? OhioDeb