Underwater Treasure Hunting

[Pistol_Pete]

Hello All

I live in Oklahoma and have been a certified diver for 6 years now. I live so far inland that my dive site options are fresh water lakes and ponds. Looking at bass in 5-10 feet of visibility is starting to wear on me. Recently I became interested in underwater metal detecting and treasure hunting. The fact that I dive lakes and swimming holes limits the types of treasure I can go after. Several Oklahoma lakes cover towns and houses; Lake Texoma for example, covers 3 towns and an Indian village. I know of several public swimming holes that have been in use for over 100 years. I have been looking into hookah systems, pontoon boats, dredgers, and metal detectors(Which one? Whites, Garret, or Fisher). If anyone can offer information regarding freshwater hunting techniques and equipment I would very much appreciate it. I would also like to know if there is anyone who has gotten a decent return on their investment (A hookah and decent detector costs around $3000.00).

Thanks, Bob

 

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[TheDetectorist]

Sorry to crush your dreams, but here goes. All the lakes you dive in are state parks. All the submerged structures and artifacts are protected sites and can not be removed. Metal detecting in a state park is illegal by it's self. Corps of Engineer lakes only allow detecting at previously "disturbed" sites such established and marked swimming beaches.

So there you go. Our gov't hard at work, protecting you from yourself. I guess the politicians who made those laws, didn't care that THEY detroyed these sites when flooding, and that everything under the water was abandoned when the owners were bought out by uncle sam.

The other side of the coin is: Who is going to know what you are doing down there?

TD

 

[Night Stalker]

You best be careful down yonder...​

 

[shootist]

I would post about this over in the water forum,those guys know all the answers. A popular though pricey detector for water seems to be a Minelab Excalibur though there are several others and different folks use them all. before you dive all the way into it why not first try detecting the waters of those swimming holes you mentioned? I see people posting tons of freshwater finds though water hunting is a totally different animal than the land. In addition there are several specialized tools you need to hunt the water,the first being a beach scoop and some sort of floatingscreen seems to be the top 2...GL