In need of help or suggestions

Tonight I went out for about 45 minutes to fish a small local pond. While I was there I noticed a man and a boy seemed to be searching for something in the water, and the man seemed to be really upset. I decided to go over and see what was wrong, figuring they dropped a pole or something in the water. Turns out that the guy accidentally dropped his wedding ring in the water. To make matters worse, when the little kid reached in the water to try to find the ring, he got bit by a small turtle. Like I said, the guy was on the verge of tears, so I decided to offer some help. Since it was getting dark, I told the man that I would come back the next morning with my brothers. So tomorrow morning I am going to head back and try to find the ring, but I am not quite sure how to go about it.

On the positive side, the area he dropped it in could not be more than 2 square feet and no more than 2 feet deep.

On the negative side, the water is rather murky, so you cannot really see. Additionally, there are a lot of turtles in the water. Finally, I just had lasik surgery so I cannot put my head underwater to look for the ring.

So, I was thinking there are a couple ways I could go about looking for the ring.

1. I have a green underwater light for crappie fishing. I figure this might add enough light to the shallow water to possibly see the ring. However, I am worried it might attract a lot of baitfish and possibly more damn turtles.
2. Just reach into the water and feel around. However, I am not to sure I would even be able to recognize a ring by just reaching around. Plus, once again I do not want to get bit by turtles.
3. Use a low grade metal detector. I have no idea if metal detectors work under water, but I have seen those low grade metal detectors that are pretty much just a big magnent on a stick. I figure if I stick one of those down there, maybe the ring will stick. Problem is, I do not have a metal detector. So if anyone in the Coppell area has one and would let me borrow it, please let me know.

If anyone has any other ideas, or has any scuba diving experience or wants to help, please let me know. I would really like to try to get this ring back for the guy. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

Matt

Dice I wish I had some suggestions,but I don't.However,Iwant to commend you for being such a good man.Not many people would do what you are going to do.If I lived any closer I would come help you ,and I don't have a clue who you or the guy who lost his ring are.I wish ya'll the best of luck,and the world could use a helluva lot more people like you..Good luck,and keep us posted.

There are metal detectors that work under water. Garrett is a company located in Garland and they are a major manufacturer of metal detectors. My fear is that if y'all keep walking around out there in the water you could very easily stomp that ring down into the mud.

There was a story about Garrett in the DMN last week. You might check with them on Monday and see if they could put you in touch with someone that has the equipment and does it as a hobby.

dice123

IF you want to help find the ring ....DO NOT WADE IN LOOKING FOR IT. You will only mash/push it futher into the mud if you should step on it.

You need to contact the metal detecting club that I belong to(Golden Triangle Explorers Society)
http://www.goldentriangleexplorers.com/
Ask Jack to round up one or two of the members that has a water machine to meet you at a given place close to the lake. Then the two of you can go to the lake and let him find it for you. Be sure to ask if you can give the club a small reward for finding it. I would do it myself but, I don't have a water machine to do it with. Several in the club do a lot of water work.

Good Luck and happy hunting.

Depending on what the ring was made out of, a large magnet could work. Academy has them and I think Wal-Mart does too. Or, you could take a shovel and scoop up all the muck, etc and wash it through a screen. Since this is a small area, that wouldn't take too much work. I have found items in small areas like that by using a landing net and repeatedly dragging it through the area. You'd have to get a net with very small holes in this situation though.

I would also suggest expanding your search. You say it is a 2 foot square area. I would expand that to 36 Sq Ft (6x6). It never fails that you think you are looking at an exact spot on the water's surface and be off by a few feet.

Good Luck!

thanks for the advice guys.

Dice,
Listen to Basschaser, I also belong to Golden Triangle , my wife and I do a lot of Underwater detecting, we have water machines, DO NOT tramp around the given area, also a magnet will NOT pick up a Gold nor Silver ring.
Enlarge the search area, people tend to forget exactly where they drop items, also dropped items drift.
E mail me if you think I can help
Basschaser,
Do I know you ? I am Bob(One armed, Good looking)lol, and my wife is Betty (Blonde, good looking), were you at the joint meeting Friday ? Betty had find of the year last year.

If you haven't left yet here is an idea. Get as large a glass container as you can find. Push it into the water as deep as it will go without getting water into it. Then you can look thru it. If it is large (deep) enough you might be able to see the bottom thru it.

get a 1/4 inch mesh net and dredge the area real good. That glass bottle idea sounds good to. Use the net as a last resort.

Check out this web page for a metal detecting club in your area. If the water is only 2 ft. deep then it should be no problem for a detectorist to find the ring.

http://www.texascouncil.com/clubs/clubs.htm

You can also go to my website, shown in my signature, and post a request for help. There are several members of my forums that live in the Dallas area.

I would help you if you were closer to my location. Let me know how it turns out.

LOST RING

I don�t know if it is too late to help or not, but I just read about the lost ring. I live to far from you to help physically, but find some one that has a water proof metal detector. I use mine up to three feet deep all the time. Good luck.

just curious if you ever had any luck

try a 20ft seine.

I want to know too