Metal Detecting Equipment

I will start off my metal detecting posts with a description of the equipment that I use.  My detector is the Minelabs E-Trac.  For those familiar with metal detectors, you will know that this is one of the higher end and more expensive detectors out there.  I bought mine in March 2011 from Detector Depot in Knoxville, Tn.  They are great folks there and have amazing pricing and deals.  As for the detector itself, I couldn't imagine detecting with anything else.  It has found targets that other detectors of folks I was detecting with could not find.  It is hands down worth every penny that I paid for it.  I don't know that I would recommend it to someone who was just getting into metal detecting mainly due to it's price.  For most people the E-Trac costs a good deal and is more than they should be spending on a hobby unless they are 100% certain they will be sticking with it.  That said, for anyone who has been detecting for a while or is certain they are going to stick with it, then I would highly recommend the E-Trac.  In my opinion it can't be beat.

Aside from your detector, one of the most important tools I feel that a person needs is a good probe.  The probe is used to find the target in the ground once the hole has been dug.  It makes things so much easier and faster to have a good probe.  There are many out there to choose from.  I first used a cheap probe that got me by, but was difficult to use.  I then bought the Garret Pro-pointer.  This probe is by far the best stand alone probe on the market.  It has a depth of about two inches, is relatively small, light weight and comes with a great belt holster.  Although it is one of the more expensive stand alone probes out there I would highly recommend this for the person just starting out or someone who has been detecting for years.  I would not waste my money with other stand alone probes.

I keep using the term "stand alone" probe and some might be wondering what exactly I mean by this.  Probes like the Garrett Pro-pointer can be used by itself for anything from metal detecting to looking for small metal objects like screws dropped into the carpet.  I eventually purchased and started using a probe called the Sun Ray X-1 Target Probe.  The X-1 goes in line between your coil of your detector and the detectors electronics.  It actually uses the detector to "probe" the hole you just dug for the target.  What makes this probe so nice is that this allows you to still see the target identification while in the hole.  When using a stand alone probe like the Garrett, you have no way of knowing what the probe is hitting on until it is out of the ground.  With the X-! you can still see exactly what the probe is pointing towards.  Although the X-1 is about twice the price the Garrett I would recommend this probe to anyone that is buying a higher end detector that is compatible with it.

The last two pieces of equipment I use that deserve to be pointed out are my headphones and digger.  The headphones that I use are the Sun Ray Pro Gold.  They are extremely comfortable and very durable.  Although you want to get a good quality set of headphones, I don't think that the brand is that important.  Just find a pair that is comfortable and works for your detector.  The digger that I use is the Lesche Model 85 made by Predator Tools.  I will freely admit that it is kind of pricey for a digger however after using several different gardening diggers bought from Lowes, Wal-Mart and various other big stores, the Lesche digger is worth every penny.  It cuts through the ground so much easier and makes a cleaner plug.

Although there are other pieces of equipment that I use while metal detecting these are the main items.  Hopefully someone will find this helpful and interesting.

New content on the blog

I have decided to add our metal detecting exploits to my blog entries.  At first I was going to keep this site for fishing, kayaking, hiking, etc; however, Jordan and I both love getting out there and metal detecting almost as much as we do fishing and kayaking.  I will also do some reviews on my equipment, which hopefully others will find useful.

Expect to see many new posts featuring this new topic!

Beaver Dam Creek

The weather around here has been great and we had a very mild winter. Jordan and I finally got the opportunity to get out and do some fishing this past weekend. It was the first time out this year for me however Jordan has been practically living on the creeks and rivers like normal.

I had wanted to hit Watauga for some wade fishing but unfortunately TVA was generating. We decided to head towards VA a little ways and try out Beaver Dam Creek. It has been quite some time since I had been there.

We started out the day at Backbone Rock.  We didn't have that much success there as only one trout was caught.  I did manage to slip while trying to get up the bank and twist my ankle pretty good.  Luckily my waders and the cold water kept everything from swelling for the remainder of the day.  Unfortunately I would hate life once I got home.  Gotta love getting older.

We stopped at a few places on the way back up stream and caught a few more trout.  Here is a shot of our big fish for the day caught by myself as normal.  I not only caught the big fish for the day but also out caught Jordan by 4:1.  I guess he was just trying to let me catch up for all the fishing I had missed out on this year.

This was one of the better looking browns I had seen in quite some time and also was a non-stocked fish.  It was probably somewhere around 14 or so inches.  For a small creek like we were on I will take it.

Unfortunately the water was up from recent rains and my ankle was killing me so we didn't get to fish as much as I wanted to.  Hopefully we will get to give it another shot before the summer is over.  I want to get a good bit of fishing in this summer as it is Jordan's last before heading off to college in the fall.

Be sure to check back as I plan to put up some reviews on a few things, one of which being the Trout Magnets by Leland's Lures.  I purchased one of the kits and plan to try them out this weekend.

First trip down Watauga for August (and short review for Berkley Gulp Baits)

It's been a while since Jordan and I have had a chance to get onto the water.  Due to some car trouble we have lost our vehicle we use to transport the kayaks to and from the river so it's been hard getting trips arranged.  We did manage to get out this past weekend for a short trip.

Jordan invited his friend Chris along for the trip and we let him use the Vertex Flex kayak.  Unfortunately though the kayak suffered a spill while in transit earlier this summer and sustained about a 2 inch gash right along the keel in the very aft part of the kayak.  I thought I had gotten it sealed well enough but after only a few minutes on the water it was apparent that the boat was taking on a good bit of water.  Our ride had already left us so we decided to head on down river and make the best of it.

Jordan being the good friend let Chris use his Kayak instead of the leaking one.  We tried fishing as much as we could however with the amount of water Jordan's kayak was taking on we were having to stop quite often to drain it.

We made the best of it as we could and caught some nice trout on the day.  Jordan was absolutely tearing up the trout while using the Berkley Gulp Baits we had decided to try out.  Even though he spent more time wading the shallows while his kayak was draining than he did actually floating the river he was catching trout left and right.

At our first normal stop where we have caught some nice trout in the past, Jordan managed to land three respectable trout.  I hooked what looked like would have been one of our largest browns on the year but lost it before being able to land it.  I did land several average sized trout.

Jordan was extremely hot though and he continued to out pace me all morning.  We continued on down river, having to stop quite often for Jordan to drain the water from his kayak.  We decided that once we reached the point where Stoney Creek and Watauga River converge we would call in the cavalry and make our retreat from the river.  With several deeper, long stretches down river from that spot we did not want to risk Jordan having to test his kayak's float bladder.

Once at Stoney Creek we made the necessary phone calls, ate our lunch and got back to some fishing while waiting on our ride.  We both caught several average trout from the area and our two largest trout on the day.  Jordan's trout is the one pictured at the top of this post.

Although we had to cut our day short I was very pleased with how the Berkley Gulp Bait performed.  We normally only catch one or two trout the size of the ones we caught this day.  We wound up with a total of five respectable trout.  I am confident that had we been able to continue on down river we would have had much better success.  I am normally a little hesitant to put out my hard earned money on baits and lures that may or may not produce but was very pleased with how these worked out for us.  We had two different colors with us, Smelt and Watermelon, and I plan to pick up some other patterns in the near future.

The Berkley Gulp Bait is definitely a welcomed addition to our tackle boxes.

Here is the track for our trip.

Siam Bridge To Stoney Creek

Night fishing on Boone Lake

It had been a long time since I had done much fishing aside from trout fishing.  As a kid I spent countless nights on the banks of rivers and lakes around Gastonia, NC fishing for catfish with my parents.  I have many fond childhood memories of those nights.  Then while serving in the US Navy during the mid to late 1990s I was stationed in Norfolk, VA.  I was lucky enough to have my sister and brother-in-law living close by.  My brother-in-law and I fished the coastal waters of VA and NC every chance we got.

So in hopes of allowing my own children to create some of those childhood memories of their own, my wife and I decided to plan a night fishing trip with the kids.  We took the three oldest of our children, leaving our youngest with my wife's parents and headed to Boone Lake after I got off of work Friday evening.

The TWRA, Johnson City Parks and Recreation and other donors have built a very nice fishing pier on Boone Lake at Wing Deer Park in Johnson City.  I don,t know the exact length but I would say it is several hundred yards long and runs from the park, under Bristol Highway to the TWRA boat access.  In the center is a very nice and quite large gazeebo.

We got to the lake around 7:00 PM and set up under the bridge.  We fished there for a couple of hours with little success.  Jordan and Colton did catch several bluegill while wondering up and down the pier.  As dark approached, the people that had been fishing in the gazeebo headed out so we decided to move into it.  There was a little rain coming so it all worked out for the best. 

Things didn't pick up until around 10:30 or so.  I wouldn't exactly say that we had a hot night of fishing but did have fun.  We wound up catching one small catfish, about 12 inches long and three striped bass, each about 10 - 12 inches long.  Everyone seemed to have a great time, even Misty, who didn't fish.  I definately think we will have to do it again sometime soon.  It may not be as much fun as kayaking but it was good to get out with most all of our kids. 

⇒ Click here for an album of pictures from the trip. ⇒ Click here for a slideshow of pictures from the trip.

Above the pictures from the trip and a slideshow of those pictures.

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123

Let me start by saying what I was looking for in a camera.  I wanted a camera that would obviously take above average photos, was waterproof, compact, yet buttons were easy to get to with wet cold fingers, had the ability to do video and was not too expensive.  The expensive part was the most critical for me.  There are plenty of cameras out there that I looked at online and in stores that met all of the above but were a little too pricey for me.  Price was such a major concern for me due to the fact that where this camera will be primarily used there is a better than average chance of it getting lost at the bottom of a river or lake.  I would much rather spend a little less on a camera and have to replace it due to loss than have to replace one that cost several hundred dollars.

That being said so far this camera has worked out very well for me.  The camera in question is the Kodak Easyshare Sport C123.  This camera was bought for me as a birthday present from my wife so that I could have a camera other than my cell phone while kayaking, fishing and doing whatever else we might do while outdoors. 

The camera came in the package with a standard wrist strap, USB cable, 2 AA batteries and user manual.  Unfortunately it did not come with a SD card or a floating wrist strap as some did.  I picked up a 4 GB Sandisk SD card for about $12 along with the camera and plan to get one of the floating wrist straps at some point.  Here are some of the specifications for the camera from the Kodak website:

Effective Pixels - 12MP (4026 x 3026)
Zoom - 5X Advanced Digital
Display - 2.4 in. 112K TFT color LCD
Dimensions - 3.6W x 2.6H x 1.2D
Weight - 6.2 oz with batteries and SD card

You can find the full specifications on the Kodak site at the link above.

The first time the camera was used was by my wife on our kayaking trip last week.  We were on the water for about 6 - 7 hours and over 180 pictures were taken.  The camera performed remarkably with no problems at all.  The pictures turned out great and some can be seen in my Kayaking Photo Album.  I was very impressed with how well the camera took action photos.  Several pictures my wife took of Jordan fly fishing caught the rod in motion with no blur or anything.  She also snapped a picture of some geese taking flight that looked like they just froze in midair. 

The camera buttons were very easy to get to even with my larger hands.  There are not a lot of buttons on the camera to push which is a bonus in my opinion, especially how this camera is used.  It was easy to use and the menus were not over loaded with too many features to make them hard to get around in. 

The LCD stayed clear all day even with the heat of the sun and cold temperatures of the water.  It was also very easy to make out the display in the glare of the sun.  I was very impressed by this as most electronics like cell phones and such are next to impossible to read in the glaring sun.

The camera didn't spend a huge amount of time in the water but it was splashed several times and hanging from my wife's PFD it was submersed a few times when she got out of the kayak.  I also intentionally dipped it a couple of times just to see how it would react.  It never appeared to get any water or condensation into the camera itself.

One thing of note that the camera does that I have yet to try out is take underwater pictures.  There is a mode just for this.  I have read a few things online about this mode that says it works quite well.  Although we never used this option it does take pictures looking into the water quite well for not having a polarized lens. 

The only draw back that I found to the camera was the battery life.  As I said earlier the trip lasted about 6 - 7 hours and a little over 180 pictures were taken.  By the end the battery meter was showing half way.  this was with turning the camera off and on quite often.  I am sure that uses quite a bit of battery life so I will have to try it some time with just leaving it on the entire trip.

Overall I am very pleased with this camera.  At a price of about $70 it is well worth every penny.  There are better out there I am sure but at a much higher cost.  I would highly recommend this camera to anyone who is looking for one with uses much like my own.

Trip down for my birthday

My wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday so I told her that all I wanted was two things.  The first was a new waterproof camera to take kayaking with me and for her to go down with me and Jordan.  So Saturday morning we set out from our normal put in below Siam Bridge.  Jordan and I were doing a little fishing as normal and Misty was was just there to enjoy the float and take some pictures with my new camera.

We started out slow letting her get used to the kayak.  She had only been in the kayak once before at Watauga Lake and that was only for a few minutes.  She was nervous but settled in fairly quickly.

We made most of our normal stops to do some fishing and to let Misty put her feet on dry land a little.  For some reason I wasn't catching any trout at all.  In fact I didn't start catching any until about half way through the trip.  That was alright though because it gave me a little more time to spend helping Misty get used to the water and Jordan was catching plenty for the both of us.

I will say this about Jordan.  He has been using his fly rod a lot while we float the river here lately and has gotten very good with it.  It's impressive to see how good he has gotten in such a short amount of time.  That boy loves fishing!

We stopped about half way at Hunter Bridge for a quick lunch.  Jordan and I took a quick dip in the water to cool off.  We tried to get Misty to get in but she complained about it being being too cold.  That's a woman for ya!

We had a great day and I think Misty really enjoyed it.  I was glad that she decided to go down with us.  I had been trying to get her to go with us since we first started last summer.  She had a lot of fun with my new camera also.  She wound up taking over 180 pictures with it.  I will have to do a write up on the camera later on.

Overall Misty did real well on her first trip down Watauga River.  She never dumped the kayak a single time.  I can't wait until the next time she decides to make a float with us.  I might even have to get her fishing license and make her start fishing some. 

We finished up the trip getting out at the bridge in lover's lane.  It was a wonderful day on the water and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present.

Siam Bridge To Lovers Lane