Detecting is Like Fishing

This seems nonsensical, but that doesn't make it any less true. Detecting, like fishing, is a game of patience. You can sit on the dock and make cast after cast without any luck; then a fish strikes. Then another. And another. It seems like every time you cast your line you're reeling in another one. And then, as quickly as it started, it stops. You might still hook a straggler now and then, but the bulk of your catch came from that one short period when you couldn't miss.

That makes sense for fishing. Fish are living creatures. They swim in and out of an area. They can be hungry one minute and full when then finish feeding. They react differently to varied conditions. Coins and relics, on the other hand, are inanimate objects. Time of day or cloud cover shouldn't make a difference.

And yet sometimes it does. I remember one time we were hunting a permission up north. We got there early and hunted for a good three or four hours with no luck. A clad coin here, a newer Matchbox car there, nothing of substance to speak of. Then Bill found a largie - and he found it in an area we had all gone over several times. Chris found one minutes later. Then I did. Then Bill dug a Connecticut Copper. In a matter of an hour or so, we had 8 large cents as well as some Indians, a couple of Mercs and one Buffalo nickle. Then the fish stopped hitting. We stayed there until dark, but all of our good finds came from that one lunchtime feeding.

Not all days are like that. Some are slow and steady and on others we get skunked, but even that can be said about fishing. Still, there have been too many days like that one where the majority of the finds have come during one or two feeding frenzies to deny it. Metal detecting is like fishing. And if the fish aren't biting, keep casting. They have to get hungry some time.