My Boss, Dwayne, is a long time resident of the Tampa area and his Dad told him of an old beach that they used to go to back in the 50's. It has been deserted for years and the land is privately owned so access from land was not an option. This meant a boat trip in Tampa Bay in order to gain access. He had a friend that had a boat in the water and Sunday turned out to be the perfect day. Mid 40's over night warming to the mid 60's during the day with barely any wind. The beach area was supposed to be extremely shallow so a flat's boat was in order to get close enough. Water temp's are in the 50's so I brought rubber boots hoping that the water wouldn't top them and freeze my feet.
After a quick boat loading and double check to make sure we had everything, we were off for a 30 min. boat ride to the "supposed" area. We were kind of on a recon mission as he wasn't quite sure how to get there from the water. Dewayne had been by it on land, that's when he found the chain link fencing and no easy access.
When we found the area that seems most likely to be "the" place, we couldn't get the boat quite close enough for the rubber boots to be effective. I had brought my diving boots so I put those on and hoped for the best. When I hit the water we were still about 50 yards out from the beach and the water was just barely knee high. Surprisingly, the water was "brisk" but not intolerable. I dragged the boat as close as I could get it, about 30 yards off shore, and we fired up out detectors to see what may be found. Even though beach access was limited it was easy to see that there had been plenty of recent activity in the area. .25cal. and 9mm shell casings were the first items dug. Then came the beer tops, lead sinkers, fire pit and other modern junk. There were also dead catfish,a horseshoe crab and Sting Ray that someone had obviously caught while fishing and left onshore to die.
Continued..........
[attachment 185052 Headedout.jpg]
The dock is now behind us as we head out into the open water of Tampa Bay !
[attachment 185053 Manateearea..jpg]
We are not far from the warm water outflow from the local power plant. Gotta be on the watch for the Manatees.
[attachment 185054 100_0618.JPG]
Could this be the spot? Looks promising!
[attachment 185055 Givemeahint..jpg]
Looking for something that tells me that this is the place!
[attachment 185056 Loooooking.jpg]
Still looooooking......
[attachment 185057 Notsosureanymore.....jpg]
After an hour of digging every signal, which really wasn't the number I was looking for, I'm not sold that we are in the right place.
After a quick boat loading and double check to make sure we had everything, we were off for a 30 min. boat ride to the "supposed" area. We were kind of on a recon mission as he wasn't quite sure how to get there from the water. Dewayne had been by it on land, that's when he found the chain link fencing and no easy access.
When we found the area that seems most likely to be "the" place, we couldn't get the boat quite close enough for the rubber boots to be effective. I had brought my diving boots so I put those on and hoped for the best. When I hit the water we were still about 50 yards out from the beach and the water was just barely knee high. Surprisingly, the water was "brisk" but not intolerable. I dragged the boat as close as I could get it, about 30 yards off shore, and we fired up out detectors to see what may be found. Even though beach access was limited it was easy to see that there had been plenty of recent activity in the area. .25cal. and 9mm shell casings were the first items dug. Then came the beer tops, lead sinkers, fire pit and other modern junk. There were also dead catfish,a horseshoe crab and Sting Ray that someone had obviously caught while fishing and left onshore to die.
Continued..........
[attachment 185052 Headedout.jpg]
The dock is now behind us as we head out into the open water of Tampa Bay !
[attachment 185053 Manateearea..jpg]
We are not far from the warm water outflow from the local power plant. Gotta be on the watch for the Manatees.
[attachment 185054 100_0618.JPG]
Could this be the spot? Looks promising!
[attachment 185055 Givemeahint..jpg]
Looking for something that tells me that this is the place!
[attachment 185056 Loooooking.jpg]
Still looooooking......
[attachment 185057 Notsosureanymore.....jpg]
After an hour of digging every signal, which really wasn't the number I was looking for, I'm not sold that we are in the right place.