For light dredging I use a "shrimp gun". Have done as well with it sometimes as a four inch dredge. Works best when you have areas of bedrock showing with cracks and crevaces holding gravels. Last year when ALL the dry creeks in AZ. were flowing with water I was running around hitting many of them with my "shrimp gun" Some people saw me doing it and wanted them so I ordered a bunch out of Oregon, (had my secretary go buy a bunch and ship them to me), And it made for a lot of happy gold miners. Since they only cost $28.00.
I have been using them for over 30 years, both for getting my Sand Shrimp for salmon/stealhead fishing as well as gold mining. Even took ne into a real deep drainaige up in remote Idaho while elk hunting because I found a great spot. Just needed my shrimp gun, gold pan, and sniffer bottle. Can get about a 5 gal bucket of material every minute or so.
If you want to know what I mean go to the UTube site and type in Ghost Shrimp or sand shrimp...there are 2 or 3 UTube Vids. I even brought 6 more with me this year so people could get one. Have four left after 1 week of being at Stanton LDMA Camp. I use a low sided plastic meat lug to shoot the material into and then either pan it or sluice the material. Sometimes I shoot right into the sluice.
The shrimp guns I use have a perpendicular handle on them that makes for an easy "Hold". Parts are even available if you where out the inner workings. Learn to suck sand shrimp and you will realize the value of it for gold minin. Good Luck.
desertratdan > Brian ColeFebruary 6, 2011 at 1:46pm
Now that sounds unique! I gotta see one of these, I've gotta tube but haven't been successful with it yet. Maybe just 'cause there was no gold to begin with?
Brian Cole > desertratdanFebruary 6, 2011 at 7:01pm
Go to GPAA forum web site...go to tips and suggestions....find topic "Stream hand gold sucker". Go to page 2 and you will find a guy who put the UTube vid link on his comment. It will show how they work and you will see how I apply it to mining.
The Vac Pac is great for dry land "dredging" /crevicing but I doubt it would be practical for stream use. If I were just starting out I'd look for a good used 2.5 inch highbanker/dredge combo. That gives you alot of possibilities from dredging to high banking to stream sluicing. If you don't like it, you should be able to re-sell it and break close to even. The worst thing you can do is use equipment that won't do the job. It's frustrating and you'll quickly loose interest when the gold doesn't show up.
JOE SMYTH > Douglas SayreJanuary 27, 2011 at 11:05am
Replies
For light dredging I use a "shrimp gun". Have done as well with it sometimes as a four inch dredge. Works best when you have areas of bedrock showing with cracks and crevaces holding gravels. Last year when ALL the dry creeks in AZ. were flowing with water I was running around hitting many of them with my "shrimp gun" Some people saw me doing it and wanted them so I ordered a bunch out of Oregon, (had my secretary go buy a bunch and ship them to me), And it made for a lot of happy gold miners. Since they only cost $28.00.
I have been using them for over 30 years, both for getting my Sand Shrimp for salmon/stealhead fishing as well as gold mining. Even took ne into a real deep drainaige up in remote Idaho while elk hunting because I found a great spot. Just needed my shrimp gun, gold pan, and sniffer bottle. Can get about a 5 gal bucket of material every minute or so.
If you want to know what I mean go to the UTube site and type in Ghost Shrimp or sand shrimp...there are 2 or 3 UTube Vids. I even brought 6 more with me this year so people could get one. Have four left after 1 week of being at Stanton LDMA Camp. I use a low sided plastic meat lug to shoot the material into and then either pan it or sluice the material. Sometimes I shoot right into the sluice.
The shrimp guns I use have a perpendicular handle on them that makes for an easy "Hold". Parts are even available if you where out the inner workings. Learn to suck sand shrimp and you will realize the value of it for gold minin. Good Luck.
Go to GPAA forum web site...go to tips and suggestions....find topic "Stream hand gold sucker". Go to page 2 and you will find a guy who put the UTube vid link on his comment. It will show how they work and you will see how I apply it to mining.