Magnet Fishing.

[whiplash]

Seems to be the latest hobby.
OH has just ordered one.

[K-T]

What? That game we played when we were kids where you had magnets on strings and caught cardboard fish with paperclips on their noses??

[said]

What? That game we played when we were kids where you had magnets on strings and caught cardboard fish with paperclips on their noses??

Yeah! But bigger fish! Went with my mate around Marine Lake for a laugh when he decided he wanted to have a go. He got endless flakes of metal, 8p in two pence pieces, a few nails, a drill bit, and a massive long heavy piece of the blue guard rail that someone had thrown into the lake. We had a good laugh though and constantly brought up something metal. Thirsty work that - had to go to the pub after!

[Alikado]

What? That game we played when we were kids where you had magnets on strings and caught cardboard fish with paperclips on their noses??

This is for big boys.

[said]

This is for big boys.

Too Right! Some of that stuff is heavy and tangled in weeds. Guy fishing the Manchester Canal found light stuff though - drug needles, gas cylinders, knives and a few coins.

[Alikado]

Too Right! Some of that stuff is heavy and tangled in weeds. Guy fishing the Manchester Canal found light stuff though - drug needles, gas cylinders, knives and a few coins.

Plenty of guns and bombs as well!

[Toodles McGinty]

Plenty of guns and bombs as well!

Yep, the authorities have warned against magnet fishing for the sheer amount of ordnance being dragged up. Especially grenades.

[said]

Seems to be the latest hobby.
OH has just ordered one.

Which type and strength magnet has OH ordered?

[said]

Yep, the authorities have warned against magnet fishing for the sheer amount of ordnance being dragged up. Especially grenades.

Well, you will be pleased to know that I never found anything like that in the Marine Lake

Anyway - if anyone is going to find any ordnance, surely it is safer being found with magnets than having a darned great excavator slam down on it - such as WW2 bombs found while building housing projects?

[Toodles McGinty]

Well, you will be pleased to know that I never found anything like that in the Marine Lake

Anyway - if anyone is going to find any ordnance, surely it is safer being found with magnets than having a darned great excavator slam down on it - such as WW2 bombs found while building housing projects?

I suppose that depends on whether or not you're the one being blown to bits because you've chucked a heavy magnet into a canal. Although, your family might be delighted at the eventual Darwin Award.

I can see how the prospect of finding a Nazi dagger or two is exciting, as I've seen on a couple of news items. Not so sure about dragging up a thousand bike frames for every bit of rusty memorabilia though.

[Little Londoner]

I can see how the prospect of finding a Nazi dagger or two is exciting, as I've seen on a couple of news items. Not so sure about dragging up a thousand bike frames for every bit of rusty memorabilia though.

If our resident Europhile road safety cycling tree hugger was strapped to the bike frame with a haversack full of bricks on his back I would think that a very worthwhile experience. But that's what dreams are made of and rarely come to fruition.

[said]

I suppose that depends on whether or not you're the one being blown to bits because you've chucked a heavy magnet into a canal. Although, your family might be delighted at the eventual Darwin Award.

I can see how the prospect of finding a Nazi dagger or two is exciting, as I've seen on a couple of news items. Not so sure about dragging up a thousand bike frames for every bit of rusty memorabilia though.

Oh, very funny!
According to utube, there are those who make a business out of it. Old bikes, ticket machines, pipes, etc., are collected and sold for scrap. These people have some of the strongest magnets set in an array and they have to have a mechanical pulley to pull heavy items out of the water. Obviously some of that is staged for the web site. My mate has done some of the canals locally and apart from old canal boat parts and some batteries, an odd spanner or two, very little else.

They do not appear to have found any bombs though - but there are reputed to be quite a lot around:
Looks like the magnet we use should be wrapped in cotton wool for safety.

Some 15,000 devices, including grenades, were removed from construction sites between 2006 and 2009, according to the Construction Industry Research and Information Association.
And five per cent were live, which is equivalent to roughly 250 devices a year.

[AdmiralAckbar]

Magnet Fishing ???

can't see the attraction myself ...

[said]

Magnet Fishing ???

can't see the attraction myself ...

Just as I thought - you have no magnetic attraction to the opposite sex!

[Toodles McGinty]

Just as I thought - you have no magnetic attraction to the opposite sex!

Trust me on this: if you introduce the subject of 'magnet fishing' to any woman, attraction is not what she'll feel.

It has a whiff of 'anorak' about it that will destroy pheromones at 50 yards.

On a par with regular fishing or trainspotting. Instant eye glaze.

Sorry.