Lake Superior Agate Hunters

[Bowfin]

Let's see your best Lake Superior Agate finds. Attached are a couple my family found in a secret spot in the Duluth area.

[DARK30]

Nice! I think they call that a "root beer"

Here are my two best...

I was offered $800 cash at the Moose Lake show for the pair...but I couldn't part with my treasure

[Far-I]

whats the moose lake show all about?

[Bowfin]

The agate show in Moose Lake is held in mid-July. Rock hounds from all over gather. There are folks displaying and selling agates, rocks and such in the school and parking lot. There is usually a craft show in the park and the agate stampede on main street where a gravel truck spreads a load of gravel with agates and quarters mixed in it - gun goes off and people search for them.

[art321]

We haven't had much luck on the shores of Superior. Just some small ones and pieces is all. Any suggestions for a better hunt? No specifics needed, just generalities. We're fairly new at this stuff and enjoy it. We've got a tumbler and that is fun too. Here is our best one that my wife found up there.

It's about 1.75" long and 1.5" wide.

[Bowfin]

The shores of Superior get picked over fairly quick - best time to pick the shore is after a storm has washed new ones on the shore.

We've had our best luck in gravel pits. Especially those "out of the way" pits which get overlooked.

[hydro]

The ballast gravel used on roofs often contains all sorts of agates, particularly from the pit in Prescott, WI. Most likely roofs in the north shore area would be a real gold mine!

If you know any roofers they are good contacts.

[DARK30]

Anywhere you find gravel. The landscaping rock used around many buildings and parking lots etc is a good place to find tumblers. The nicer ones are found in gravel pits, creek and river beds, construction sites, and agricultural fields.

Its tough to get permission in most pits to hunt agates but getting the jump on um before they go through the machinery is best. Creek beds offer great opportunity and your not trespassing as long as your feet are wet. Depending on the area, construction equipment will unearth tons of rock and gravel but this is all about timing. Lots of farm fields have exposed gravel in the spring after a good rain.

The snow is melting

[updecreek]

i like rock!

best rock

fish tank

[Slowhand]

Creek beds offer great opportunity and your not trespassing as long as your feet are wet.

Rules of waterway rights are confusing. I was told in the past if your touching the creekbed, either in 5" or 5' of water your trespassing. If its navagitable then its not trespassing. Dark I hope your right cause that opens up alot of waters.

[DARK30]

I have a creek in my backyard. One time I noticed a guy parked by the bridge and he was down in the creek doing something with a net. I went to see what he was doing.

Turns out he's with the DNR and sampling minnows...says he gets yelled at all the time that he's trespassing but he's not.

I had the same thing happen when setting mionnow traps one time. The guy said he's gonna go call the sheriff and the game warden...I told him to go ahead I'll be here.

I'm sure there is some fine print somewhere that could be unearthed and re-examined but for now... "Have hip boots, will travel"

[Slowhand]

Thanks for the explain. I like the "have hip boots, will travel" . Just dont go too far back into them creeks, or someone might accuse you of having a "purty mouff".

[Ferny]

That's funny, I called the MNDNR a few years ago after some land sold. I used to wade down the creek to fish the lake. They said it is navigable only if you can get a canoe through! In my case I was trespassing since it was only inches deep and I lost a good wading spot!

On a brighter note I am going to try baking a handful of agates today in mineral oil (Baby Oil???) It's the only mineral oil I could find. Is this what you use? Since our snow is almost all gone I was going to walk some fields with my boy to look for 2009 treasures! Plenty of agates on the dirt roads just out of the metro!

Later,

Ferny.

[DARK30]

Different DNR guys must tell different stories I guess. I'd say go walk your creek.

Mineral oil can be found at your favorite drugstore. I don't think its the same as baby oil but could be wrong. Make sure you clean all the "deposits" off your stone first. I use "sunnyside" acid cut 50/50. You'll find that in the paint section of hardware.

Warming the stone really allows the oil to penetrate but don't get um too hot because they can discolor or possibly crack.

[Ace]

If the local hardware store has a 'farm' section a lot of times they sell mineral oil in about a pint bottle as well...Good laxative/lube for the livestock, so I hear:-)

[minnowdangler71]

whats this oiling thing about, never heard of it. is it after you polish it, or leave it natural then oil them? thanks for info

[DARK30]

If your lucky enough to put the grab on a large well banded agate, you don't polish it. They are worth more to a collector as is. Sometimes they will be "face polished" but thats not like tumbling it.

Clean the stone with acid to remove unwanted mineral deposits. Soak the stone in mineral oil and wipe off excess. You can heat the stone in the oven at around 250 and baste it a little with oil. Wipe off the stone and will have a shine but not like polished. If you go look for "lake superior agates" on HSOList, you'll see. Also check out "agates r us"...they have some nice ones on there.

[minnowdangler71]

thanks for the info, my daughter has become a real rock fanatic

[bonefish]

Trespassing and waterway laws differ by state, so depending where you are, the definition can be quite different. I used to spend alot of time fishing small trout streams throught WI so I'm familiar with the process. In WI the law is that you are not trespassing if your feet are wet in a navigable stream. And, in WI a navigable stream is any water that can float a canoe at least 1 day/year. Some states allow you to be anywhere below the "high water mark" which could actually be on shore for much of the year. I think Minnesota law is very similar to WI, but I'm not sure how MN defines the word Navigable.

[updecreek]

This water law in mn brings me back to last year on a sand bar

with banjos playing and guns a shooting......be safe out there and listen to the music.

Back to the agates i got a nice 8.5 oz last weekend.

[Bowfin]

You folks "down south" finding agates in February make me jealous. We are still socked in with snow up north. Wont be able to pick rocks for awhile up here.

[DARK30]

Well we (had) a few nice enough days to go pillaging ....now its back to waiting again.