Fishing is an activity that fathers and sons have bonded over for generations.
Now one pair is upending this timeless American tradition.
And a father and son fishing pulled in one frightening catch that left the police speechless.
Fishermen find live World War II ordnance and stolen motorcycle while magnet fishing
Xan Dulyea-Lowing and his father, Cal Lowing, put a new spin on the aged old father-son fishing trip.
Instead of trying to reel in a fish, they’re hoping to find treasure lurking beneath the surface of ponds and lakes.
Magnet fishing can reel in objects hidden underneath the water with powerful neodymium magnets and a synthetic rope.
Kits start at less than $200 and allow magnet fishermen to go on their own treasure hunts.
Dulyea-Lowing drags his magnet across the Grand River in Grand Rapids, Michigan hoping to find something good.
“You could spend thirty seconds pulling it in or you could spend two minutes,” Dulyea-Lowing said. “The slower you are, the better chance.”
He and his dad found an unexploded World War II artillery shell that required the bomb squad to show up.
“The thrill,” Lowing explained. “You never know what you’re going to get.”
Dulyea-Lowing and a buddy discovered something so heavy that their magnet wasn’t strong enough to pull in last year.
“We tried pulling and pulling,” Dulyea-Lowing stated.
They returned with his dad, a dive team, and more magnet fishermen two months later to try and retrieve the heavy object from the Grand River.
Out from the river came a motorcycle from the 1970s.
They discovered that it was stolen and turned it over to the police.
Magnet fishing has turned into a side business for the father-son duo
Dulyea-Lowing and his dad have been able to make thousands of dollars selling their hauls from magnet fishing for scrap metal.
The father-son duo has recovered over 200 electric scooters from a single river on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Dulyea-Lowing said two of his favorite catches were an 1829 Jukar Spain black powder pistol and a live rocket from World War II.
“You want that piece telling you the history of what it was involved in,” Dulyea-Lowing remarked.
The bomb squad came out to dispose of the rocket after they contacted the police.
“You name it, we found it,” Dulyea-Lowing said. “We’re cleaning out that water. If [you] swim in it, [you] aren’t getting cut on that rebar.”
He looks at it as a way to also help the environment by removing and recycling his finds.
“We basically steal from Mother Nature,” Lowing said. “We take anything that has been thrown in the water, and get that back out and recycle it.”
They participated in an Earth Day cleanup at the Rouge River with other magnet fishermen.
“We’re trying to make the planet better,” Lowing said. “Every little bit of metal in the water is bad for the wildlife, so we’re pulling it out.”
Magnet fishermen never know if they’re going to haul in an old wrench or an ancient relic.
Read All About It will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
