Magnet Fisher of the Month: Scott Hargood

Name: Scott Hargood 

Youtube Channel: Crazy Magnet Family Hargood 

Scott Hargood agreed to speak with us about his magnet fishing adventures and it was truly inspiring, to say the least. Early 2018, Scott grew curious of magnet fishing when he came across videos of people pulling fascinating items from the canals. Scott and his family took the plunge – they bought a small fishing magnet, ventured the canals of Black Country Birmingham and couldn’t get enough of it. Scott and one of his children have autism and he has desperately tried to find a hobby that can get the children away from the screen and into the outdoors. Scott reported that, not only has magnet fishing got him and the family out of the house, but that it has given the children new-found confidence that they didn’t realise they had!

After introducing magnet fishing to the children, the rush of finding weird and wonderful items has been too much to give up and in the 12 months, they have found knives, swords, sawn off shotguns and just about every dream-find you can imagine! How do they do it? Let’s ask them.

The Magnets and Equipment

Scott has a number of magnets in his arsenal and is looking to expand his collection further. He uses a 200kg double sided neodymium magnet and a 500kg single sided neodymium magnet. Scott says the double sided is fantastic for dragging items and the single sided is great for winching items from the canal edge. To further increase his chances, a home made grapple made by his friend is the final piece to Scott’s kit of magnet fishing essentials. 

The Clean Up Job

Scott lives by the unwritten rule of magnet fishing; always clean up the mess! He brings black bin bags and a large bucket which gives him the peace of mind that he’s having a positive effect on the ecosystem.

Finds of Fame

The Best:
Scott and the family have had a lifetime’s worth of amazing finds which includes a sawn off shotgun, swords & knives, a safe and many more. Scott actually found a bike which he reunited with its long lost owner – this was his self proclaimed good deed of the day. To top this, Scott and his family were magnet fishing and they came across a safe with stolen valuables inside. After much towing and throwing, they retrieved it to dry land and found items that were traceable – and this is exactly what they did. They traced the items back to their original owners and found the safe was stolen over 4 years ago in a robbery. When the original owner saw the contents again they were absolutely awestruck. 

The Worst:

Scott claims his worst magnet fishing find is trolleys which is incredibly common amongst the magnet fishing community as they are dumped in canals and lakesides by vandals. Scott is very eco-friendly and trades everything in with the local scrapman, however trolleys can sometimes be quite difficult as they are considered private property. Instead, these will have to be returned to the local supermarket and they will send it back to their supplier. 

The dream:

We asked Scott what his dream magnet fishing find would be and he says it would be absolutely incredible if he uncovered a safe with old war hero medals and other historical items of significance. The dream would be to reunite the owner with these treasured items or to donate to a local museum for the whole community to enjoy.

Safety
As we all know, safety is the number one priority but even more so when there are children on the scene. Scott brings strong protective gloves to avoid any likelihood of anyone being injured by sharp foreign objects. Further to this, Scott brings a life jacket with him and the family when magnet fishing just to be on the safe side. 

Top Tips

It is safe to say that Scott and his family are veterans at magnet fishing, they have been everywhere you can imagine and they have tried and tested routines that yield the best results. Scott says location is key and he finds all of his best items next to, or underneath, bridges. 

Want to know more about Scott and his family?

You can follow their adventures at the social links below.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYaCxVp0zjqNVzeY_OcQiGw