Magnet fishing
searching outdoor waters for ferromagnetic objects using a magnet tied to a rope
Magnet fishing, also called magnetic fishing, is searching in outdoor waters for ferromagnetic objects available to pull with a strong neodymium magnet.
Practitioners
In English, people who practice magnet fishing may be called magnetfishers or magneteers.
It is believed that magnet fishing was initially started by boaters using magnets to recover fallen keys from the water. Magnet fishing as a hobby began to take off in the early 2000s starting in Europe.
Objects recovered
Magnet fishing can recover metal debris such as discarded bicycles, guns, safes, bombs, grenades, coins, and car tire rims from bodies of water, but many who engage in the hobby hope to find rare and valuable items as well.
Tools
Magnet fishing is typically done with a strong neodymium magnet secured to a durable rope between 15 and 30 meters (50–100 ft), and sometimes a grappling hook as a supplement to the magnet. It is recommended that magnet fishers use protective gloves to protect their hands from any sharp objects they may pull up with their magnet.
Potential harms
Some magnet fishers have retrieved dangerous objects, including loaded guns, unexploded ordnance, and sharp pieces of metal.
Neodymium magnets are powerful and can interfere with pacemakers, posing a health risk; they can also damage other electronic devices. Fingers can get crushed between the magnet and a piece of metal, potentially causing serious bodily harm.
“Magnet fishing” enters the record as searching outdoor waters for ferromagnetic objects using a magnet tied to a rope. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Magnet, fishing and searching can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q30589378. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Magnet fishing” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.