Magnet fishing outing turns tense after police tell crew to back away slowly

The outing flipped from casual casting to police caution the moment the magnet came up with something that did not look like harmless scrap, and the crew was told to back away slowly. That is the point where magnet fishing stops being a hobby story and becomes a safety call, because the right move is no longer to haul harder but to stop, leave the object where it is, and let authorities decide what it is.

The clearest rule is simple: if the find could be UXO, a weapon, a shell, or anything unstable, do not touch it. The Canadian Department of National Defence says suspected UXO should be treated as explosive and dangerous, and people should not try to bring it ashore or onboard. Its guidance is to tie off the line if possible, note the location, and call 9-1-1 or local police. The U.S. Coast Guard’s America’s Waterway Watch program gives the same basic instruction for suspicious activity on waterways, directing the public to report it to the Coast Guard or other law enforcement.

That caution is not theoretical. In June 2024, a magnet fisherman in South Bend, Indiana, pulled an old warhead from the St. Joseph River, triggering a response from the South Bend Police Bomb Squad and closing Angela Boulevard over the river. In March 2024, Sean Martell pulled an old but live mortar from Boston’s Charles River, and Josh Parker recovered a heavily deteriorated bazooka round, both of which brought out bomb-squad-style handling. Lincolnshire Police has recorded 16 magnet-fishing incidents since 2022, including six involving weapons or suspected explosives and four that required bomb squad attendance.

The hobby itself took off in Europe in the early 2000s and grew more visible through social media and YouTube, but the same water that hides rusted tools and debris can also hold objects that demand a perimeter. Canal & River Trust warns that removing items from canals can be dangerous without the right support, and the Broads Authority says magnet fishing on private land in its area requires the landowner’s permission. Those rules matter most when the find is not just odd but potentially live.

When a crew hears back away slowly, the best read is not drama but instruction. The magnet may have found history, trash, or a hazard, but the next move belongs to the police, not the pull.