This Community Is Dedicated To Magnet Fishing, And Here Are 35 Things They Found Underwater That Shouldn’t Have Been There

You’re standing on a wooden dock next to a lake. It’s calm. Serene. The wind’s ruffling your hair, and you can’t help but think that, in this very moment, you’re completely at peace. That’s when you notice somebody standing by the muddy lakeside, dragging a massive suit of rusted armor from the water. There’s potentially treasure right under your very nose, and you weren’t even aware of it! Welcome to the cool world of magnet fishing—something that you probably weren’t aware was even a thing when you got up this morning.

Magnet fishing, also known as magnetic fishing, is exactly what it sounds like: it’s fishing for cool finds using incredibly strong magnets. Some of the most incredible magnet fishing finds end up being shared on the r/magnetfishing subreddit, an online community for enthusiasts from all around the world.

We’re sharing some of their very best pics to show you just how amazing the hobby can really be. Scroll down, upvote your fave treasures, and let us know what you think about the entire thing in the comments, dear Pandas. Are any of you magnet fishers in secret? Tell us all about what drew you to the hobby! We’d absolutely love to hear your tale.

The subreddit's one and only moderator, redditor u/Syberz, was kind enough to answer our question about the community, as well as their passion for magnet fishing. They also revealed to us what their biggest find was! "I'm a bit of a history nerd and I like 'old things.' Having moved to Germany in an area where there was some WW2 combat, I thought that it would be really fun to discover some relics. I initially looked into metal detecting, but a decent setup was above my budget, but while searching that I came across videos of people magnet fishing and I got hooked (pun intended). I was extremely lucky, the first time that I went out was at a bridge built in 1732 and I found a small .22 Beretta pistol that I handed into the police," they told Bored Panda.

Oh, and a slight warning before we start, Pandas: be sure to read up on your country’s laws when it comes to fishing with magnets. There are permits you might need to get! Meanwhile, the r/magnetfishing community has put together a great FAQ, so you should definitely check it out if the hobby has piqued your interest. You probably won't get rich with this hobby, but it's fun!