I live near an old channel of the Yuba River near the mother lode. I was thinking of going up the left bank and seeing if I could find gold nuggets...
>>I live near an old channel of the Yuba River near the mother lode. I was thinking of going up the left bank and seeing if I could find gold nuggets...
You can with the right gear. There’s gold in there. The right gear may be expensive, but with research and time you’ll probably find some nice gold bits. You might get better payback with gold panning / sluicing though. Give it a shot; it’s great fun.
look for what might be old tailing piles- the old timers got a lot of gold- but their methods were really not very good, and they lost a lot of gold out of their cruder sluices- Inside bends in rivers are good places too- as are tree roots near a river=- large boulders are good hiding spots for gold too- usually on the downstream side-
You can join GPAA and get a book of all their gold claims too, and can stay for free once you are a member-
https://www.goldprospectors.org/
They have a ton of proven places to sluice or pan- I believe they have claims on the Yuba too-
Check out magnet fishing on Youtube. You won't find coins because they're non magnetic but you will likely fine some other real cool stuff.