Fisherman's stunning $1000 find in Melbourne lake: 'Big shock'
A Melbourne fisherman has made an unbelievable discovery at the bottom of a lake leaving him and local police shocked.
Jake Robson, a magnet fishing hobbyist, was at the Edwardes Park Lake in Reservoir north of the city on Saturday, when he stumbled upon a "goldmine", reeling in as many as 400 rounds of illegal ammunition.
Mr Robson said the find was a "really big shock" and was a far cry from his usual metal scraps and shopping trolleys. "Today's been a weird day," he said in a video shared on his YouTube channel after unveiling the bag of bullets.
The magnet fisherman, who calls himself The Unfiltered Fisherman on YouTube, shared the discovery online and estimated its worth to be around $10,000. However, it's likely far less with one officer who attended the scene suggesting there was "a grand worth of ammo".
In the video, his friend Chris is seen reeling in a black plastic bag, but the pair grew curious and proceeded to open it. Inside four plastic bags were multiple bullets wrapped up in a weighted vest. The men guessed it was used to weigh them down and keep them from resurfacing.
Shock discovery: 'No words'
Chris said there were "no words" to describe what he was feeling after finding the ammunition, particularly because guns are banned in Australia, unlike in America. "You see it in videos, people in America pulling 'em out but here it's completely different because guns are banned," he said." You can't get guns easily, or at all, and I just got a bag full, four plastic bags, and inside that, you have a bulletproof vest and a sh*t load of bullets."
It’s not the first time Mr Robson’s magnet fishing equipment has picked up something different. In the past he has found unidentified drugs, a cash register, commercial cigarette cabinets and what he believed to be a CCTV hard drive, he claims.
As their fishing adventure continued, they were shocked to discover more. But this time they pulled up a bunch of shotgun shells. "More shotgun bullets. Lots of 'em. They aren't used," Mr Robson is heard saying in the video. They eventually call the police who attended the scene.
"(The police) were shocked, they said it was a first … (they’d never) been called out to a park to retrieve bullets from a creek," Mr Robson said, the Herald Sun reported. "You don't think you’ll pull out 200 rounds of bullets in one bag and then another 200 in another bag. What are you led to believe, when they’re thrown in the water? Who knows what else is in there?"
The fisherman told the publication he saw some people "hovering" as he continued pulling bullets up out of the water. He claimed some were asking questions, which he thought was "weird". He also claimed one man "sat in the car and watched me for two hours".
Victoria Police confirmed to Yahoo News officers were called to Leamington Street, in Reservoir on Saturday afternoon. "A shopping bag containing ammunition was located by a member of the public. Police took the bag and are making further enquiries as to its ownership," a spokesperson said.
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