Wisconsin
A ring, a phone or the car keys, dropped off a Wisconsin dock
Madison's lakes, the Dells, Lake Winnebago, the Mississippi at La Crosse and two Great Lakes shores
It can happen on a pier on Lake Mendota, on a pontoon on Lake Delton, or on the dock at the cabin, where there is a gap between every board. For a lost ring, a phone or the car keys the first job is the same. Fix the spot before you move.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewelry recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Wisconsin with a metal detectorist who can search there. Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the place, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
The same goes for engagement rings, Oura rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, chains, Apple Watches, key fobs, metal-framed glasses and hearing aids, in the water or on dry land.
While you are still standing on the dock
Stay where you are. Count the posts or boards between you and the shore, note which side it went over, and guess how far out it landed. Photograph the dock from the shore end, then the shore from where you stand. In a boat, drop a pin on a phone map straight away and note what you were lined up with on land.
Go easy on wading in. Feeling about with your feet could push a small ring further into a soft bottom. For an iPhone, Apple says that if Find My cannot show the current location, you can see the last known location in the Find My app for up to seven days. For an Android phone, Google says Find Hub at android.com/find may still show the last known location, if one is available. Then message us on WhatsApp with the pin, the photos, the time and what the item is.
Areas and towns we cover in Wisconsin
- Milwaukee, Lake Geneva and the Lake Michigan shore
- Green Bay, Door County and the Northwoods
- Madison
- Lake Mendota, Lake Monona and Lake Wingra
- Wisconsin Dells
- La Crosse
- Pettibone Park and Black River Beach
- West Salem and Lake Neshonoc
- Oshkosh
- Menominee Park and Miller's Bay
- Lake Winnebago
- Lake Butte des Morts, Lake Winneconne and Lake Poygan
- Bayfield
- La Pointe and Madeline Island
- Apostle Islands and Meyers Beach
- Washburn
- Sturgeon Bay and Sister Bay
- Minocqua
- Eau Claire
Wisconsin by its water, from Geneva Lake to Chequamegon Bay
The southeast and the north have longer pages of their own.
Kenosha, Geneva Lake and Oconomowoc in the southeast
In Kenosha, Eichelman Beach sits in calmer water behind a small jetty. Inland, the footpath round Geneva Lake is almost 26 miles (42 km) long. Oconomowoc rents canoes, kayaks and paddle boards at City Beach, and at Kohler-Andrae State Park by Sheboygan a cordwalk runs through the dunes. The longer page is Milwaukee, Lake Geneva and the Lake Michigan shore.
The Minocqua chain and the Chippewa at Eau Claire
Tomahawk Lake, at 3,462 acres (1,401 hectares), is the biggest of the six lakes the Minocqua chamber counts in its chain, and it has a public boat landing. In Eau Claire people float the Chippewa from Phoenix Park to Hobb's Landing, and Visit Eau Claire advises a buoyant watertight container for your phone. More at Green Bay, Door County and the Northwoods.
Madison's beaches on Mendota, Monona and Wingra
Tenney Park and James Madison Park are on Lake Mendota. Olbrich and Olin are on Lake Monona, Brittingham is on Monona Bay and Vilas Park is on Lake Wingra. Boats are rented at Brittingham, Marshall and Olbrich parks, and a phone in a shirt pocket could go over the side of a canoe as easily as off a pier.
Wisconsin Dells and Lake Delton
Here the water is the Wisconsin River. The Dells visitor bureau describes boat tours of the Upper and Lower Dells, shore landings at Witches Gulch and Stand Rock, pontoon floats on Lake Delton, and duck tours that splash down into both the river and Lake Delton. Something dropped from a moving tour boat is a poor bet. A ring that came off at a shore landing or beside a dock has a place to start from.
Pettibone Park and the other La Crosse beaches
Pettibone Park is directly across from downtown La Crosse, on the main channel of the Mississippi. It is one of three public beaches on the Explore La Crosse swimming page. Black River Beach is a couple of miles north of downtown, and Neshonoc Swarthout Beach is at West Salem, on Lake Neshonoc. With a river, our first question is whether it fell on the beach or in the current.
Oshkosh and the Lake Winnebago system
Lake Winnebago covers more than 138,000 acres (about 55,800 hectares) by the Oshkosh visitor bureau's figure, which makes it the largest inland lake in the state. It is part of a system with Lake Butte des Morts, Lake Winneconne and Lake Poygan. Menominee Park in Oshkosh has the lake along its whole eastern side, with a beach, kayak and paddle board rentals, a casting dock and boat launches in Miller's Bay.
Bayfield, Madeline Island and the Lake Superior shore
From Bayfield the ferry crosses to La Pointe on Madeline Island. The Bayfield chamber puts the trip at about 25 minutes, and you can walk, cycle or drive aboard. Washburn is on Chequamegon Bay, where Thompson's West End Park has a fishing pier and a boat launch. Tell us which dock, and whether it happened while boarding or out on the water. West of Bayfield, the mainland shore of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore starts at Meyers Beach, where kayakers set off for the sea caves and the Lakeshore trail looks down on them from above, 2.5 miles (4 km) along. Campsites are on 18 of the park's 21 islands.
Before anyone drives out to your lake
You tell the story of the dock once
Your WhatsApp messages go to one person, and that person also briefs the detectorist. Nobody asks you to start again from the beginning.
The board count and the photos are passed on as you sent them
The pin, the dock pictures and a photo of the item go to the detectorist before the trip is planned, so they know which side of which dock to start on.
Winnebago is shallow, the Mississippi has a current
Lake Winnebago averages 15.5 feet (4.7 metres) deep. At Pettibone Park the beach faces the Mississippi's main channel. So we ask about the water first, and the answer decides who we look for.
A long shot gets called a long shot
A phone that went over the side somewhere out on Lake Winnebago is a long shot. Beside a dock post in Miller's Bay is another matter. We tell you which one yours looks like, and why.
Costs are part of the first conversation
We explain the costs before any search is booked.
Wind, cold water and ice in Wisconsin
On Lake Michigan and Lake Superior the wind moves the water
NOAA describes the seiche, a wave set up by wind and air pressure that can be several feet high. It also puts the Great Lakes' yearly high in late spring and the low in winter. If yours fell near the water's edge, tell us the date and how far from the water you were.
Lake Superior is cold even in August
In May and June the water around the Apostle Islands averages only in the 40s Fahrenheit (below 10 C), by the National Park Service's account. Even in late summer the surface rarely tops 60 F (about 16 C), except in protected bays.
After Labor Day, and then the ice
Madison gives its swimming season as typically Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. The Bayfield chamber says the Madeline Island ferry runs until the ice is too thick to break, usually in mid-winter. Anything dropped on ice or in snow needs a pin the same day.
Asked from piers, pontoons and beaches around Wisconsin
I dropped my phone in the lake off the end of our pier on Mendota ten minutes ago. What now?
Mark the spot first. Count the pier sections back to shore, note which side it went over and how far out, and photograph the pier from the lawn. Then message us from somebody else's phone.
We rented a pontoon on Lake Delton and a wedding band went into the water as we tied up at the dock. We drive home tomorrow. Can anything happen after that?
Yes, a search can be arranged after you have gone home. The marking cannot, so do it tonight. Photograph the dock and the cleat the boat was tied to, and note which side the ring went over.
Lost keys somewhere between our blanket and the car at Pettibone Park in La Crosse. We were in the river too. How bad is that?
The beach and the grass back to the car are a fair search. Keys that went into the Mississippi's main channel are a poor bet. Send one pin for the blanket and another for the parking spot.
My son's class ring came off on the beach at Menominee Park in Oshkosh this afternoon. Should I rent a metal detector and look myself?
You could, if it fell on the dry part of the beach. Renting one yourself can suit a fresh loss on dry sand or a lawn. A detectorist makes more sense for wet sand, water, a large area or a small item.
My key fob vanished between the ferry line in Bayfield and the landing at La Pointe. Is either end a search?
Either end can be. The crossing itself, which the Bayfield chamber gives as 2.5 miles (4 km), is the part with poor odds. Ask the ferry line whether a fob was handed in, then tell us where the car waited.
Is metal detecting Wisconsin lakes for one lost ring something you arrange? My wife's went in off our dock on Lake Butte des Morts.
Yes, that is the kind of search we arrange. Tell us how deep the water is at the end of the dock, what the bottom is like underfoot and which board she was standing on.
My metal-framed glasses went over the side of a rental canoe on Lake Monona, somewhere off Olbrich Park. How do I work out where we were?
Start with the photos from the paddle. The shoreline behind you in a picture taken just before or after narrows it down. With open water and no fixed point the odds are poor. Within sight of the rental dock they are better.
Wisconsin
Count the boards, take the two photos, then message us
Add the lake, the day and a photo of the item if you have one.
For a lost ring, a phone or a set of keys, message us on WhatsApp with the pin and the dock photos. You will hear what the odds look like and what happens next.