Fishing can be a fun hobby. But for some, it’s not about catching fish that brings them to the water, but instead, what they can find using a magnet attached to a rope.

According to Wikipedia, magnet fishing uses a very strong magnet that allows hobbyists to treasure hunt, as well as help the environment. The site went on to say that oftentimes the magnets are strong enough to find items such as discarded guns, bicycles, bombs and coins. 

A dad and his teenage son from Grantham, England, recently discovered another amazing item that the magnet could find: a locked safe.

George Tindale, 15, along with his father, Kevin, had been dredging through the River Witham in their hometown, expecting to find much of nothing when suddenly, they got a bigger hit they couldn’t have imagined.

I mean it was amazing really. We pulled this safe out and it had all that money in. ‘We counted it roughly on the bank and I think we totalled it about two and a half grand and we were just shocked.”

What they were left with, when they cleaned away the mud and slime was a pouch containing $2,500 in Australian dollars (roughly $1,685 in American dollars).

George Tindale and his father recently struck gold during a magnet fishing trip. Here they haul out the safe they found. Photo by Magnetic G/SWNS

Alongside the money pouch, the teen and his dad found a shotgun certificate, as well as expired bank cards, which helped them track down the safe’s owner.

He was a business owner named Rob Everett. The safe, the men found out, had been stolen more than 22 years ago.

The family got a hold of Everett and were able to visit him at his business in Grantham, where they were able to return the long-ago stolen property.

‘Rob was great. If I ever want work experience when I leave school, he said the offer is always open,” George said.

Rob told reporters that the safe had been stolen by a teenager who was caught thanks to the inept burglar who had left a hard-to-decipher clue behind – a hat, with his name stitched into it. 

From left, Kevin Tindale, Rob Everett and George Tindale, pose after the Tindales returned a stolen safe to Everett. Photo by Magnetic G/SWNS

He joked, “I was just upset that there was a nice pen on my desk, a Mont Blanc (pen) that was never recovered.”

But in the end, the kindness of this particular teenager and his father is what mattered more to Rob.

“For me, I just felt there are some really nice and good people in this world. They could have kept the money, they could have said they attempted to get hold of me. They wanted to return the contents and the goods to the rightful owners and I think that says a lot about humanity.”

George, for his kindness, was given a small reward from Everett. As well as an offer of employment.

“What’s good about it is that George is a good mathematician apparently, and I run a wealth management company now, and I’ve offered him work experience when he’s ready to give him something back, give him some opportunity.”

Until then, George and his Dad will continue their magnetic fishing, and plan to keep posting their findings on the teen’s YouTube channel, “Magnetic G.”

Click below to watch ‘Magnetic G’ and his dad as they recover the safe, along with a variety of other finds.

Sources: Daily Mail | Mirror