MARINETTE, Wis. — Neighbors are used to seeing "Ed the Diver" walk out of his home wearing his wetsuit.
He lives only a few minutes from one of his favorite dive spots: The Menominee River. When he first started chasing lures 3.5 years ago, he said it was a simpler operation.
“I started in the summertime with a mask, tennis shoes and shorts. I was trying to get my lures back that my kids lost. Well, I lost them too," said Ed Bieber.
Bieber grew up on a farm and worked various jobs in the area; most recently, he's worked as an underground electrician.
In January, he took to diving full-time.
“I’m more of a dirty diver, I guess you’d call it, but I’m a treasure hunter. I like to clean up the waterways. I like to protect the fish and the environment," said Bieber.
He steers clear of anglers while diving so he does not interfere with their fishing. Bieber said he wants to have a good relationship with them and oftentimes hands out some of the lures he finds.
While underwater, Bieber finds lures and tangles of fishing line, which he loads onto a bodyboard; that bodyboard also holds his diver down flag. Also known as a scuba flag, a diver down flag is flown to let others on the water know there's a diver below the surface.
Bieber said he enjoyed it so much, he encouraged his friend Jason Younk to get certified as a diver. Younk said he's found a whole new world underwater.
“What's kind of scary is when you’re swimming, and you look to your left, and there’s a six-foot sturgeon just calmly swimming by ya. That’s kinda creepy. Other than that, it's just amazing down there," said Younk.
He’s found cell phones, bikes, watches and even jewelry. But a recent dive was cut short when he spotted a mud puppy — a kind of salamander — wedged between rocks tangled up in a nest of fishing line.
“I got a rescue mission," said Bieber as he emerged from the water. "Mud puppy stuck on a lure. I find these a lot this time of year.”
The creature was stuck with five hooks.
“They’re really slippery. It’s hard to do when your hands are cold," said Bieber.
He freed the mud puppy and watched it slide back into the water and swim away.
“I do feel like a superhero wearing this suit," Bieber said. "I'm just missing the cape,"
Bieber and Younk stressed the importance of cleaning up the rivers they visit.
"I've seen file cabinets down there. I've seen shovels. We just pick up any trash that's laying around," said Younk.
Beiber's pulled rusted barrels, glass bottles, pounds of lead weights and more out of the water.
Beiber said diving is a stress reliever for him. When he returns home, however, the real work begins.
Untangling, fixing and painting recovered lures is a time-consuming process.
“I’ll sit here and do this sometimes for over four hours," said Bieber.
He often cleans the lures in front of his growing social media following, including over 100,000 people on TikTok.
“This is about an $8 lure. I'll sell this for $5. The paint is awesome on it. It looks pretty brand new. I just have to wash it a little bit," said Bieber.
He takes his social media followers along for the ride by strapping a GoPro on his head. He shows the viewers what it's like on the bottom of Wisconsin rivers.
“As soon as I started diving and finding lures, I thought to myself, 'Man, people gotta see what I’m seeing down here and the impact of the line, the lures, the water life and how fun it is to find lures and get the exercise and just clean up your local environment,"' said Bieber.
Since January, Beiber's been diving, selling, and making videos full-time as "Ed the Diver." He sells lures and fishing-related merchandise on his website. On the weekends, he loads his camper and sells his stock directly to fishermen by the river.
He puts in 14-hour days, 7 days a week, but has found his calling by cleaning up waterways, finding sunken treasure and enjoying the ride.