More beach questions

[Hag730]

As I stated previously, this is my first summer beach hunting. I've had pretty good success thanks in part to this forum. I am still asking myself one thing every time I hit the beach though. I here a lot of people saying..."the gold is in the water". I usually hit the beach at low tide and hunt the areas occupied by swimmers when the tide is in. The 3 gold rings I've found this summer have been around the half way mark between the hide tide line and low tide line. I guess my question is, If I want to increase my finds, should I still be getting into the surf at low tide. I'm hunting mainly on beaches in Jacksonville Florida and the surf makes it extremly difficult to keep the coil down and target recovery extremely difficult also......I'm usually out of the water in 30 minutes after losing patients and back to working cuts and low spots on the beach. Would like to here any input...

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[willie d]

It's true, the gold is in the water, but the gold is also every where else. I've found gold in chest deep water and I've found it on the way to the parking lot.

I see you're using a PI detector, so dry sand would not be advisable, but I've had good hunts in the dry sand.

If the surf is that rough, then I don't know if I would dedicate too much time there. The wear and tear on you and your detector wouldn't be worth it IMO.

My Sov GT w/WOT coil gets awesome depth in the wet sand and shallow surf as well as letting me hunt the dry sand.

Good luck out there.

[Treasure_Hunter]

Something some people weem to forget are the tides, the wet sand on the beach was underwater on the last high tide.......... I hunt water and wet sand. I look to see where the most people are at and hunt there. I try to always huntt he water, but if I'm not getting any hits I move to the water line and wet sand... 2 of my nice finds have come from the sand right in front of the steps to the showers/restrooms..... People bundle up their stuff to go wash off and drop it on the way.....

[mrmackin]

Something some people weem to forget are the tides, the wet sand on the beach was underwater on the last high tide.......... I hunt water and wet sand. I look to see where the most people are at and hunt there. I try to always huntt he water, but if I'm not getting any hits I move to the water line and wet sand... 2 of my nice finds have come from the sand right in front of the steps to the showers/restrooms..... People bundle up their stuff to go wash off and drop it on the way.....

Thanks for the insight!

[fredinbelize]

All I know is that if you are not looking you won't be finding.
I sometimes get overwhelmed by the size of the beach, but I just keep chippiing away..

[Terry Soloman]

As I stated previously, this is my first summer beach hunting. I've had pretty good success thanks in part to this forum. I am still asking myself one thing every time I hit the beach though. I here a lot of people saying..."the gold is in the water". I usually hit the beach at low tide and hunt the areas occupied by swimmers when the tide is in. The 3 gold rings I've found this summer have been around the half way mark between the hide tide line and low tide line. I guess my question is, If I want to increase my finds, should I still be getting into the surf at low tide. I'm hunting mainly on beaches in Jacksonville Florida and the surf makes it extremly difficult to keep the coil down and target recovery extremely difficult also......I'm usually out of the water in 30 minutes after losing patients and back to working cuts and low spots on the beach. Would like to here any input...

Short answer - YES, you need to get wet! At Low Tide, you need to be knee-hip deep at least. Think about this statistic, 97-percent of beach detectorists NEVER get in the water past their ankles. Yes, we have ALL had dry sand gold, but I pull four pieces of gold out of knee-to-waist deep low tide water, for every one I find in the dry or wet sand.

[Slugrusher]

Get wet. Though I agree. I hate the swells and waves knocking me around. Knee deep is about it for me. I NEED to get chest deep in one area. As I have been told
a guy was looking for his wife's $28K ring a few weeks back. I know he rented a MD from a store around here. It's unlikely he found it.

Keep it, ask for reward or just hand it back, that assuming I can find it. What would you do?

[Terry Soloman]

Get wet. Though I agree. I hate the swells and waves knocking me around. Knee deep is about it for me. I NEED to get chest deep in one area. As I have been told
a guy was looking for his wife's $28K ring a few weeks back. I know he rented a MD from a store around here. It's unlikely he found it.

Keep it, ask for reward or just hand it back, that assuming I can find it. What would you do?

Give it back with a camera crew in tow!

[Hag730]

If I found that......I'd probably just pass out in the water.

[Buried Crap NJ]

You really need to be familar with the beaches you hunt. Just hunting low tide no matter how far you go won't produce anything if the ocean had dragged sand down from the beach. You need to be observent of what the beach looks like each visit. if you live close by don't ever pass the oportunity to get out and look even if your not going to hunt right then. We all love the nice low tide at 5am but we need to remember that all the beach goers were swiming at 11 am to 3pm and it was hight tide. fresh drops will be much higher up that week durring low. Older drops will be further out in the neck deep water durring low tide. These will not be the top picks and require good knowalge of your detector, PP skills.
Keep reading and apply some of these great tips being offered up.
BCNJ

[LewieMD]

Short answer - YES, you need to get wet! At Low Tide, you need to be knee-hip deep at least. Think about this statistic, 97-percent of beach detectorists NEVER get in the water past their ankles. Yes, we have ALL had dry sand gold, but I pull four pieces of gold out of knee-to-waist deep low tide water, for every one I find in the dry or wet sand.

Hi Terry: I've only hunted 3 times here on the south shore of LI and I've been in the water, at least crotch deep but I've found it very difficult to scan the seabead because the current keeps pulling the Sea Shark and makes it difficult to dig with my RTG scoop. Can you give me any pointers?

Thanks.....Lew

[Hag730]

Thanks for the insight gentlemen...

[Treasure_Hunter]

Hi Terry: I've only hunted 3 times here on the south shore of LI and I've been in the water, at least crotch deep but I've found it very difficult to scan the seabead because the current keeps pulling the Sea Shark and makes it difficult to dig with my RTG scoop. Can you give me any pointers?

Thanks.....Lew

I'm not Terry, but I recommend you use the surf to aid you as much as possible, if there is a current or surf, swing the coil towards the shore when the current is flowing in, and towards the ocean when it is flowing back to the sea...

One you have a target place the your toe or toe of your boot at the back of the coil when you have it pinpointed, move the coil and start digging with your scoop at that point............. Surf hunting is not for everyone, it isnt easy, but the potential for gold is higher than on land.......

[LewieMD]

Thanks Treasure_Hunter. Appreciate the advice.

[fredinbelize]

Good luck.

[keysync]

Sounds like fun

[Beach Papa]

An interesting thing about this forum is that people reading and posting are from all over the world. Some places may have a tidal variation from high to low of 7' or more which clearly means that at high tide people were swimming over the wet sand at low tide, not further out in the water. However, the time of high tide changes a little bit every day, so maybe peak swimming time in the afternoon is when low tide was and the drops are out in the water and not on the wet sand. Then again, there are some places where the tidal variation is only a couple of feet, and to be where someone was swimming at any tide you have to get into the water. Access your own beach and think it through. Where are the likely losses and where are the easy targets that the last hunter already found. Happy Hunting and good luck. Ralph

[Moonrover]

There are a couple of free apps for iPad/iPhone that detail tide times. Just thought I'd mention this. Not much concern about tides out here in the corn fields of Ohio, so I did not download the apps to see if they are useful.

M

[bigscoop]

I'm just south of you at New Smyrna and I'm on my area beaches with MD in hand nearly every day. First, anywhere on the beach can be a good place to hunt, but not always. "Sand" is you worst enemy because it is always moving so this is the main factor you need to focus on. Right now our beaches are loaded up with sand and it is always moving even if you don't readily recognize it. I.e., "today there is a damp belly on the beach, yesterday there wasn't." Beyond the low tide line this same thing is happening, i.e., "Yesterday the bottom was flat and a pleasure to hunt, today it is rough and uneven and nearly impossible to hunt with any effectiveness." Clearly we're talking about "several inches" of sand movement with nearly every change of the tides. This makes hunting our area beaches difficult at times because as this sand moves items appear and disappear all the time. Where you hunted yesterday produced nothing, today it is producing much better.

A lot of guys like the monthly low tide cycle because it exposes more beach and it generally presents calmer seas, but the low tide cycle also "gently laps" the beach with an even covering of very soft sand. On the other hand, the monthly high tide cycles frequently cut into the soft sand and create cuts, pockets, washouts, berms, ect., which increase your odds of success considerably because it often exposes what the the soft sand has sucked down and hidden. These higher tide cycles also often strip the beach of the covering of sand that the low tide cycle provided. Low tide cycles can be a real gift in some areas but here on our area of east coast they can actually provide a noticeable disadvantage when there is a lot of soft sand on the beach. I think reading the sand movements on our area beaches is the key to being able to access the best places to hunt more frequently.

[Sandman]

Books have been written on surf and beach hunting with info on how sand moves. Each beach is different in shape depending on the seasons and weather. Beach goers too are a varied bunch of depositers. You can learn much from the master of beach hunting, Norman Garnush.

The Golden Olde