Winter Beaches

[bigscoop]

Fall is here, kids are back in school, there's still a lot of sand on the beaches, the summer beach crowd is starting to noticeably taper off, and there's even a noticeable reduction in hunters as well. Not nearly as inviting a scene when the beach appears to be void of people most of the time. I mean, what are the chances that good drops can still be consistently found when there's hardly anyone on the beach? Actually, you're chances of success can be better in the winter season then during the summer months!

Sure, most items are lost during the summer season, but if I were to guess I'd say only a very tiny fraction of those lost items end up being recovered, and I would say that is especially true here on the east coast where the increase in current and surf keeps most hunters out of the water, even the shallow water. During the summer the sand continues to come in at a surprising rate, a condition that makes finding consistent targets harder and harder with each passing day, but, during the winter a great deal of that sand gets pulled back out leaving behind what couldn't be accessed during the summer. The more sand removed, the better the hunting gets. And the best part, this sand will start getting stripped away fairly early, say around November, and it will continue to get stripped away clear into spring. North-easterners can blow in heavy and strong and when they do they can cause the tides and current to cut through the beach like a hot knife through butter, leaving behind deep cuts and troughs that haven't seen daylight for months on end, maybe even longer. To the inexperienced eye the beach might appear to be just as smooth and as flat as it was during the summer season, but to the familiar eye it becomes easier to notice that the beach is becoming steadily lower and steeper, it's color a bit grayer, the debris more frequent, the tiny ravines gradually growing in number and size, the presence of riptide washouts starting to appear near the waterline at low tide. To me this is the best and most productive time of the year to be on these Florida East Coast beaches, and in just a few more weeks things should start taking on the required changes. I can hardly wait!

"Stay thirsty my friends!"

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Cry Of The Eagle: History And Legends Of The Cherokee Indians And Their Buried Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[hamiddetecting]

Naturally the beach out the sand. But at least 2 times summer and winter, the beaches move the sand. Thats moments hunting is very frequency. And me im waiting for two years for this moment.
Happy hunting.
Hamid

 

[jim/wpb]

I would say there's 3-4 years of plentiful drops out there. Don't follow the rainbow...follow the tides and the winds.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Beaches are covered in gold, you just have to get to it through all that soft sand...

 

[PI PETE]

I just got back from Fort Lauderdale! I had a bit of the beach cut like butter with a hot Knife! Nice guy on the beach told me to hit it at the base which I had planned on doing but it was not bad to have reinforcement.

Your details seem spot on. I found a 1957 dime. Obviously this dime was not sitting in that location on the beach the last 55 years. It was brought in back to the beach during the summer months and the low tide wave erosion took 1.5 feet of sand out and I was able to find it. Thats pretty Cool.

I was on a business trip so dont get down there much but it was sure a fun experience!

 

[dewcon4414]

Also you get a lot more negative tides and fewer people IN the water hunting. Snow birds put stress on the wet/dry sand during that time. Targets sink a little, but most are covered FAST. When the sand does move items drop in the troff... then get covered. So those Northern winds get the current moving south making those cuts pretty deep on the south end of the beach.... but normally it fills in first coming from the North end of the beach so i hunt there first if the S end seems soft.

Dew

 

[bigscoop]

Just use caution because those winter currents over here on the East Coast can be quite wicked.

 

[lorraine]

Nice post, Bigscoop

Lorraine

 

[lookindown]

Do you make better finds in the winter than you do in the summer?

 

[ianth]

BigScoop,
Your observations of winter beaches providing superior md'ing potential are spot on. I would als add to your list of winter changes that the sand becomes much denser and of course goodies are concentrated here.

I live on the east coast of Japan and the crowded tropical beach scenes of summer would make one think a bonanza is at hand. However, my summer hunting tends to be far more searching than digging. However, when my season begins in late October and lasts into spring, I can honestly say at times I do more digging than searching. Indeed, it can be very good with finds spanning many decades. Winter also has the potential to produce ordinance from both WW2 and Korea (American live training exercises).

By the way, in 12 years of hunting here, I have yet to run into another MDer although a few expats do hunt here! My personal safety has never been challenged, either.

Again, nice tips and happy hunting to all!

 

[bigscoop]

Do you make better finds in the winter than you do in the summer?

I tend to do much better from late fall all the way through to spring. Just depends on when the seasonal tide changes start moving the sand. I also think a big part of it has to do with having obvious features to hunt instead of one endless expanse of flat beach. Having obvious features tends to make me more focused and so I search the area more thoroughly with very tight, defined patterns around those obvious features. Without a doubt I find more gold and silver during the fall to spring season then I do during the summer, and by a long shot. Same with coins.

 

[Sandman]

I tend to do much better from late fall all the way through to spring. Just depends on when the seasonal tide changes start moving the sand. I also think a big part of it has to do with having obvious features to hunt instead of one endless expanse of flat beach. Having obvious features tends to make me more focused and so I search the area more thoroughly with very tight, defined patterns around those obvious features. Without a doubt I find more gold and silver during the fall to spring season then I do during the summer, and by a long shot. Same with coins.

It is nice to know others are following in your footsteps. We can never learn enough about how the sand moves or how beaches hide what we want to find. I've been at this hobby since there was dirt and I hope I never stop learning. Ole Norm taught me a lot and I am still learning.

 

[mrmackin]

Naturally the beach out the sand. But at least 2 times summer and winter, the beaches move the sand. Thats moments hunting is very frequency. And me im waiting for two years for this moment.
Happy hunting.
Hamid

Good hunting Hamid!!

 

[bigscoop]

It is nice to know others are following in your footsteps. We can never learn enough about how the sand moves or how beaches hide what we want to find. I've been at this hobby since there was dirt and I hope I never stop learning. Ole Norm taught me a lot and I am still learning.

"Older then dirt"...........bet there's been a lot of discovered goodies under all that dirt over the years.

Coming from northern freshwater lakes to the East Coast was a HUGE eye opener and an entirely different challenge for me. Didn't take me very long to discover that learning all you can about how and when the sand moves on this stretch of coast is critical. At first thought you would think all those calm low tides and packed beaches of summer would be fantastic but you quickly learn it just ain't so once all that soft sand moves in, not to mention the noticeable increase in competition. In the winter the beach is taking on very noticeable changes all over the place so there is always some fresh exposure to be hunted.

 

[cdv1]

Good info Bigscoop, hope to see it in person this winter after my move to Florida. Since you came from the Northern freshwater region I'm sure you have experienced detecting the beaches in the winter up north. Although you don't have the tides, you do have the winter winds that move sand too, as long as the lakes don't freeze up. With ice coverage, you don't have near the sand movement but when you have a mild winter (like last winter) and no ice, you can have some terrific hunts in the newly exposed beach. The cut shown below exposed coins dating back to 1925 but this summer after beach repair, was under 15 foot of sand.

HH
Cliff

 

[bigscoop]

Good info Bigscoop, hope to see it in person this winter after my move to Florida. Since you came from the Northern freshwater region I'm sure you have experienced detecting the beaches in the winter up north. Although you don't have the tides, you do have the winter winds that move sand too, as long as the lakes don't freeze up. With ice coverage, you don't have near the sand movement but when you have a mild winter (like last winter) and no ice, you can have some terrific hunts in the newly exposed beach. The cut shown below exposed coins dating back to 1925 but this summer after beach repair, was under 15 foot of sand.

HH
Cliff

I "really" miss the fall season up north, all the colors, water clears up, the aroma of fall, all the fall colors reflecting off the surface of the water, the loons, deer season, etc., etc. Where abouts will you be moving to? I'd love to see some erosion like that down here this winter.

 

[cdv1]

I "really" miss the fall season up north, all the colors, water clears up, the aroma of fall, all the fall colors reflecting off the surface of the water, the loons, deer season, etc., etc. Where abouts will you be moving to? I'd love to see some erosion like that down here this winter.

New Port Richey, Gulf Coast north of Tampa.... right now, colored leaves and all the smells. Since I'm getting ready for the move, I'm not experiencing it like I normally do.... from a tree stand with a bow in hand!

Cliff

 

[bigscoop]

New Port Richey, Gulf Coast north of Tampa.... right now, colored leaves and all the smells. Since I'm getting ready for the move, I'm not experiencing it like I normally do.... from a tree stand with a bow in hand!

Cliff

I had been going back each fall for deer season (archery). Still up in the air but maybe the end of the month or first week in November? Up to my son who is still up there and rubbing it in.

 

[lookindown]

I tend to do much better from late fall all the way through to spring. Just depends on when the seasonal tide changes start moving the sand. I also think a big part of it has to do with having obvious features to hunt instead of one endless expanse of flat beach. Having obvious features tends to make me more focused and so I search the area more thoroughly with very tight, defined patterns around those obvious features. Without a doubt I find more gold and silver during the fall to spring season then I do during the summer, and by a long shot. Same with coins.

Thanks for the info. I will give the East coast wet sand a try when it gets too cold to get in the gulf water. I stayed overnight on the East coast once this Summer and got in a little wet sand hunting. I was lost hunting that big wide wet sand but I found a target line and got a silver ring, silver chain, sunglasses and coins. It was the first time I had fun hunting the wet sand and I think I could really get into it. I gave up beach hunting last fall when it got cool but I think Ive got a plan now. This is only my second year water detecting and I have a lot to learn. Thanks again for the info, Its people like you that make T-NET so great.

 

[leprechaun]

Winter is usually the best time to hunt, but there's never a guarantee on that, Last winter we had no northeaster's and no cuts of any kind so hunting was the pits, had to go elsewhere to find gold, but
thats a secret, can't let the cat out of the bag.