water hunting troubles

garviso8

Jr. Member
Aug 10, 2014
59
90
hialeah fl
Detector(s) used
minelab safari/cz-21 /bounty hunter quick draw
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
been using my cz 21 at local area beaches here in Miami and getting frustrated to the point of calling it quits ,definitely not as easy as it seems my problem comes on retrieving targets, I listen to the machine ,place the scoop near where I think it is and proceed to dig and dig and dig to no avail how deep is this thing? all this digging muddy's the water to the point that now I can't see a thing ,eventually I get tired and move on. when I manage to get a target it's usually a penny as this machine is not the best discriminator nor does it have a depth meter, add the miles traveled to the beach ,tolls ,refreshments and what not, just to walk away with a few hard earned pennies that I can't probably use because there so corroded. I don't need to make a living off this but would like to see a better treasure to trash ratio sorry to vent but it seems like other people have better experiences doing this any advise on what i'm doing wrong would be appreciated ???
 

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ARC

Gold Member
Aug 19, 2014
37,252
131,565
Tarpon Springs
Detector(s) used
JW 8X-ML X2-VP 585
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
First question I have is... what kind of scoop are you using ?
 

Sandman

Gold Member
Aug 6, 2005
13,398
3,992
In Michigan now.
Detector(s) used
Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Stealth beach scoop
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As for CZ-21 not being a good disc. Your in the wrong hobby. It would take me to long to bring you up to speed so you need to read this. http://web.archive.org/web/20080202045558/http://thegoldenolde.com/ If you disc out pennies or tabs you will never find gold.
 

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lookindown

Gold Member
Mar 11, 2010
7,089
4,936
Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
ACE 250,AT PRO, CZ21...RTG pro scoop...Stealth 720
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The CZ21 goes deep...sometimes a big target like a crab trap or a beer can will sound good and be very deep. Some beaches I hunt have deep crab traps and big pieces of crab traps and pieces of cans. Some beaches don't have these and the target recovery is easier. Try different beaches if you can and you may find some that you enjoy hunting more than the ones with the deep targets. Water hunting isn't easy and its not for everyone...I love it but you don't just go along scooping rings and coins with ease...its work but it can be very rewarding...the more you do it the easier it gets and you will get faster at recovering targets...good luck and I hope you hang with it...the first day I water hunted I started thinking that water hunting might not be for me...when the gold started showing up in my scoop I never looked back and love it now.
 

lookindown

Gold Member
Mar 11, 2010
7,089
4,936
Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
ACE 250,AT PRO, CZ21...RTG pro scoop...Stealth 720
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,433
54,827
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Larger the scoop the quicker you can recover target and move to next target..
 

masterjedi

Bronze Member
May 24, 2014
1,757
1,349
Oregon
Detector(s) used
Minelab's CTX 3030, E-Trac & EQ800, Fisher F75LTD SE & F44, Whites MXT All PRO, Whites TRX Pointer & Shovel, Predator Tools Raptor hand digger & Ranger shovel. Grey Ghost Ultimate headphones.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
You are hunting for the wrong reason... It should be fun no matter what you find or don't find.. No one is getting rich at this. It is the fun of the hunt, great friends, fresh air, etc. I have been detecting since the late 70's and still love to find just a wheat penny. I hope it never changes for me...
Gary from Oregon...
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,433
54,827
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
been using my cz 21 at local area beaches here in Miami and getting frustrated to the point of calling it quits ,definitely not as easy as it seems my problem comes on retrieving targets, I listen to the machine ,place the scoop near where I think it is and proceed to dig and dig and dig to no avail how deep is this thing? all this digging muddy's the water to the point that now I can't see a thing ,eventually I get tired and move on. when I manage to get a target it's usually a penny as this machine is not the best discriminator nor does it have a depth meter, add the miles traveled to the beach ,tolls ,refreshments and what not, just to walk away with a few hard earned pennies that I can't probably use because there so corroded. I don't need to make a living off this but would like to see a better treasure to trash ratio sorry to vent but it seems like other people have better experiences doing this any advise on what i'm doing wrong would be appreciated ???

What size is your scoop? Need minimum of 8" scoop in water, 10-12" is better..

How are you deciding where to dig?

When I find a target I locate the strongest signal (center of target) with my coil, then without moving coil I place my toe at the center of the back of the coil, this is where the tip of of my scoop goes, I remove coil and push scoop down and forward. This is my process when in the water...
 

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garviso8

Jr. Member
Aug 10, 2014
59
90
hialeah fl
Detector(s) used
minelab safari/cz-21 /bounty hunter quick draw
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have a t-rex scoop
 

ARC

Gold Member
Aug 19, 2014
37,252
131,565
Tarpon Springs
Detector(s) used
JW 8X-ML X2-VP 585
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
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garviso8

Jr. Member
Aug 10, 2014
59
90
hialeah fl
Detector(s) used
minelab safari/cz-21 /bounty hunter quick draw
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I use the t-rex scoop I locate target and gestimate where I should scoop when I remove the coil . problem is target is either too deep or it's moving and after the first or second try the mud flats I'm detecting in gets so cloudy I can't see and rely only on guessing .maybe i'll try a beach with softer sand bottom
 

CASPER-2

Gold Member
Jan 3, 2012
17,158
19,959
NEW ENGLAND
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
6
Detector(s) used
WHITE'S XLT, PI PRO, GARRETT 2500, 3- FISHER CZ21s, JW FISHER 8X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
try finding a hunt partner if possible -
I use a CZ21 love it - use a RTG scoop with big basket
I recover regular targets on first scoop (helps I wear a mask and can see exactly where to scoop)
deeper targets might take 2 or 3 - but I can usually tell its gonna take that by the sound of target
I have guys that have bought same machine and did like you - went out - found pennies and gave up

have guys that bought used Garretts and Minelabs and did the same thing - and sold their machines after a few weeks

one thing a lot of guys that I knew did was - 1) they went in with the thought they were going to find gold all over the place
2) they did not listen to almost any advice I gave them - they thought it so easy to just turn on and go and the finds roll in

I told guys just where to go for fresh drops - they ignored me - went where they thought and got tons of nails and a few pennies - after they told me
that - I would go right to the area I told them and do pretty good and Id throw in their face - give advice again - and they would go to spot and once again they thought another area would be better and once again theyd come up empty - lot of times that would go at high tide - when I told them go at low
so theyd be hitting in waist deep water -where at low all the land hunters could pepper at low
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try and learn your machine - put the time in - longer you hunt the better hopefully you'll get and hopefully the better finds will come
 

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garviso8

Jr. Member
Aug 10, 2014
59
90
hialeah fl
Detector(s) used
minelab safari/cz-21 /bounty hunter quick draw
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I didn't mean I wanted to make money at this ,it's just that a hobby for me has to have some kind of gratification .Iv'e done pretty well at parks and figured it's got to be better at the beach
 

gamiller

Hero Member
May 20, 2013
602
473
Detector(s) used
Tesoro sand shark,
fisher cz-21

Whites beach hunter300
minelab equinox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
You have received advise from some of the experienced water hunters, now it's up to utilize their knowledge.
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,433
54,827
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
If target is moving that easy odds are good it is too light to be good target, more likely can slaw...

Next time try like I suggested and mark center back of coil and start your scoop there pushing down and forward.

Do you have that many swimmers in mud flats? Most beach goers I see don't like mud flats unless that is all there is period.. You want to hunt where the most targets are lost at.

People tell me they hit the beach at time of low tide, I roll my eyes, low tide last about one minute so if low tide is 3pm and you hit the beach at 2:55pm you missed the best opportunity already.. I like to start my hunt at least 3 to 4 hours before low tide. Only time I hunt high tide is when I'm hunting from dawn to dusk or I'm staying at beach and hunt several times a day. I never plan a hunt where I drive to be there at high tide...
 

Peyton Manning

Gold Member
Dec 19, 2012
14,534
18,684
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
MXT-PRO
Sandshark
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
ok. let me get this straight.
YOu get to hunt in saltwater on a florida beach and you are unhappy?
Try beach hunting in indiana pal
if I never found anything on the beach I would never complain ( except about those stinkin flies)
 

Loco-Digger

Gold Member
Jun 16, 2014
11,827
17,744
Northern O-H-I-O
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
F75 LTD, 1280X Aquanaut, & a Patriot (back-up/loaner)
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I have not water hunted yet. I did by an Aquanaut and plan on hitting some beaches at the local lakes to include the North coast. I look forward to learning the new type of detecting and can't wait to go "old school" on some targets, (by sound alone).

I'm thinking that I should line my scoop with 1/4" mesh before I hit the beaches, the scoop I have is a Beachmaster 32" scoop or something similar. What do you think?
 

lookindown

Gold Member
Mar 11, 2010
7,089
4,936
Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
ACE 250,AT PRO, CZ21...RTG pro scoop...Stealth 720
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I use the t-rex scoop I locate target and gestimate where I should scoop when I remove the coil . problem is target is either too deep or it's moving and after the first or second try the mud flats I'm detecting in gets so cloudy I can't see and rely only on guessing .maybe i'll try a beach with softer sand bottom
Hunting mud flats might be your problem...try an ocean side sandy beach that has lots of people...I think you will enjoy your hunt much more than on the mud flats.
 

Golden oaks

Full Member
Aug 4, 2012
146
112
BEACH BETTER HAVE MY MONEY!
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX-3030
Minelab Equinox 800
Minelab Excalibur II
Tesoro Sand Shark
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I would suggest placing your toe just below where you think the target is located before removing the coil. Then place the scoop over you toe to dig. This has helped me. Also, try practicing before hand by placing your scoop behind your coil without looking down or blindfolded. Get in the habit of not trying to find the coil when you are ready to place the scoop.
 

penzfan

Bronze Member
Apr 12, 2014
1,417
994
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030 - Excal 1000 - Excal II - Sovereign GT - RTG/Oleg Scoops - XPointer
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I'd be glad to hunt an Atlantic Coast Beach with you sometime and share MD tips. I'm in PBC. Send me a PM if interested.
I have a t-rex scoop
 

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