A Little Beach Primer For Those Still Stuggling

[bigscoop]

Hey all, been a while since I've posted in the beach and shallow water forum. However, I've been doing some reminiscing in recent weeks and I really miss the beach so I put together a little video that might help those hunters who are still struggling with finding consistent success on those Florida coastal beaches. Hope it helps. (Man do I miss the beach!) Hope all is well with everyone.

 

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[Stuarbuckle]

This is something I have really been focusing on lately. It really does pay off. I'm on the opposite side of the country and over here we don't have the shell pack as much, but if gravel is showing on the beach your gonna pull some silver and gold..it's amazing how spotting a gravel patch down on the beach can get the adrenaline pumping lol

 

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[lookindown]

Good to hear from you man...thanks for the video.

 

[bigscoop]

Good to see you're still scooping up the gold! As you can see I'm having serious withdraws....

 

[Roseburger]

Hey thanks for the advice. I just started so everything helps. I was at the beach today and I found a few targets in the surf but any attempt to dig it up was futile because holes would just fill in and it seemed like the target kept sinking no matter how fast I would dig. How would you recommend digging things up in shallow water?

 

[bigscoop]

First, a good scoop with a large basket, and second, take more time perfecting "blind pinpointing" and locating the scoop into position with your foot/toes. Generally, there are there types of targets that will react as you describe, the first being what we call "floaters", these being light targets such as pieces of foil etc., that tend to float about when disturbed or get whisked about in the turbulence caused by the stirring of the sand from the scoop. The second type of target that will commonly react as you describe are those targets that fall through the scoop, and the third type of target that will commonly react as you describe are fishing weights that are still tied to a length of line or leader. In this later condition what often happens is that the extra length of line continues to pull the target back out of your scoop as you raise it so sometimes you have to lift very slowly while feeling for any unusual resistance as you raise the scoop. Generally if you can feel this resistance then you've got a length of fishing line still trapped in the sand pulling on the fishing weight as you raise the scoop. But in all of these cases mastering blind pinpointing will cure a great deal of them.

 

[Roseburger]

Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it

 

[bigscoop]

Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it

Let me add something to that "bigger scoop" recommendation because I don't want you to get the wrong idea. Try to take just about 1/2 a scoop full each time until you get use to the whole blind pinpointing tactic, and here's why. Until you're comfortable with the technique it is common to start the scoop too far forward or directly over the top of the target, the angle of the penetration then passing over the top of the target and pushing it deeper into the sand/hole. Also, and this is very common with really soft powdery sand and even firmer sand if the bucket is overfilled, if you try to scoop more sand then the scoop can actually hold then the item can roll back out of the scoop with the overflow of the displaced/escaping sand. So in my opinion, one of the best and most important techniques in water hunting is perfecting the blind pinpoint as it can save you a lot of time, labor, frustration, and even prevent you from damaging and otherwise valuable recovery. The diamond studded cross in my Avatar, per example, I actually bent it 90 degrees when I recovered it because of poor/lazy pinpointing. Luckily I didn't loose any of the twenty or so diamonds and it was easily fixed/repaired by a local jeweler.

 

[MiamiFox]

Great beach info and video bigscoop.