Made a handful of posts last night at work ...

[CASPER-2]

In one I posted
"

I tell most people - you have the right equipment - the time - the talent(experience) and luck and you cant miss
lot of guys here got it all
your missing the last one and at times the first 3 wont matter - though have met guys that just start out and all they had was
luck and they've killed it soooo "
I get home and tell my Gf -I'm gonna throw bathing suit on and go to tiny fresh water beach a few miles from my house
one on the tiniest beaches you ever saw = about 40 yrds by 25 yrds is the swimming area sand- rest is fishing and mucky
most days you might see 10 people - usually a few mothers and bunch of kids - youre not ever gonna kill it here
BUT ...I have pulled a few gold from there over the years - I probably gotten a dozen in the last 30 yrs. I used to give it a swing
after I hit other larger fresh spots at sun rise and if I have time before the life guards show up here at 9am - don't take long to hit
I mentioned in one of my magazine articles that as far as beach size matters - some times it don't. I found one of the best diamonds Ive found here
and one of the largest class ring ever here. My Gf drove by there yesterday and said the place was packed - which meant there was about
50 people there.
So I grab my gear and run over there and hop in - I get nothing for first 5 mins. and then get a steel hair clip - then got 2 barrel sinkers then a penny that looks like it was lost last year. then nothing for awhile...Then I got a blast and scooped about 2 ins. and saw ring slide down. I hoped it was at least silver. It really sparkled
in the sun but could not see a marking - it felt heavy in my hand. Put it in my pouch all happy I might have gotten gold. Just small trash after that. Probably spent
20 mins maybe 25 there. Came home and broke out the acid kit - stays strong at 14k ...diamonds test real.
It was not deep - so I could have found with a cheap machine...so equipment did not matter. It did not take much time. It did not take much talent or experience
it was waist deep in clear water and only 2 ins. down - anyone could have found it...BUT it was luck that I did



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[finderzzs]

Nice ring. Cha-Ching. A guy I know found 300 gold his first year detecting, so yeah, beginners luck can play a roll, that and location. As for finding gold, its anywhere people swim. Congrats on that beauty.

 

[Tenderfoot]

That’s great. Congratulations.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

Timing is everything. I spent 4 hours at a local swim area on Friday, $.33, a wheaty, a cheap ear ring and two sinkers. Nice ring Casper.

 

[CASPER-2]

Timing is everything. I spent 4 hours at a local swim area on Friday, $.33, a wheaty, a cheap ear ring and two sinkers. Nice ring Casper.

Yes it is - even though small - this place gets hit by no less than 10 other guys here and there
I stopped hitting fresh water round here cause there are just so many others out here now - ive got like 5 fresh water spots within 15 mins of me - but some get pounded day after day
in the summer by guys that are retired - some of it is my own fault - lot were sand hunters and would see me scooping left and right while they were fighting to just
get a few coins and I would get a bunch of silver and gold from these spots cause I was only in the water yrs ago - then they started going in waist deep - now they hit
it all like me - I will get stud earrings that fall thru their scoops nd steel hoops they discrim. - but get times cant even get a bobby pin

 

[bravobob]

When i first started detecting my buddy said i have beginners luck and dumb luck on my side. I think he was right , i found my first silver dime , quarter , ring and first gold ring in my first week.
There's 6,272,640 square inches in an acre , a 8in coil with a 3in center section is about 9 square inches. a dime is less than a square inch. I think its research,determination, and a whole lotta luck.

 

[CASPER-2]

When i first started detecting my buddy said i have beginners luck and dumb luck on my side. I think he was right , i found my first silver dime , quarter , ring and first gold ring in my first week.
There's 6,272,640 square inches in an acre , a 8in coil with a 3in center section is about 9 square inches. a dime is less than a square inch. I think its research,determination, and a whole lotta luck.

research - I would list under the talent/experience thing
determination - under the time thing
"dumb luck" - not really dumb but more like some sort of destiny or something like that
cant tell you how many times (kind of a reference to your - acres to coil size thing) that I busted my butt at a spot and sun is going down and my GF
is doing the "pee pee" dance on shore cause she wants to leave and I aint found nothing to speak of and Ive headed in a straight line to where she is standing or sitting and like half way to
shore ive gotten a gold ring - now if she's is not with me or moves to her right or left - I don't get that ring - its happened at least a dozen times i'd say
yes many times she has told me to get the heck out of the water too that I didn't get squat

 

[CASPER-2]

as for the determination thing - ive gotten over a dozen people = family, friends, co workers - into the "hobby"
many thought - 1 = its easy...2 = i'm gonna get rich (and easily) because of all the gold & silver Ive gotten over the yrs
"he can do it...so can I"
many went out 1 or 2 times and found tons of junk and then asked wtf.
they thought you just turn it on and walk and the riches come forth
and for some it might be that way - some guys may live in an area where they are the only person in a 100 miles +
with a machine ...area i'm from ...at one time we had the most detectorists in the country per square mile - and it wasn't Fla.
There were dealers in every city/town around me - so competition was high (still is)
I think out of allthat bought machines - I have one friend that still hunts now and then - he gets a nice find now and then but does not get out as much
cause "every place is cleaned out" ...hard to tell him theyre not when he cant get on the finds
and many times to me its work more than fun but I like it - been in the hobby since 1975 at age 12
hoping I can continue to the day I kick

 

[bravobob]

lucky GF ? I've also tried to get a few friends into the hobby, They bought detectors but never go out. That's ok, more for
me !

 

[mikeinOC1]

Hi Casper. Interesting thread. I always enjoy your posts but this one especially caught my attention with your observations and insight. I especially admire your dogged determination and success in the water hunts. i have been a bit discouraged lately due to all the new competition with locals and retirees with more time on their hands than a working stiff like me. Especially at the beaches which I have tended to stick to the past few years instead of inland hunts. Your thoughts about the small beaches makes me consider rethinking some small beach spots down in certain sections of the Orange county coast.

I have not really done that much with my scuba certification so I tend stick mostly to above water wading but when our waves get going here in So Cal water hunting can be such a challenge. Then I always seem to arrive too late most on those early morning low tide days with some guy already hitting it.

One of my best hunts was in one of the Caribbean islands in relatively sheltered cove that was kind of remote from most of the hotels but I had heard was very popular for snorkeling. However many of my island hunts in the Caribbean and in Hawaii were a bust essentially with no gold jewelry.

Thanks for sharing more of you experience and knowledge and some thoughts that are giving me a sense of encouragement again. Maybe I will start working it again even with the newer competition out here. i know I had a bit of a lucky streak in my first years restarting in the hobby a little while back after giving up the hobby too easily as a young kid in another state. That lucky streak in my recent years in the hobby was probably why I was so addicted for quite a while.

 

[OBN]

Sweet white gold there!! Good work Mr. Casper!

 

[TomNWMI]

Nice score and you are right all it take is luck and being at the right place at the right time.

 

[BLK HOLE]

Very nice ring, I really enjoy your posts, I have been interested in water hunting but haven't attempted it much, still trying to locate some spots around where I live. I have tried it a few times in the ocean, man it is work hunting the water!

 

[nov2101]

As always great job!

 

[MiamiFox]

The ghost strikes again! That thing looks heavy.