mts
Bronze Member
- May 18, 2009
- 1,285
- 202
- Detector(s) used
- Nokta Simplex+, Nokta Pulsedive, Tesoro Vaquero, Tesoro Silver µMax, BH Tracker IV, Garrett ProPointer
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Well, I just got back from a week at Treasure Island Florida (near Tampa). I also spent an afternoon at Fort De Soto which is supposed to be a decent spot. I didn't go on vacation to detect. But I did take my detector along to try my hand at some real beach detecting. I've never done it before and figured it would be fun. I went out three different times and probably spent a total of six hours. Here are my observations and some questions for the fine folks on this forum.
1) I found two lead fishing sinkers and 26 cents in clad. Not at all what I expected to find. I didn't expect to find any rings but I did expect to find a lot more change. More details follow.
2) The beach and water had virtually no trash which was quite surprising to me. Even in the dry sand I didn't find a lot of foil. Just a few beer bottle caps. Does anyone know if they rake the Treasure Island beach? I didn't hear the machines in the morning and didn't see the telltale signs of raking. But maybe they do and I'm just not that observant. The fact that there was so little trash sure seemed to indicate that they were raking it.
3) My detector (a BH Tracker IV) did fairly well in the saltwater. I had to turn on discrimination in the water and turn the sensitivity down to keep it from chirping every time a new wave would pass over it. But overall I was pleased with how well it behaved itself. I even set it down on the beach when my wife called me at one point and wasn't paying attention. A wave washed right over top of it and it just kept right on ticking. I'm obviously a complete newb to have let my guard down like that.
4) On my first day detecting an old woman who was staying at our hotel told me that her grandson had lost a horseshoe shaped gold ring with rubies and diamonds the day before in the shallow water. The waves were fairly strong that day and the water was very murky so he couldn't find it. I tried to find it for her a couple of days later but couldn't. I really would have liked to have found it for her but just wasn't able to.
Ok... now for some questions. I didn't find hardly anything. I really expected to find at least some trash out in the water. But it was clean as a whistle.
1) Do the waves wash everything up onto the beach or is there actually stuff out in the water?
2) If there is stuff in the water, how far out do you usually look?
3) For those of you finding rings, is there a characteristic spot that you look for? Sand bar, currents, etc.?
4) How long do you folks detect per day in order to find the good stuff?
5) Is it worth detecting on the dry sand? If so, are there characteristic spots to look for?
6) Do any of you detect the Treasure Island beach? If so, any thoughts on my experiences?
Don't get me wrong. I had a lot of fun. The beach was beautiful and the weather was spectacular. I wasn't too impressed with Fort De Soto to be honest but it wasn't bad. But if I'm not going to do any better than 26 cents then I don't think I'd take me detector with me next time unless I can pick up a few pointers here.
Thanks!
1) I found two lead fishing sinkers and 26 cents in clad. Not at all what I expected to find. I didn't expect to find any rings but I did expect to find a lot more change. More details follow.
2) The beach and water had virtually no trash which was quite surprising to me. Even in the dry sand I didn't find a lot of foil. Just a few beer bottle caps. Does anyone know if they rake the Treasure Island beach? I didn't hear the machines in the morning and didn't see the telltale signs of raking. But maybe they do and I'm just not that observant. The fact that there was so little trash sure seemed to indicate that they were raking it.
3) My detector (a BH Tracker IV) did fairly well in the saltwater. I had to turn on discrimination in the water and turn the sensitivity down to keep it from chirping every time a new wave would pass over it. But overall I was pleased with how well it behaved itself. I even set it down on the beach when my wife called me at one point and wasn't paying attention. A wave washed right over top of it and it just kept right on ticking. I'm obviously a complete newb to have let my guard down like that.
4) On my first day detecting an old woman who was staying at our hotel told me that her grandson had lost a horseshoe shaped gold ring with rubies and diamonds the day before in the shallow water. The waves were fairly strong that day and the water was very murky so he couldn't find it. I tried to find it for her a couple of days later but couldn't. I really would have liked to have found it for her but just wasn't able to.
Ok... now for some questions. I didn't find hardly anything. I really expected to find at least some trash out in the water. But it was clean as a whistle.
1) Do the waves wash everything up onto the beach or is there actually stuff out in the water?
2) If there is stuff in the water, how far out do you usually look?
3) For those of you finding rings, is there a characteristic spot that you look for? Sand bar, currents, etc.?
4) How long do you folks detect per day in order to find the good stuff?
5) Is it worth detecting on the dry sand? If so, are there characteristic spots to look for?
6) Do any of you detect the Treasure Island beach? If so, any thoughts on my experiences?
Don't get me wrong. I had a lot of fun. The beach was beautiful and the weather was spectacular. I wasn't too impressed with Fort De Soto to be honest but it wasn't bad. But if I'm not going to do any better than 26 cents then I don't think I'd take me detector with me next time unless I can pick up a few pointers here.
Thanks!
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