Please give a TIP or two on Beach Hunting

[accteam]

Hello,

I was hoping maybe some of the pro's might be able to share a few tips on hunting the beach. So, I'll ask a few of my dumb questions and maybe I'll learn a few tricks.

As for the term, the 'lane'. I read just today, that it means the area between high and low tide. I noticed in some pic's that some people are detecting in the water, either angle high or chest high. Which is best, to start searching first? I've seen the beach on a new moon low and the first time, I could not believe how far out the water went. So, knowing this will happen....is it a good idea to hunt also on the day its a new moon low and if so, where on the sand should you start searching? Because, if its a new moon low...the water is out further then normal....should you walk way out where the sand is flat and has those ripples in it? Last question, I also noticed in certain areas of the beach, there are spots or groupings of gravel, small rocks, etc. These spots are spaced out from each other about 10 feet or so. Is it a good idea to hunt that spot? and why does the gravel, small rocks all collect in such a small area?


Thanks for taking the time to help out a newbie hunter. I know most if not all of my questions where dumb, but I'm trying to get some kind of handle, on this beach hunting. Please also leave any other tips that I might have not asked....thanks and happy hunting

 

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[The Beep Goes On]

Hi accteam...there aren't any dumb questions. This site has a bunch of great info...

http://www.thegoldenolde.com/

In sand, heavy objects usually continue to sink until they come to rest on clay or gravel. If you have some of that hard stuff close to the surface, it's usually worth swinging a coil over. Currents, waves and the geography of the beach work to separate objects according to their weight, etc. If you can identify patterns at your beach, you may be able to predict where the goodies will most likely be located. For instance, if there is a depression, or "rill", running parallel to the beach that is usually a good place to hunt.

As far as tides go, the farther out they are the easier it is to get to areas that may have been too deep otherwise.

If you can get to the beach when it's full of people you can get an idea where most of the swimmers are and how far out they are.

HH!
TBGO

 

[wmas1960]

This gets asked a lot and I have answered it 3 or 4 times myself. I would start by recommending going through and reading all the sections pertaining to detecting, especially this section on Beach and Shallow Water. You will find a lot of general advice. Even some info that doesn't pertain specifically to Beach hunting will be helpful. There are a lot of similar issues when you are searching parks and play lots as well.

In general though, a few things that I always recommend is to first look at the layout of the beach. First, Look for areas where people congregate. Where they gather, play or lay in the sand. Some people have lots of luck searching the dry sand areas where people lay out their blankets and may set belongings on a blanket that would then get kicked into the sand etc. Places where games like volleyball, frisbee football etc. are played. Look along sidelines where people put their belongings while playing. Also, the whole field area is good as, when someone jumps or dives for the ball or disc, can lead to items being lost from pockets.

Further, all routes to and from cars, rest rooms, concession stands etc. Check around the parking lots, concession stands, restrooms and vending machines also. These are places where people would be going through pockets for keys or money. Other items then get lost in the sand.

Look for playgrounds. While children play they and their care givers or parents often loose things. Look directly under swings and areas where kids hang upside down or climb. That is when items also fall from pockets.

As for down along the water, Look along the edges where people might wade along, loose a toe ring or ankle bracelet. Where other jewelry like necklaces, rings, bracelets... get lost as people reach down to pick up shells in the shallow water. Search out at low tide, in the areas that would have been under water previously. These areas would be whrer swimmers might have lost items or where items from higher up on the beach might have been pulled out. They are areas that aren't always accessable to someone with a detector and might be worth searching when the opportunity presents itself. Look for periods when the tides are especially low and always search the beach after a storm when items that have been deeper or that might have previously been pulled out would have been thrown back on shore.

When the tide is especially low, look around the inside edge of any visible sand bars. As items get pulled out from the beach, due to wave action, they often come to rest along the trough or low spot inside of the sand bar. Think of how the beach is formed. How do the sand bars get there. They are a build up that is the result of erosion of the sand from the beach that gets pulled out. As it starts to build up, other sand builds up around it. Over time it gets larger and larger as the structure traps other sand around it. Like a dam. At low tide, especially search the little pools of water that are there. If they aren't too deep. These are the lowest spots of the beach and where some items might have settled. Imagine a ring or a coin. Perhaps a bracelet that gets grabbed by waves and pulled out. it will get pulled down the slope of the beach and eventually could end up settling in the low spot inside the sand bar. The area between there and the beach can be full of items that were originally lost further up the beach but are in the process of being pulled out. They might also be deep due to the movement of sand as well. When the tide is low and these areas are accessable and searchable, take the opportunity. Also, at times of heavy waves, this is the area that yeilds the stuff that will be thrown back on shore. Don't search in there during the heavy waves but when things calm down, search up on the beach for items that have been thrown back on shore.

 

[Sandman]

Gosh guys, I was gonna answer this one, but there isn' t much I can add. If your detector is a plain land detector, you may have threshold problems in the wet sand. If you have a water machine, follow the advice in the other good posts. Keep your coil level with the sand and over lap your sweeps and you will stumble on something. Be sure to check out those rocks and shell areas.

HH,

Sandman

 

[surfrat96]

This gets asked a lot and I have answered it 3 or 4 times myself. I would start by recommending going through and reading all the sections pertaining to detecting, especially this section on Beach and Shallow Water. You will find a lot of general advice. Even some info that doesn't pertain specifically to Beach hunting will be helpful. There are a lot of similar issues when you are searching parks and play lots as well.

In general though, a few things that I always recommend is to first look at the layout of the beach. First, Look for areas where people congregate. Where they gather, play or lay in the sand. Some people have lots of luck searching the dry sand areas where people lay out their blankets and may set belongings on a blanket that would then get kicked into the sand etc. Places where games like volleyball, frisbee football etc. are played. Look along sidelines where people put their belongings while playing. Also, the whole field area is good as, when someone jumps or dives for the ball or disc, can lead to items being lost from pockets.

Further, all routes to and from cars, rest rooms, concession stands etc. Check around the parking lots, concession stands, restrooms and vending machines also. These are places where people would be going through pockets for keys or money. Other items then get lost in the sand.

Look for playgrounds. While children play they and their care givers or parents often loose things. Look directly under swings and areas where kids hang upside down or climb. That is when items also fall from pockets.

As for down along the water, Look along the edges where people might wade along, loose a toe ring or ankle bracelet. Where other jewelry like necklaces, rings, bracelets... get lost as people reach down to pick up shells in the shallow water. Search out at low tide, in the areas that would have been under water previously. These areas would be whrer swimmers might have lost items or where items from higher up on the beach might have been pulled out. They are areas that aren't always accessable to someone with a detector and might be worth searching when the opportunity presents itself. Look for periods when the tides are especially low and always search the beach after a storm when items that have been deeper or that might have previously been pulled out would have been thrown back on shore.

When the tide is especially low, look around the inside edge of any visible sand bars. As items get pulled out from the beach, due to wave action, they often come to rest along the trough or low spot inside of the sand bar. Think of how the beach is formed. How do the sand bars get there. They are a build up that is the result of erosion of the sand from the beach that gets pulled out. As it starts to build up, other sand builds up around it. Over time it gets larger and larger as the structure traps other sand around it. Like a dam. At low tide, especially search the little pools of water that are there. If they aren't too deep. These are the lowest spots of the beach and where some items might have settled. Imagine a ring or a coin. Perhaps a bracelet that gets grabbed by waves and pulled out. it will get pulled down the slope of the beach and eventually could end up settling in the low spot inside the sand bar. The area between there and the beach can be full of items that were originally lost further up the beach but are in the process of being pulled out. They might also be deep due to the movement of sand as well. When the tide is low and these areas are accessable and searchable, take the opportunity. Also, at times of heavy waves, this is the area that yeilds the stuff that will be thrown back on shore. Don't search in there during the heavy waves but when things calm down, search up on the beach for items that have been thrown back on shore.

You pretty much covered it all! Excellent post!!

HH surfrat

 

[accteam]

Hello everyone,

Well this forum has done it again! Thanks so much for taking the time to help explain some of the good tips. As for this question being asked alot, I had a good feeling it was and tried searching for the answers myself first before asking, but could not find anything, the post might have been a bit old. Maybe the moderator can make one of the better beach hunting posts a 'sticky' so it will always stay at the top of this forum.

I have a question about the mention of sandbars. I know from going fishing with my father at the beach, that on low tide or new moon low tide, some of the sandbars begin to come out and can even be reached by walking out into the water. I have walked out and fished off a few of these sandbars and remember the sand being very clean, as in...there was nothing but sand....no even shells....and being a newbie at this, thought the sandbar would not be a best bet to hunt....so would it be worth hunting a sandbar and understanding that sandbars are formed from lots and lots of sand being deposited everyday...how deep would you go, meaning at what ft would you say enough?

Last question, as for hunting with a water unit and hunting either in water about chest high or waiting until its low enough tide to reach far out there...what size coil do you use? I would have thought a small to be better, seeing how there are so many things in the wet sand or is it best to get the biggest size coil? I also thought it might be hard to find your target with a bigger coil, when your chest high in the water, because you really cant see where you are digging and scoops dont really have such a wide opening.

I know most of my thoughts are wrong and that is because I'm new to the scene. But I learn fast, so please try and explain how and why. Thanks again in advance for sharing yout tips.

 

[wmas1960]

Can't answer about coils or water machines. I have a Whites XLT and wouldn't go that deep with it.

As for the sand bar issue, Haven't had that much experience with them. Living in Chicago, we don't have tides. I have searched a few times while on vacation in SW FLA and this is my understanding. I always see people shelling out on the sand bars when they are exposed. Since they aren't always accessable, there is some possibility that stuff that people loose out there could be there longer. There is stuff out there but it might be under some sand. As for detecting though, I don't know how fruitful searching on top of the bar would be. Like I said, there would be stuff there from those who walk the sandbars when they are exposed. I guess though, it would depend on how deep the water usually is at normal times. I go down to Marco Island, from time to time and know that some of the sand bars are normally only about waist deep. In that case, people wade out there and walk around all the time. Even at normal highs, some can only be about wist to chest deep. In that case, there might be stuff lost on the bar as it is shallow enough for people to wade out, swim around and walk or fish on. Some sand bars might be deeper at normal times and might not be as fruitful.

However, as a feature in the shape of the shoreline, the sandbars are a trap for stuff coming off the beach. Rather than ON the bar, the area inside the sand bar is probably where you would find more stuff. If the tide is way out, where the whole area inside the sand bar is exposed, the main objective is to search as much of that exposed sand as you can. Reason is that stuff pulled off the beach rolls down that slope and it is now searchable where you might have had to be in waist high or chest high water previously.

Here is a crewd drawing that I just put together.

The area that I understand is a more fruitful place is the area marked with Xs. That is where stuff that gets pulled off the beach by the waves often comes to rest. Objects that get pulled out would work their way down the slope YYY until it all comes to rest in the XXX area. Depending on the angle of the slope, on a particular beach, that area can be shallow at an extreme low tide. A tidal pool only a few inches deep. Perfect opportunity to go out there and see what you can find. Note that if there has been some heavy waves recently, it could be hit or miss. While a lot of sand can get churned and washed out, a lot could get piled up. Some stuff may be more exposed but then, I suppose that some targets could actually be kind of deep in the sand. Listen careful and definately don't ignore the faint deep targets.