bigscoop
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Been a lot of questions from new hunters recently in regards to finding gold on the beach so I took some time to put this short piece together that I think will eventually help. Keep in mind that this is in regards to my area beaches and that your own beaches will have their own dynamics, but in general you should be able to apply a great deal of what I'm sharing here. Hope it helps. (I did this last night so I've not proof read it, so please excuse any errors or typos that you may encounter.)
When the Winds Blow Does the Cradle Get Rocked?
The cradle being the firmer layers of beach and offshore sand. It's within this sand where countless treasure remain buried and suspended through time, slowly sinking until they reach a point where the bottom either becomes firm enough or dense enough to support the sinking item. Obviously some items will be deeper then others, something that isn't just dependent on the item's shape and weight but also dependent on the makeup of the bottom and how long the item has been in the sand. All of this, of course, being the typical circumstances on those bottoms that have been relatively undisturbed for any length of time. Stir these bottoms up and for many of the items it signals the beginning to entirely new, yet similar cycle, as they are once again stirred about and/or cast to the surface where they will start sinking all over again. Just how quickly they will sink is dependent on many factors, but rest assured, regardless of the many factors at play most all of them will eventually experience the sinking process again. It's a vicious cycle that just continues to get played over and over again every time Mother Nature decides to deliver a good blow. The beach has been void of targets for nearly three weeks and now, after a few days of good blow, there suddenly seems to be targets everywhere. But the question is; “Are they good targets, or are they simply those liter items that can easily get suspended within the first few inches of sand?”
Unfortunately coins also fall into this same “lite” category, even those reds and greens that have been in the sand and/or water for quite some time. Coins are lite, flat, and they present relatively large surface areas when compared to their weight, or overall density. When on edge they will sink deeper, but when laid flat they are easily supported and their sinking will be stalled much sooner. Add to this that coins, just as with any flat and lite object, will also be easier to move once Mother Nature decides that it's time to move things around a bit. And for this same reason, these coins can disappear from the beach just about as quickly as they appeared, often getting dragged back toward the shoreline waters where they are quickly swallowed up by those soft churning and returning sands again. The upper beach will typically produce these reds and greens for a longer period of time simply because it takes a bit longer for the returning sands to work their way up the slope of the beach. It also takes a bit longer for many of these liter and higher targets to get dragged down into the returning sands piling up on the lower beach.
But the real key here comes in our ability to recognize when a blow is truly a good blow, and not just a blow that does little more then moving those upper layers of sand around, meaning those layers where most of these liter targets reside. For some reason the presence of reds and greens tends to excite many hunters when in reality there may not truly exist a whole to be excited about, unless of course, you simply like finding a lot of liter modern targets. Sure, there will always be a few good/heavier finds made after nearly every bad blow but in this there is usually one constant, and this being the fact that these few items are almost always found during the height of the blow or immediately after the passing of the blunt of the blow. And the other constant, few of these will be of the heavier or denser items of their class, usually quite the opposite. Instead of the heavier gold bands they will often be very fine or rather small ladies rings, lite hoop earrings, etc., still those liter items that would have been more easily suspended in the upper layers of sand. So how can we tell when a blow is possibly going to get into the deeper cradle where most of the better targets reside?
Beyond something of the magnitude of a direct hit with near hurricane force there's really only one way to know when a blow is possibly getting into those deeper layers of sand, and that's by simply being at beach as often as you can during the blow to see what it's stirring up. On my area beaches a lot of blows get into the toe of the dunes giving the appearance that the beach is seeing some erosion but this alone really indicates very little. That sand at the toe of the of the dunes isn't all that packed and it washes out rather easily, as does all of that liter crap that's buried in it. Can slaw, foil, buried cans, and even coins turn red and green up here as well. A lot times a blow simply drags all this stuff down onto the middle and lower beach, this and the illusion of some erosion at the toe of the dunes causing a lot of hunters to believe that the beach itself has experienced some meaningful erosion and sand loss, when in fact it has not. On these common occasions the beach has simply been resurfaced and a lot of liter targets have been exposed, redistributed, and scattered about. A lot of targets to be found, for sure, but a very scarce few actually worth the finding.
But a good blow is an entirely different event with entirely different results. Good blows dig deep into the layers of sand to where most of the heavier, denser, and often much older items reside. In doing this these good blows often cut into the shell pack, hard layers of clay, coral beds, gravel and rock, etc., And this is why you'll often see experienced hunters routinely inspecting the beach even before they can safely hunt it, so they can visually inspect things up and down the beach to see if there are any areas where these things are starting to show up on the upper beach. During a fooler blow you won't find too much of this sediment scattered about on the upper beach, but during a good blow you'll often encounter an abundance of it scattered about, a sure sign that the lower beach is being cut into the deeper layers and/or that the adjacent sandbars and troughs are being seriously breached and rearranged. In other words, there will be a lot of heavier/denser items scattered about on the upper beach. It's important to realize that a lot of times this can happen weather the dunes experience any signs of erosion or not, the full force of the good blow being centered lower on the beach and beyond and sometimes not even reaching all the way up the beach to the dunes. This probably happens more often then a lot of hunters realize. So, you really have to watch the beach as often as possible in order to figure out what's really happening.
On my area beaches things aren't always that easy to spot, my area beaches being fairly flat and somewhat wide. Typically, those beaches just to the south of me are somewhat narrower and steeper which allows a lot of items to reach the upper beach, only to be dragged back down by the increased speed and force of the returning water as it retreats down the much steeper slope. In other words, it's just not as easy for items to come to rest on these steeper slopes, especially those liter objects, including most coins. On the flatter and wider beaches these same items have longer distances to travel and more opportunity to settle. Now here's the thing, even the heavier items tend to follow this same basic pattern so the heavier/denser the objects you find laying around close, or in, the waterline the better the odds that those deeper layers of beach have been breached. One of the first things I do as soon as I can access the beach, even if it's just at the toe of the dunes is to start hunting for heavier deposits, one of those rare occasions when finding a lot of heavier pieces of iron is likely to be a good thing. And if you find a lot of those heavier black looking fishing weights in the mix then so much the better. We often talk about finding larger pieces of shell but I don't think most hunters realize just how large and dense these pieces need to be. Basically we're talking about really thick, large pieces of shell or conglomerates, large rocks, asphalt, chunks of concrete, etc., items that are really heavy and dense and hard to move. The bigger and the heavier the better. Often times you'll encounter these same things as the result of a fooler blow but the items will typically be on a much smaller and liter scale.
A great deal of all of this also depends on the direction of the blow as a good blow that pushes the water parallel to the shoreline can also produce a large amount of beach erosion, though primarily this will occur from about mid beach to beyond the typical low-tide waterline. Water hunters particularly like these conditions because these parallel currents create a lot of holes and they remove a lot of overburden and liter targets out of the troughs and trenches between the sandbars. Whenever you hear hunters talking about “long shore currents” this is what they are referencing, those currents flowing parallel to the shoreline. On my area beaches they can be practically nonexistent during the summer months which allows the typical east and southeast winds to deliver a lot of sand onto the beach. But as the season changes so do the winds and as these proceed to shift from a more northerly direction the coast begins to see an increase in these long shore currents. This is a naturally occurring cycle that takes place each and every year, the sand gets washed in and then the sand gets washed back out. These water hunters are ever aware of this cycle and they fully recognize the value of these winter long shore currents, their arrival meaning that softer layers of sand will be removed and a lot of those heavier targets lost during the summer months finally exposed. Personally, and for this same reason, I find the vast majority of my quality finds from October through about April, depending how soon these currents arrive and how late those winter winds remain. So keep in mind that good blows don't always have to come in the form of a storm.
And this brings us to the quickly passing whether systems, those that only raise heck for a day or two before things quickly settle back down again. Most often when this happens the sand will immediately start settling back onto the beach so there's only a day or two of good possibilities. Sometimes long-shore currents will lag around for a few days after the system's passing but these currents will usually dissipate in a matter of days so the window of opportunity here is usually very narrow. The guy who is familiar with the effected beaches certainly has the advantage here because he can spot potential areas of beach much sooner, and if he can find them sooner then he can also access them sooner, thus extending his time hunting over those areas that have the most potential. Notice I said “areas” because not every section of beach, even the same beach, is going to see a significant amount of change to make much of a difference. It's quite common to see hunters racing to the most popular spots on the beach after the passing of these quick systems yet those sections of beach may have experienced no significant amount of disturbance at all. On the other hand, there may be areas of beach that are used far less but hold much better potential simply because they have experienced a significant amount of disturbance. And here's the huge difference, those hunters that raced to the most popular locations on the beach, they just might get lucky and find a prize or two while they're sorting through all the other liter junk. But those hunters who took the time to find those high potential areas so they can maximize their odds, they'll usually encounter far less targets but a lot more heavy, dense targets, and usually more silver and gold keepers to boot.
So here's the thing in all of this; whenever you think of those heavier/denser items under the sand think of their resting place as being a cradle, because that's really what it is, a firm hammock of sorts where they silently lay in wait of something strong enough to come along and expose them. So each time the winds begin to blow start looking for signs where these cradles have indeed been rocked. You may not find as many “targets” but you're likely to find more, “better targets.” Think of it like this, “That softer sand isn't the bottom, it's just overburden.” Hope this helps some of you new hunters to find that gold you're seeking.
When the Winds Blow Does the Cradle Get Rocked?
The cradle being the firmer layers of beach and offshore sand. It's within this sand where countless treasure remain buried and suspended through time, slowly sinking until they reach a point where the bottom either becomes firm enough or dense enough to support the sinking item. Obviously some items will be deeper then others, something that isn't just dependent on the item's shape and weight but also dependent on the makeup of the bottom and how long the item has been in the sand. All of this, of course, being the typical circumstances on those bottoms that have been relatively undisturbed for any length of time. Stir these bottoms up and for many of the items it signals the beginning to entirely new, yet similar cycle, as they are once again stirred about and/or cast to the surface where they will start sinking all over again. Just how quickly they will sink is dependent on many factors, but rest assured, regardless of the many factors at play most all of them will eventually experience the sinking process again. It's a vicious cycle that just continues to get played over and over again every time Mother Nature decides to deliver a good blow. The beach has been void of targets for nearly three weeks and now, after a few days of good blow, there suddenly seems to be targets everywhere. But the question is; “Are they good targets, or are they simply those liter items that can easily get suspended within the first few inches of sand?”
Unfortunately coins also fall into this same “lite” category, even those reds and greens that have been in the sand and/or water for quite some time. Coins are lite, flat, and they present relatively large surface areas when compared to their weight, or overall density. When on edge they will sink deeper, but when laid flat they are easily supported and their sinking will be stalled much sooner. Add to this that coins, just as with any flat and lite object, will also be easier to move once Mother Nature decides that it's time to move things around a bit. And for this same reason, these coins can disappear from the beach just about as quickly as they appeared, often getting dragged back toward the shoreline waters where they are quickly swallowed up by those soft churning and returning sands again. The upper beach will typically produce these reds and greens for a longer period of time simply because it takes a bit longer for the returning sands to work their way up the slope of the beach. It also takes a bit longer for many of these liter and higher targets to get dragged down into the returning sands piling up on the lower beach.
But the real key here comes in our ability to recognize when a blow is truly a good blow, and not just a blow that does little more then moving those upper layers of sand around, meaning those layers where most of these liter targets reside. For some reason the presence of reds and greens tends to excite many hunters when in reality there may not truly exist a whole to be excited about, unless of course, you simply like finding a lot of liter modern targets. Sure, there will always be a few good/heavier finds made after nearly every bad blow but in this there is usually one constant, and this being the fact that these few items are almost always found during the height of the blow or immediately after the passing of the blunt of the blow. And the other constant, few of these will be of the heavier or denser items of their class, usually quite the opposite. Instead of the heavier gold bands they will often be very fine or rather small ladies rings, lite hoop earrings, etc., still those liter items that would have been more easily suspended in the upper layers of sand. So how can we tell when a blow is possibly going to get into the deeper cradle where most of the better targets reside?
Beyond something of the magnitude of a direct hit with near hurricane force there's really only one way to know when a blow is possibly getting into those deeper layers of sand, and that's by simply being at beach as often as you can during the blow to see what it's stirring up. On my area beaches a lot of blows get into the toe of the dunes giving the appearance that the beach is seeing some erosion but this alone really indicates very little. That sand at the toe of the of the dunes isn't all that packed and it washes out rather easily, as does all of that liter crap that's buried in it. Can slaw, foil, buried cans, and even coins turn red and green up here as well. A lot times a blow simply drags all this stuff down onto the middle and lower beach, this and the illusion of some erosion at the toe of the dunes causing a lot of hunters to believe that the beach itself has experienced some meaningful erosion and sand loss, when in fact it has not. On these common occasions the beach has simply been resurfaced and a lot of liter targets have been exposed, redistributed, and scattered about. A lot of targets to be found, for sure, but a very scarce few actually worth the finding.
But a good blow is an entirely different event with entirely different results. Good blows dig deep into the layers of sand to where most of the heavier, denser, and often much older items reside. In doing this these good blows often cut into the shell pack, hard layers of clay, coral beds, gravel and rock, etc., And this is why you'll often see experienced hunters routinely inspecting the beach even before they can safely hunt it, so they can visually inspect things up and down the beach to see if there are any areas where these things are starting to show up on the upper beach. During a fooler blow you won't find too much of this sediment scattered about on the upper beach, but during a good blow you'll often encounter an abundance of it scattered about, a sure sign that the lower beach is being cut into the deeper layers and/or that the adjacent sandbars and troughs are being seriously breached and rearranged. In other words, there will be a lot of heavier/denser items scattered about on the upper beach. It's important to realize that a lot of times this can happen weather the dunes experience any signs of erosion or not, the full force of the good blow being centered lower on the beach and beyond and sometimes not even reaching all the way up the beach to the dunes. This probably happens more often then a lot of hunters realize. So, you really have to watch the beach as often as possible in order to figure out what's really happening.
On my area beaches things aren't always that easy to spot, my area beaches being fairly flat and somewhat wide. Typically, those beaches just to the south of me are somewhat narrower and steeper which allows a lot of items to reach the upper beach, only to be dragged back down by the increased speed and force of the returning water as it retreats down the much steeper slope. In other words, it's just not as easy for items to come to rest on these steeper slopes, especially those liter objects, including most coins. On the flatter and wider beaches these same items have longer distances to travel and more opportunity to settle. Now here's the thing, even the heavier items tend to follow this same basic pattern so the heavier/denser the objects you find laying around close, or in, the waterline the better the odds that those deeper layers of beach have been breached. One of the first things I do as soon as I can access the beach, even if it's just at the toe of the dunes is to start hunting for heavier deposits, one of those rare occasions when finding a lot of heavier pieces of iron is likely to be a good thing. And if you find a lot of those heavier black looking fishing weights in the mix then so much the better. We often talk about finding larger pieces of shell but I don't think most hunters realize just how large and dense these pieces need to be. Basically we're talking about really thick, large pieces of shell or conglomerates, large rocks, asphalt, chunks of concrete, etc., items that are really heavy and dense and hard to move. The bigger and the heavier the better. Often times you'll encounter these same things as the result of a fooler blow but the items will typically be on a much smaller and liter scale.
A great deal of all of this also depends on the direction of the blow as a good blow that pushes the water parallel to the shoreline can also produce a large amount of beach erosion, though primarily this will occur from about mid beach to beyond the typical low-tide waterline. Water hunters particularly like these conditions because these parallel currents create a lot of holes and they remove a lot of overburden and liter targets out of the troughs and trenches between the sandbars. Whenever you hear hunters talking about “long shore currents” this is what they are referencing, those currents flowing parallel to the shoreline. On my area beaches they can be practically nonexistent during the summer months which allows the typical east and southeast winds to deliver a lot of sand onto the beach. But as the season changes so do the winds and as these proceed to shift from a more northerly direction the coast begins to see an increase in these long shore currents. This is a naturally occurring cycle that takes place each and every year, the sand gets washed in and then the sand gets washed back out. These water hunters are ever aware of this cycle and they fully recognize the value of these winter long shore currents, their arrival meaning that softer layers of sand will be removed and a lot of those heavier targets lost during the summer months finally exposed. Personally, and for this same reason, I find the vast majority of my quality finds from October through about April, depending how soon these currents arrive and how late those winter winds remain. So keep in mind that good blows don't always have to come in the form of a storm.
And this brings us to the quickly passing whether systems, those that only raise heck for a day or two before things quickly settle back down again. Most often when this happens the sand will immediately start settling back onto the beach so there's only a day or two of good possibilities. Sometimes long-shore currents will lag around for a few days after the system's passing but these currents will usually dissipate in a matter of days so the window of opportunity here is usually very narrow. The guy who is familiar with the effected beaches certainly has the advantage here because he can spot potential areas of beach much sooner, and if he can find them sooner then he can also access them sooner, thus extending his time hunting over those areas that have the most potential. Notice I said “areas” because not every section of beach, even the same beach, is going to see a significant amount of change to make much of a difference. It's quite common to see hunters racing to the most popular spots on the beach after the passing of these quick systems yet those sections of beach may have experienced no significant amount of disturbance at all. On the other hand, there may be areas of beach that are used far less but hold much better potential simply because they have experienced a significant amount of disturbance. And here's the huge difference, those hunters that raced to the most popular locations on the beach, they just might get lucky and find a prize or two while they're sorting through all the other liter junk. But those hunters who took the time to find those high potential areas so they can maximize their odds, they'll usually encounter far less targets but a lot more heavy, dense targets, and usually more silver and gold keepers to boot.
So here's the thing in all of this; whenever you think of those heavier/denser items under the sand think of their resting place as being a cradle, because that's really what it is, a firm hammock of sorts where they silently lay in wait of something strong enough to come along and expose them. So each time the winds begin to blow start looking for signs where these cradles have indeed been rocked. You may not find as many “targets” but you're likely to find more, “better targets.” Think of it like this, “That softer sand isn't the bottom, it's just overburden.” Hope this helps some of you new hunters to find that gold you're seeking.
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Thanks for writing!
