Help with surf dectecting Please

[Treasure-Diver]

Hi Everyone. I would appreciate any help and or advice on how some of you detect in the surf. I live in Houston so Galveston is only about an hour from my house. I just got back this afternoon and had a pretty uneventful day. I took both my detectors with me. I have a Fisher Impulse for underwater and detecting in the surf and I use my BH 505 for beach and land detecting. Well I tried my hand at detecting in the surf most of the day with the Fisher. I don't know if it's the time of year, (not much beach activity yet) tides or what but I only got about 10 solid hits in the water all junk. The bad thing about the Fisher Impulse is it doesn't have discrimination so you have to dig all targets. Is detecting out in the surf (about ankle to knee deep) a waste of time? Is it better to only detect the beach area? I was hoping to find targets pulled out into the water away from the other MD'ers who hit the beach area all the time. Any suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and HH

 

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[omnicognic]

look for places where the waves go like this:///////and meet waves going like this:\\\\\\\so you get this://///////^\\\\\\\\\the place here^ is where all the stuff from down the beach ends up from both directions and could become a glory hole! good luck!

 

[richg]

I am new at surf detecting also but I think the one person that can help would be Goldpinger, he seems to be outstanding. He always seems to do very well on his outings. Good Luck!!

 

[paratrooper]

One caveat I must tell you about . As soon as you discriminate you begin to miss gold . That is the curse of VLF machines . The PI will detect anywhere but for all intents and purposes cannot tell you what it is or even might be .The only way you can speed up your search is to be absolutely sure of the difference between the sound of a Rolex and a beer can . Until then you dig all targets . I swing a 2200 and I will always know if something is down there . As to what it is , I will know as soon as I finish digging it up . If it's junk I will haul it off so as to not meet it again . If it's something good IT'S MINE !!! It's not like we do this for a living so it's better to cover one chunk of ground 100% than cover twice as much at 50% efficiency .

 

[buckmild1]

I am also new at this surf hunting. What I got from talking to other detectorists at the beach is that it is seasonal. Especially if allot of people hunt the beach. Also good finds tend to sink deep in the sand fast. It is true that wave action shifts the sands and uncovers deep targets at the eddies. Also a big storm will shift allot of sand. A good scoop is essential, especially a bigger one that is sturdy and can be pushed into the ground with your foot. And in my opinion the further or deeper you can go out the better. I am also curious as to other peoples opinions as I am new at this too.HH.
CHRIS

 

[Gold_pinger]

Some tips to get you started:
Study the beach area you plan to hunt,? most beach goers tend to enter the water in the same areas,
Hunt from ankle deep out to where the waves wash over your hands then stay at that depth as you hunt parallel to the shoreline.
I use a PI machine and dig every signal. If your using a VLF? machine set to all metal mode, don't disc anything out. Dig all targets, take the trash you find out of the water.? I keep the places I hunt so clean if I get a signal it's a good chance something good will come up in the scoop.
Observe the movement of the sand and the direction of the ocean currents. If your finding lots of pull-tabs in the water work against the current they are the last thing to drop out when the flow is moving stuff around.
spend lots of time in the water hunting . You will get good at telling where to hunt when you learn how to read your beach.? I hunt the same four beaches and don't let more than 3 days go by without hitting them. If I dont have time or the tide is too high during the day I go at night. Sometimes I even find rings before I turn the detector on (I know a couple spots that when the conditions are right the gold is just laying on top of the rocks). I have been water detecting for many many years and it's a pretty rare day I go home without at least one gold ring.? Hope this helps you some
Happy Hunting
GP

 

[Gold_pinger]

I am new at surf detecting also but I think the one person that can help would be Goldpinger, he seems to be outstanding. He always seems to do very well on his outings. Good Luck!!

Thanks for the plug richg. How about you, finding any good stuff lately?

 

[Treasure-Diver]

Thanks for the great advice Goldpinger. It is always nice to hear from the experienced hunters. It sounds like I have the right equipment as I am hunting with a PI machine, now to take your advice to heart and find the goodies. What type of method do you use for retreiving? I must admit finding the hits is the easiest part of surf detecting retreiving is a real challenge! Good Luck and HH

 

[Treasure-Diver]

Wow! Am I embarrassed. I just re-read my last post thanking Goldpinger for his advice and forgot to thank everyone else for they great and helpful advice also! Thanks everyone. All comments and tips are greatly appreciated and thank you for taking the time to post. Good Luck to everyone and HH.

Thanks,
Frank

 

[Woody]

Everyone has their own preferences RE:surf detectors.If I had stuck with ML Excaliber 15 years ago,which I still have,I would have saved thousands trying to out do it with other machines.I prefer 8"coil.This will give you stable threshold and detecting on highly mineralized beaches.
I also try to set up either a grid pattern or concentric circles as suggested by Andy Sabich.Drag your scoop or shovel and mark where you've been,even wading,if there's not much silt to stir up.DO ONE AREA AND DO IT THOROUGHLY.Look around and make a mental note of where you are detecting,WRITE IT DOWN back at the car and go to different area close by next time.I've done this with great success. Happy hunting! Woody ;