So. Ca. can have some good hunting, but this year hasn't really been anything to brag about. With those stupid Whites detector comercials, every yahoo around thinks he's going to make a living treasure hunting. Now they're ALL on the beach and people are being more cautious about even wearing their jewelry to the beach. The secret is as lab rat said above, do the research in your own neck of the woods. Hunt alot of areas and stick with the ones that produce on a regular basis. I have been hunting a beach known for the rich tourists that flock there, but this year it seems all of the gold is in the water, not on the beach. Our club members all have been hitting the low tides in the early am's and doing quite well. One even had a $2000 diamond wedding set that had been soldered together. The winter storms are what make good gold hunting possible, when they strip off the thick layers of sand that have accumulated during the summer and turn over the bottom, throwing the rings shoreward. The nice thing about winter is the tides are in the daytime instead of the middle of the night. Most of the guys that find real nice gold out here are retired and can spend 50+ hrs a week at it (they don't tell you that when they put their rings on the internet), some are insomniacs that like water and early morning walks. Do tides affect the Great Lakes enough to make the beaches appear and dissappear with rising and falling tides? Being an Ocean person and not an inlander, it's just a question I had. Obviously, I have figured out by now that the Great Lakes aren't salt water (except for the Great Salt Lake!). LOL
