sanded beach

[Tom_in_CA]

Truth is you CAN find good stuff anywhere, any time at the beach. Its just that the odds of finding what you want are usually poor to worse. .....

Past-tom, I would say there is sometimes wet-sand conditions, where you will NOT find a single target, no matter HOW hard you look. And no matter how much real-estate @ the inter-tidal zone you cover. If the sand "came back in" to the tune of, say ... 1 ft. over night. Then you're the lucky guy to arrive there at the time the tide has pulled out, then you will indeed find truly sterile soil.

Is it possible that someone dropped a dime or quarter there in *just* the preceding 3 hrs ? SURE ? But seriously now .... is that fruitful ?

If I arrive on the beach and can see nothing but soft-spongy "coming in" sand as-far-as-the-eye can-see, then I am certainly not going to waste time.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Get yourself a drone, fly it out and up and down the beach above the water, look for dark areas..could be a low spot ...

OBN, loved your post. In the last several years of drone development and improvements (awesome cameras, ease of use, etc...), I have often thought about employing them for beach reconn's. Because here's the drill:

You arrive at a beach, where your access point for parking is. You crane your eyes as far north, and as far south as you can possibly see. Trying like the dickens to interpret whether or not mother nature has done a cut, or scallop (dark area), or slope, etc..... You *think* you see something WWAaaayy down the beach. So you take off hiking to it. 10+ minutes later only to find that it's not truly an erosion feature (or was lack-luster) after all. Doh!

So I have mused that if a drone could be launched, you can cover quite a linear distance - and-back with a single battery. Presto, all your visual reconn. is done. You can choose to hike to various spots, or get back in your truck and drive 10 miles to the next suspected beach promontory.

 

[Pasttom]

No argument anywhere there. I know when I am low to no yield hunting. I just love to hunt I am willing to 'waste' my time. Sometimes I actually move to a more productive place. The other day I hit two good targets 100 feet from the parking lot (an often overlooked area) after a slow day.

 

[Pasttom]

Rob, I am half way between SF & LA in California. So no boating to a hunt-able island for me!