Surf digging! Need advice

Chipk · Oct 6, 2013

Ok am trying to learn how to move my dry hunting into the salty wet. Have a Tesoro Sand Shark for saltwater hunting and I need some advice on how to recover my signals in the surf. Due to rough water and a physical issue I'm primarily staying in shallow waters.
First of all this beach I hunt is VERY clean and heavily hunted so I don't want to miss any targets. Today I was between knee and waist deep but the signals I got were where the surf was breaking. Let me also say I have two long handled scoops. One has a 10 inch opening and the other has about a 16 inch mouth. The second is the one I use in the water. It is heavy but makes a good size hole.
Today I got a couple of nice signals but failed to recover them. When I got the signal I placed my coil over the spot and waited for the next wave to pass. Then I put the scoop in front facing the direction where the returning surge would come and scooped. I then checked again with the coil and usually The target would still be there and I'd repeat the process, waiting for the opportunity to scoop again. Sadly the target usually washed away leaving me empty handed. One hit I probably spent ten to fifteen minutes doing this until I finally had a matchbox car in the scoop. I was practically exhausted fighting the surf and sand.
Now I know it shouldn't be this difficult and can't imagine what deeper water would be like. Any suggestions besides staying on the beach? :?:

Jason in Enid · Oct 6, 2013

OK, it does take some practice to get used to surf recovery but here is my method. When you get the target pinpointed, push the coil straight down to mark the spot. Place your foot behind the coil, toes pointed towards the coil center. Then move the coil away and place your scoop above your foot, with the leading edge on the sand right in front of your toes at about a 45 degree angle. When the waves are "right" take your scoop and let the surf pull the sand away. DO NOT MOVE YOUR FOOT. If you didn't get the target then try a couple more scoops. If still no luck, start working around the hole in a circle, widening and deepening it until you have the target or are ready to give up.

OBN · Oct 6, 2013

Once out on the dry sand practice hunting n digging with your eyes closed, Once mastered go out without the detector n scoop deep n get use to the timing, beating, the feel, wear a PFD, get to know your limits. Then do as Jason has instructed,

DaviDs · Oct 7, 2013

Don't kid yourself, our Atlantic beaches are brutal...especially compared to the Gulf. Coming closer to shore or going further out may help stabilize yourself and the target. However, there are a lot of posts on here about guys that drowned, lost their equipment, etc. because they were too far out and/or hit by waves that sent them under. If you decide to venture out, see if you can find someone to go with you or at least spot you & call for help in the event of an emergency.

-David

mtruxfan · Oct 7, 2013

I had my first attempt at surf hinting last month. Very different from hunting the dirt for sire. I tried to scoop and recheck the hole as fast as I could. Its gotta be like anything else, the more you do it the better you get. The waters rough though. GL and HH

imalookin2 · Oct 7, 2013

DnD said:
Don't kid yourself, our Atlantic beaches are brutal...especially compared to the Gulf. Coming closer to shore or going further out may help stabilize yourself and the target. However, there are a lot of posts on here about guys that drowned, lost their equipment, etc. because they were too far out and/or hit by waves that sent them under. If you decide to venture out, see if you can find someone to go with you or at least spot you & call for help in the event of an emergency.

-David

David said it all. Your beaches are not hunted in the water much. Water hunting is best on bays and gulfs. Along the eastern US the beaches have waves and currents that those other beaches normally do not have. Winds out of the west might allow you to hunt on some days without getting beat up. A sandbar blocking the waves might allow you to hunt during low tide. The rest of the time you will be on the wet sand. Nothing out there anyway........

imalookin2 · Oct 7, 2013

Not here. You set your scoop, then blow off the target by 5 feet. You scoot back looking for the target and find it as soon as another wave blows you off it by 3 feet. Then you scoot back looking for the target and dig fast while you see a face full of wave pass over your headphones. "Don't move your foot". heheeee, man you are killing me. DUDE, that is reality where he and I live. Yea, don't move your foot..... :laughing:

Jason in Enid said:
OK, it does take some practice to get used to surf recovery but here is my method. When you get the target pinpointed, push the coil straight down to mark the spot. Place your foot behind the coil, toes pointed towards the coil center. Then move the coil away and place your scoop above your foot, with the leading edge on the sand right in front of your toes at about a 45 degree angle. When the waves are "right" take your scoop and let the surf pull the sand away. DO NOT MOVE YOUR FOOT. If you didn't get the target then try a couple more scoops. If still no luck, start working around the hole in a circle, widening and deepening it until you have the target or are ready to give up.

Right Brain · Oct 7, 2013

Fan with feet and use a weight belt.

When in need, use the fanning method with your feet, some call it the marching technique.

Simply stomp down with either one or both feet, keep stomping or marching over where you think the target it. What you'll be doing is fanning the sand from underneath your feet. This is the quickest way to dig underwater. Note when you reach the hard packed, gravel layer, that's where the target should will be.

This technique is good for multiple scenarios. You may just want to mark the spot, or you suspect the target might be on the side of the hole, or you don't know where, or you expect the target to be deep and want a head start before you scoop...

Just be careful and a warning, fanning with feet is so quick you can dig yourself into a deep hole within seconds!

Another thing that will help you in the surf is a weight belt. It will help you not get knocked around as much against the waves.

DaviDs · Oct 7, 2013

JAX beach photos ---- from worse to bad to average to being on the migration route of S-H-A-R-K-S

itsaring! · Oct 7, 2013

Digging in our surf is like being in a train crash. You have to choose the days it involves a car. Not another locomotive. I use a scoop with a rope with a loop in it. When you are fixing to get hammered, stick your scoop deep where you are wanting to dig and when the wave knocks you off the target, you use the loop like a handle for ski boarding. Lots of targets that float out of your scoop are zinc pennies and pulltabs. You'll also have targets you won't ever reach because the sand keeps filling back in like an hour glass. You need to practice the pinpointing as OBN says. Blind folded or eyes closed. We can't see bottom here anyways unless it is real shallow water. If there is a current you need to learn how to slide your scoop down your leg to reach the dig zone.

Chipk · Oct 7, 2013

Thanks to everybody! All good advice. As ITSARING said the sand flows right back into the hole and that's my biggest challenge. Think I'm pinpointing accurately because I'm staying on the signal it's just getting the target into the scoop that's killing me.
Also does everyone use large scoops? My smaller one is much lighter and would be physically easier to use but would dig smaller. Might be a good swap off.
So if you see someone struggling to recover a bottle cap in the NE Florida surf, wave!
It will be me....
Also LOVED the pics! So true. So true.

hunter1 · Oct 7, 2013

Jason in Enid said:
OK, it does take some practice to get used to surf recovery but here is my method. When you get the target pinpointed, push the coil straight down to mark the spot. Place your foot behind the coil, toes pointed towards the coil center. Then move the coil away and place your scoop above your foot, with the leading edge on the sand right in front of your toes at about a 45 degree angle. When the waves are "right" take your scoop and let the surf pull the sand away. DO NOT MOVE YOUR FOOT. If you didn't get the target then try a couple more scoops. If still no luck, start working around the hole in a circle, widening and deepening it until you have the target or are ready to give up.

x2,Thats what i do. Also play the tides. Low tide you can go out were deeper water was.

Crumble · Oct 7, 2013

You east coasters and your little girly waves are so cute! :laughing:

As OBN said, learn to dig targets on the wet sand with your eyes closed, then move to the water. When in the water dig a scoop, scan hole quickly, if target is still in the hole dump scoop quickly and get scoop into the hole asap. Rinse repeat.

A lot of times I will use the scoop that is dug into the sand as support to help hold myself in place as walls of white wash try to push me around. So I'll pinpoint the target, bury the scoop head in the sand, then watch the incoming waves. If one is coming soon, I wait and use scoop as support, if I have time I will pull up scoop, check hole for target, and replant scoop before another wave comes if the target is still in the ground.

robby4570 · Oct 7, 2013

Crumble said:
You east coasters and your little girly waves are so cute!

As OBN said, learn to dig targets on the wet sand with your eyes closed, then move to the water.

When in the water dig a scoop, scan hole quickly, if target is still in the hole dump scoop quickly and get scoop into the hole asap.

Rinse repeat.

That will work but I have pulled 3 coins out of one hole before. So I make sure I dump the scoop each time in the same place so that I can go back after no target is in the hole any longer and scan the "tailings" pile... I have found more targets this way quite a few times.

Sandbox · Oct 7, 2013

Rip currents are nasty here, a lot of people drown due to them. There are days you might as well just stay at home then attempt to go into the surf too far.

Malibu · Oct 14, 2013

I'm glad you water digger veterans have given all of us newbies some insight into digging with waves coming at you. I've tried to envision what it would be like and you guys have pretty much confirmed what I thought. Worst case scenario is that you drown. Next worst case is that you lose your machine, then your scoop.

imalookin2 · Oct 14, 2013

Malibu said:
I'm glad you water digger veterans have given all of us newbies some insight into digging with waves coming at you. I've tried to envision what it would be like and you guys have pretty much confirmed what I thought. Worst case scenario is that you drown. Next worst case is that you lose your machine, then your scoop.

Anyone who knows better will not be out there. No wonder why water hunting in bays or gulfs are preferred. The photos DND showed are not our normal surf but just a foot of surf is a lot. The east coast Atlantic Ocean faces open water. Even on days where you can hunt the water the targets are buried. Chance of you finding gold out there is slim. They are there but the sand is too thick.

Surf digging! Need advice

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