Big Boys Hobbies

Question for the California Beach Hunters Out There

wadepliskin

wadepliskin

Full Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2012
Messages
243
Location
Marysville, Washington
Hey guys,

I have read several posts about this and I was just wondering if some of the people on here could weigh in as I am trying to learn more about it.

I've read about the cuts and that's where the good stuff is, etc...

What I am more curious about is what conditions cause the cuts to happen?

Do cuts form on a normal SO Cal day when it's nice out or does there need to be some kind of rougher weather to contribute to it?
Or is it a higher tide thing?

I live up in the PNW and our conditions are way different. Ive always wanted to hit a beach down that way (if I can ever take another vacation LOL) and am just trying to educate myself :)

Thanks all,

Corey
 
The BIG cuts occur from a storm out off the Pacific from far away. Such as a tropical storm off of Mexico amongst others. It can be clear and sunny here in So.Cal when this happens. Surfers loves this. It can also be blowing 30 mph winds and pouring rain. THE KOB loves this ! (Keeps the rookies away) . High surf and extreme high and low tides are the key. Swell and wind direction play a role too. The direction upon which a storm hits here can open up areas that have not been exposed in years. Hope this helps.
 
KOB's advice is from the perspective of So. CA (south of Santa Barbara) . Which faces S to SW. So of course he's watching for tropical, and Mexico, etc... That spin swells that travel all the way across the ocean to reach south facing beaches in the USA.

And my link focuses on Monterey bay (which has beaches which face all directions, depending on which beach you're at) : http://www.mdhtalk.org/tips/toms-beach-tips/tom-beach-tips.htm

The PNW is much closer to Alaska, so you guys have been brutalized from time-to-time by Alaskan spawn storms. So beat up that .... you might have beaches where a 10 ft. cut does nothing but "get down to the clad". And again it would depend on which way that the particular beaches you have-in-mind faces.

Read the link.
 
After seeing south OC beaches I hunt have their sand pulled away then replaced like twice a year I just think targets are few, cuts or not. In water targets have been very sparse. The cuts I come across are joined by treacherous waves that want to kill me. I still haven’t been able to judge when conditions will be good - always been a crapshoot.
 
Bklein said:
After seeing south OC beaches I hunt have their sand pulled away then replaced like twice a year I just think targets are few, cuts or not. In water targets have been very sparse. The cuts I come across are joined by treacherous waves that want to kill me. I still haven’t been able to judge when conditions will be good - always been a crapshoot.
Click to expand...

Sure. Not all "cuts" are alike. Some can be cutting in sand that was only put there by dredging in the preceding years. And those always suck.

Also don't be fooled by "cuts" that happen in normally annually recurring water-paths that lead to the ocean. Ie.: the culverts/storm-drains or creek-outlets to the ocean. Since those cut the same channel year after year, after each rainy season.
 
Bklein said:
After seeing south OC beaches I hunt have their sand pulled away then replaced like twice a year I just think targets are few, cuts or not. In water targets have been very sparse. The cuts I come across are joined by treacherous waves that want to kill me. I still haven’t been able to judge when conditions will be good - always been a crapshoot.
Click to expand...

I'm very familiar with south o.c beaches. They have been very difficult for many years now. Fresh drops are the game. Some beaches down there are virtually nonexistent as compared to in the 60s and 70s. The cuts are inconsistent and a gamble. You may want to travel further south to north S.D county. You will have better success there
 
I had a day at Aliso a month ago that totally baffles me. I hit this 10’x10’ spot full of quarters (38) two scoops down on a steep slope and vicious waves thankfully lower down the slope. What the heck? No targets a mile either direction.
 
Bklein said:
I had a day at Aliso a month ago that totally baffles me. I hit this 10’x10’ spot full of quarters (38) two scoops down on a steep slope and vicious waves thankfully lower down the slope. What the heck? No targets a mile either direction.
Click to expand...
Pockets like that are common at Aliso. There can be big cuts there. Most of the finds there are from the water being puked up by the surf , because of the contour of that beach. You will NEVER be able to stroll way out during a low tide and work the wet sand. During HUGE surf that place is dangerous. Good for fresh drops in the summer. I occasionally go there , but there are better "huntable" beaches.
 
The only thing I will add is that "cuts" are often pictured as 90 degree angled drop offs from the dry sand to wet sand but steep slopes can also be very lucrative and an indication of beach erosion. GL & HH!
 
I recently moved to So Cal crossed almost all the beaches, and nothing but modern coins .. Advise which places it is even better to look please
 
Tom_in_CA said:
The correct question to ask is not: "which ? ". But rather: the correct question to ask is: "when ?"

Read my link.
Click to expand...

Exactly. When I see something like this , I think Hook has to pay his dues. I haven't spent decades on the local beaches just to give up my glory holes ! To a stranger...
 
KOB said:
Exactly. When I see something like this , I think Hook has to pay his dues. I haven't spent decades on the local beaches just to give up my glory holes ! To a stranger...
Click to expand...

Ha, but your post just hints at this being a function of "location". Yet as you know, "location" (of your glory holes) could be useless info. The much BIGGER part of the formula is : "When ?"

I've been at beaches where there are coins (inc. silver oldies, etc...) as fast as you can dig them. And I could tell you the "location". And you can go "knock yourself silly" at them today. And find ........ (drum-roll) absolutely nothing. Because you are there at the wrong time.

So the much bigger question is "when?" , not "where?"
 
Tom_in_CA said:
Ha, but your post just hints at this being a function of "location". Yet as you know, "location" (of your glory holes) could be useless info. The much BIGGER part of the formula is : "When ?"

I've been at beaches where there are coins (inc. silver oldies, etc...) as fast as you can dig them. And I could tell you the "location". And you can go "knock yourself silly" at them today. And find ........ (drum-roll) absolutely nothing. Because you are there at the wrong time.

So the much bigger question is "when?" , not "where?"
Click to expand...

Yes I am hinting. Go where people are , or have been in the past. And you're right : WHEN is the key. But if you don't have WHERE 1st , when doesn't matter. You can go to a deserted beach anywhere in the world and if there is no history of beachgoers , WHEN doesn't matter. Love your link btw. Great info for the rookies.
 
KOB said:
Yes I am hinting. Go where people are , or have been in the past. And you're right : WHEN is the key. But if you don't have WHERE 1st , when doesn't matter. You can go to a deserted beach anywhere in the world and if there is no history of beachgoers , WHEN doesn't matter. Love your link btw. Great info for the rookies.
Click to expand...

I still tend to disagree with this post. Let me give you an example :

One of the best "glory days locations" of our area, has ironically been at one of the dumpy lame "locals only dog-walking" type of beaches. Yup : No hotels, no amusement parks, not the oldest, blah blah. Yet it's provided some of my peak coin-count days (and a few of the gold coins that my buddies and I count among ourselves).

So on the one hand, it's the knee-jerk reaction to rush to the location that are A) most touristy, B) most affluent locales, C) most recreational (eg.: amusement parks, etc....), D) oldest (as opposed to locales which didn't seem to get populated till after WWII- ish).

But at one particular "dumpy locals modern beach" in my area, has ironically had the highest coin counts of any of the local md'rs recollections. Why ? : Because it faces an open window to the ocean, and is thus most-prone to perpetual in/out erosion cycles.

Granted, this perpetual sand movement of eroding and in-fills means the silver coins are worthless grey sand-blasted disks. Doh! And yes, if the area isn't affluent or touristy, then sure, your ring ratios drop down .

But still, when it comes to choosing "which beach do I go to when the swells/storms are hitting ?": The affluence, the history, the tourism-levels, etc.... are utterly meaningless. Because if mother nature isn't eroding there, then it simply doesn't matter what the history-of-the-beach-goers is.
 
Thank. For me this is something new, since I came here from eastern Europe, there is a different specificity.
Here I am only 2 months and I know neither WHEN nor WHERE))
I do not ask for a specific spot to indicate, of course, but at least WHEN then and give some direction
or hints
 
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