Anyone hunt Fort Myers beach, Florida?

joefish72

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Joined
Dec 28, 2012
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281
Location
Fort Myers, FL
I was out there late today with the kids. Saw two other guys swinging and it didn't look like they were having much luck. We found $1.97 in clad up in the dry sand. I was surprised that only about 1-2 inches of the sand is soft, under that it is rock hard. I was glad we decided to bring the shovel because a few coins were 4 inches and the little trowel barely scraped into the hard pack.

I figure that beach must get picked over pretty good because we didn't get too much trash. I would say 80% of the hits we got were coins, the rest was foil and only 2 pop tops. I have a theory about a good spot to detect at that beach and once I get to it I'll let everyone know if I figured something out.
 
I think CS said it had been replenished. Also a lot of that hard pan is from the river. Ive hunted it once... found some odds and ends silver.

Dew
 
Everybody hunts FMB. There are so many hunters it is hunted in shifts. In addition 2 miles of the beach was just re-nourished last year with 300 yards, yes 3 football fields of new dry sand from 1.5 miles offshore that was a WWII bombing and practice range for the fighters from page field and Buckingham air base. Lots off WWII bullets and bomb fragments when the sand moves in additions to lots of can slaw from the shrimping fleet. It's a wonderful beach to hunt. :grin:

You might get lucky on a fresh drop, it does happen.
 
Have you tried sanabel or captiva?

I've seen a couple doing sanabel islands (on the way to sanabel) but didnt know how much they did as they were on the picnic areas and not the beach
 
Everybody hunts FMB. There are so many hunters it is hunted in shifts. In addition 2 miles of the beach was just re-nourished last year with 300 yards, yes 3 football fields of new sand from 1.5 miles offshore that was a WWII bombing and practice range for the fighters from page field and Buckingham air base. Lots off WWII bullets and bomb fragments when the sand moves in additions to lots of can slaw from the shrimping fleet. It's a wonderful beach to hunt. :grin:

You might get lucky on a fresh drop, it does happen.

That sounds like our beaches over here...
 
Have you tried sanabel or captiva?

I've seen a couple doing sanabel islands (on the way to sanabel) but didnt know how much they did as they were on the picnic areas and not the beach

I do all the areas around there.

The free parking areas from A span to picnic areas have a lot of caps, tabs, and fishing weights.
Lighthouse beach just depends on what day you go.
Captiva seems to be pretty clean - not a lot of hits but I seem to find more clad there for some reason.
Bowmans beach must be the drinking spot. Caps and tabs every other swing it seems.

Any of you ever take your boat and try hitting the sand bars/islands?
I'm thinking about trying that for a change. I just want to do a little research to make sure it's ok to do that....
 
SW Florida beaches are picked over by the day,,,,bring ice cold water cause you will be getting a work out swinging,,,,may find something here and there, but other than that, you will doing community service (as Dew says), now with snow birds here,,,,we have 3 times the hunters we had a couple months back

Captiva and Sanibel are small spread out beaches that go for miles,,,really hit or miss,,
 
Im hoping ft myers and the islands are good cos i am moving there in a couple of years, tend to go there at xmas and new year and was hoping to do some detecting around there....even tempted to do the mding in key west on the day/weekend trips from there.

I know theres probably better finds here in massachusetts but damn, those islands and ft myers are just too warm and tempting...does probably explain why the only lace o could find that rented machines was in cape coral.

Are there an better paces to hunt nr fort myers...remember this could sway where i move to..so think hard and dont say massachusetts cos i heard that one already...lol
 
Im hoping ft myers and the islands are good cos i am moving there in a couple of years, tend to go there at xmas and new year and was hoping to do some detecting around there....even tempted to do the mding in key west on the day/weekend trips from there.

I know theres probably better finds here in massachusetts but damn, those islands and ft myers are just too warm and tempting...does probably explain why the only lace o could find that rented machines was in cape coral.

Are there an better paces to hunt nr fort myers...remember this could sway where i move to..so think hard and dont say massachusetts cos i heard that one already...lol

I'll put it this way, I have lived in this area for 24 years and now drive to the other coast to do most of my hunting. If I want a day of exercise, I'll hunt our local area beaches, but targets are scarce in most areas. I was in MA this summer, now you HAVE some water hunting up there. I couldn't believe the targets, I thought my machine was broke it made so much noise. :)
 
Are there an better paces to hunt nr fort myers...remember this could sway where i move to..so think hard and dont say massachusetts cos i heard that one already...lol

The answer is yes and all you have to do is think about where "A LOT" of people might come together. Maybe a park that holds concerts, there is a field near me that gets used for soccer, football, baseball, and other random things. I plan to hit that one hard in the summer because in the last 4 years watching my kids on the field I've never seen hide nor hair of a detector working the area.
 
The answer is yes and all you have to do is think about where "A LOT" of people might come together. Maybe a park that holds concerts, there is a field near me that gets used for soccer, football, baseball, and other random things. I plan to hit that one hard in the summer because in the last 4 years watching my kids on the field I've never seen hide nor hair of a detector working the area.

I think I got that one cleaned out. Cleaned out a lot of clad and 2 silver rings Joefish.

Some of the local places give me nothing. Others up to $9.00

Fort Myers Beach ?? I've done better in the parking lot ! Sanibel ? Well I get goood exercise walking but VERY little clad and no jewelry. Someday I might have to head east like CS does.
 
After reading all the dim reports about Ft Myers Beach hunters I don't feel so bad about what I found there last October. Only 1 silver ring, about $30 in clad and lots of bullets and trash. I did better in the Keys in November.
 
Oh .... looking for a place to move to detect??? Ummmm Alaska better than the Gulf :laughing:

Dew
 
Oh .... looking for a place to move to detect??? Ummmm Alaska better than the Gulf :laughing:

Dew

Funny you should mention Alaska. I was stationed at Elemendorf AFB and believe me, there is some gold up there. That is where I started prospecting. I would love to nugget shoot those streams up there with a detector now.
 
CS i thought about putting Ft Meyers on my list to hit with this DF, but there wasnt a lack of targets in the water.... just a lack of good ones. Out about waist deep like you said picking thru the settled cans can be a chore. A PI in that area would be nuts. People work those areas in closer.... slim pickens there but still pull tabs and other undesirables. Believe me i got my share of junk that day. Advantage there thou is the river keeps the water a little darker means if they drop it ... its gone.

Dew
 
CS i thought about putting Ft Meyers on my list to hit with this DF, but there wasnt a lack of targets in the water.... just a lack of good ones. Out about waist deep like you said picking thru the settled cans can be a chore. A PI in that area would be nuts. People work those areas in closer.... slim pickens there but still pull tabs and other undesirables. Believe me i got my share of junk that day. Advantage there thou is the river keeps the water a little darker means if they drop it ... its gone.

Dew
No doubt about the dark tannic acid water from the river and if the swimmers do drop it. it's gone. I guess that is why with the number of hunter here now, some are carrying butterfly nets, they don't give it a chance to hit the bottom. :lol:
 
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