First time at the beach, need tips

beeryboats · Mar 15, 2017

Hi guys, my first question you answered was getting to the beach. Now I'm asking what I should know as a real newby going to the beach for the first time. I have an At pro, but I don't plan on getting wet above my knees. We're going to Sanibel Island this spring and need some tips. I have been unable to work any beaches here in Indiana due to the park rangers running me off. I'm really looking forward to public beaches as everything here is either private property or park land which you can't hunt. So what little hunting I've done is on my own property. Like I said, I'm new. So any settings on the AT Pro or search tips would be awesome!
Thanks,
Jay

MrNovice · Mar 15, 2017

Fresh water or salt water? Got a sand scoop? Dig all foil targets to get the gold!

NectarDetector · Mar 15, 2017

Wear sunglasses to enjoy the scenery without being obvious...

schmitzplumbing · Mar 15, 2017

that's florida salt water. I haven't heard a lot of good things about the at pro and salt water. best of luck. hopefully someone else chimes in with some helpful tips.

metaladdict · Mar 15, 2017

You can use the atpro in saltwater but it falses alot, so just dig repeatable sounds.
I mean if you hear a signal that is consistantly there in one spot it is
probably a real target.
I found I can only find high sounds meaning silver.
Good luck.Happy hunting.

Chipk · Mar 15, 2017

As stated you must ground balance a lot. Go from dry sand to wet...ground balance. Wet sand to water...ground balance. Wet sand to dry... ground balance. In fact do it constantly.

NectarDetector · Mar 15, 2017

Chipk said:
As stated you must ground balance a lot. Go from dry sand to wet...ground balance. Wet sand to water...ground balance. Wet sand to dry... ground balance. In fact do it constantly.

Do you think he should ground balance often though?

dewcon · Mar 16, 2017

Single freq machines do not transition well or make the best salt water machines. dry sanding .........now there you have an advantage over multi freq on smaller gold. Figure out what iron and a bottle cap are and kick or dig the rest.... until you know what you are digging. How do you eat an elephant? one bite at a time.

As far as Ind..... odd, i used to get permission and a permit for state parks. But normally they wouldnt let you hunt in the water during the summer. BUT... the gold didnt go anywhere. I even hunted the national forests.... said you could hunt any developed/disturbed areas. Things change.

Dew

Mud-puppy · Mar 16, 2017

Do a few tests with tabs and pennys and nickels..see what settings sort of work and what kind of depth your gear is capable of...then set up and hunt accordingly...as mentioned, on the wet salt, you may discover that these familiar signals are NOT what they should be....yet, you should hear a ping that denotes theres 'something' there...

So dig it all and very quickly you will understand the parameters/constraints you are up against...

Even up here on Lake Michigan with my AtPro on the heavy magnetic black sand things do not sound like they should...and, a guy has to go a bit slower on the swing so the rig can 'process' through the mess...

Use all your senses..constantly be looking for cuts, washouts, deeper areas or even trash on the beach....Its a study...I think you will do fine if you approach this challenge with intent and reason...You will certainly learn something that you can do a post about to help the Forum...Good Luck!

Cfmct · Mar 16, 2017

beeryboats said:
Hi guys, my first question you answered was getting to the beach. Now I'm asking what I should know as a real newby going to the beach for the first time. I have an At pro, but I don't plan on getting wet above my knees. We're going to Sanibel Island this spring and need some tips. I have been unable to work any beaches here in Indiana due to the park rangers running me off. I'm really looking forward to public beaches as everything here is either private property or park land which you can't hunt. So what little hunting I've done is on my own property. Like I said, I'm new. So any settings on the AT Pro or search tips would be awesome!
Thanks,
Jay

http://gometaldetecting.com/tips-beach.htm

Mud-puppy · Mar 16, 2017

Taking a single freak into the salt...You just gotta know, you are bringing a knife to a gunfight...With this in mind, to perform effectively, you gotta get in close..

The AtPro has a great reputation for hitting gold... specifically chains...you may indeed hear a chain that a multifreak missed....so yeah...know your machine and what it is able to do in those conditions...dig it all...

vetteb_96 · Mar 16, 2017

My ATPro works well in Michigan fresh water. I took it to Florida a couple times. It was a real pain in the saltwater. I ended up staying on dry sand.

I found and returned a wedding ring that was lost the day before I arrived on one Florida trip (again dry sand).

I now have an Excal II for this years Florida trip. :cool:

KirkS · Mar 16, 2017

I would leave the ATPro at home, and rent an Excal, Sand Shark, e-trac, Dual PI, CZ-21 or something else more so designed for or more capable of handling wet salt sand. I think it would be a more enjoyable experience, and you won't have to deal with packing your ATPro for the trip. Trying to hear an actual target thorugh all the chatter I think will make the experience more frustrating then fun.

beeryboats · Mar 16, 2017

Thanks guys! That is a wealth of information. So far all I've found is bottle caps tossed by my neighbor in my yard. So I'm looking forward to this trip. Sounds like I better stick to dry sand, specially around good looking women. :shock:

I was wondering about the best places at the beach to look, be it the surf line, in the water, or up higher.

State parks and campgrounds will not let you hunt here. I even got shot down at a private campground beach in western Ohio.

As far as sand scoops go, would a small plastic hand scoop be the ticket for a traveler like me?

First time at the beach, need tips

beeryboats

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MrNovice

NectarDetector

schmitzplumbing

metaladdict

Elite Member

Chipk

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NectarDetector

dewcon

Quality Control Expert

Mud-puppy

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Cfmct

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Mud-puppy

vetteb_96

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KirkS

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beeryboats

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