Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Feeling a bit lost at the beach

C

Crown Cap Mike

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2016
Messages
46
Ok, so I'm pretty new to beach detecting and felling a bit lost. I have been out three times and a week apart each time. I'm in Spain and have about 20 keeper targets (7 euros), to about 100 trash items. This is over about 10 hours cumulative.

I usually hit the towel line first (most of my finds) then I go to the water at low tide and not getting many signals of any kind at all. Then I hit random areas of interest in between like low areas and cuts.

I have not hit one pice of jewelry of any kind (junk or keeper). Most finds are pull tabs, bottle caps, foil, and euro change with an occasional peseta. The towel line can be trashy but not bad at all. Between waist deep during low tide and the towel line it gets very quiet to the point that I check to make sure it is turned on.

I'm using an AT Pro for everything till I get the new Seahunter coil in the mail. The AT does very well as long as I keep tabs on the ground balance and keep sensitivity in the middle.

I don't believe it is overly hunted. I see 2-3 others out in the morning. They zigzag the towel line at a fast pace and go home.

Ideas?

Mike
 
Mike, I can not help you with the AT Pro but I can shed some light on beach detecting. Time swinging and luck go a long way. You said you saw 2-3 guys detecting in the morning. Think about the guys you don't see. A lot of times I believe I have an area all to myself at 4,5 or 6 in the morning only to find holes or the imprint from their coil in the sand. If it's possible try detecting at different hours to see your competition. If you have a lot adjust your detecting schedule to beat them there if that is possible. My favorite and most productive spot has someone going in there (illegally) at night (between 10 pm and 5 am) and beating me. I figured out what he was doing and I now go twice a week before this spot closes and beat the night detecter to the good stuff. Good luck and keep persistent.
 
Once you get your coil and have a working water unit the equation in the water will change if there isn't anyone else getting wet. Most of the gold is in the water. Your percentage of good targets also increases, although I must say dry sand produces WAY much more clad for me and cleaner too!

I personally have seen up to 12 hunters at Miami Beach during a 4-5 hour period over a 1/2 mile section. AND there are hunters that go at night as well. So in one particular section such as that there may be 20 or more scouring it on a daily basis. Even trash is sometimes hard to come by.
 
Don't give up. You've got to keep at it. The stuff is there you just have to get your coil over it. I went in the water today for 3 hours and got a few coins and a few fishing weights. Thus is the hobby :)
 
What are some indicators of a good beach for detectorist. I have 18 beaches on this stretch of coast that I have been granted a permit for from the state. I'm new to the beach but if this were a new land permission or park I think I would be moving to the next. I just don't want to move on prematurely due to uneducation.
 
Get to the beach before the other guys,also just keep trying
one day you will find the gold after someone dropped it:yes:
 
10 hours is nothing. Just keep pounding the sand, gold will come when you least expect it.

People look at the forums and think we find gold every hunt.. the reality is that we just don't post when we don't find gold. I haven't found gold in the last 5 4 hour hunts...
 
Kapidr said:
Don't give up. You've got to keep at it. The stuff is there you just have to get your coil over it. I went in the water today for 3 hours and got a few coins and a few fishing weights. Thus is the hobby :)
Click to expand...

And that's from a woman who consistently out-detects everybody else on this forum!!!

And remember you're looking for a very small needle in a massive haystack! It's a matter of patience, perseverance, skill, machine and a HUGE amount of luck. If you zig when you should have zagged, you may have just missed a beautiful ring by inches. Once I reached a "turn around" point and turned right and hit a great ring. If I had turned to the left, I'd have missed it totally.

Luck.
 
Chipk said:
And that's from a woman who consistently out-detects everybody else on this forum!!!

And remember you're looking for a very small needle in a massive haystack! It's a matter of patience, perseverance, skill, machine and a HUGE amount of luck. If you zig when you should have zagged, you may have just missed a beautiful ring by inches. Once I reached a "turn around" point and turned right and hit a great ring. If I had turned to the left, I'd have missed it totally.

Luck.
Click to expand...

Aw thanks! But nah I just post more than most cuz I'm lonely like that :) I'm sure others are finding great stuff and just not spilling the beans. There's been many many many days where I get nothing like today.

If you detect for the enjoyment you'll stick with it I think. If you detect for the gold you'll probably give up quickly. It is said that you'll dig and average 1000 targets before you find a gold ring. I think that's an understatement :)
 
Beach detecting takes time to learn where and when you can expect to find good targets. I prefer to detect during the last hour of the outgoing tide and the first hour of the incoming. You may detect for hours and only have one target and it may be a bottle cap. Finding gold and silver jewelry is not an easy task.

Depending on how long I have available to detect I will work the beach slope and the towel line.

My last gold drought lasted 10 months and I was at the beach frequently. .
 
Crown Cap Mike said:
..... Ideas? .....
Click to expand...

You've got to figure out when the wet-sand inter-tidal zone is eroding, and hit it then. When mother nature pulls out the sand, she leaves behind neatly arranged beds of heavier targets.

When you've ever been in an area the size of your living room, and dug 200+ targets, you'll be so spoiled that you'll never go back to dry sand hunting again.
 
Crown Cap Mike said:
Ok, so I'm pretty new to beach detecting and felling a bit lost. I have been out three times and a week apart each time. I'm in Spain and have about 20 keeper targets (7 euros), to about 100 trash items. This is over about 10 hours cumulative.

I usually hit the towel line first (most of my finds) then I go to the water at low tide and not getting many signals of any kind at all. Then I hit random areas of interest in between like low areas and cuts.

I have not hit one pice of jewelry of any kind (junk or keeper). Most finds are pull tabs, bottle caps, foil, and euro change with an occasional peseta. The towel line can be trashy but not bad at all. Between waist deep during low tide and the towel line it gets very quiet to the point that I check to make sure it is turned on.

I'm using an AT Pro for everything till I get the new Seahunter coil in the mail. The AT does very well as long as I keep tabs on the ground balance and keep sensitivity in the middle.

I don't believe it is overly hunted. I see 2-3 others out in the morning. They zigzag the towel line at a fast pace and go home.

Ideas?

Mike
Click to expand...

I would get turn your sensitivity up as high as you can. A little chatter is ok.
The towel line can be productive but pay attention to the beach, theres a lot of other places people are at.
One place, where people go the beach and leave the beach.....
Also keep your disc down low, I haven't used an AT pro in awhile but I think no higher than 20 was about right for me. You want to hear ALL the foil, don't disc any of that out. Its ok if you dig a little iron too....
 
Hang in there and read the post of those who produce the goods day after day. As the old saying goes, it is feast or famine. It your coil is not over the target you may as well missed it a mile. It takes time and luck and knowing your machine as well as being able to read the beach conditions. I was out 8 hours yesterday and came home with a dime a hot wheels car and a sinker. But I'll be back out there again this evening. Good hunting.
 
- 10 hrs is nothing. If I found gold every 10hrs I would make a career of detecting.

- Learn your beaches...where to hunt and when

- There are more guys out than what you see

- Your beaches could be sanded in...meaning very clean. This is where learning your beaches comes in

- The AT Pro isn't the best beach machine. Its not made for wet salt sand so its not going to do very well in that part of the beach. Multi frequency detectors are made for that. But it can do ok and will do well on the dry sand. But depth could be an issue.

- Keep going at it. Metal detecting is tough. I had a guy ask me the other day if I find a ring every time I detect. I said more like 1 out of 20 times if I am lucky will I find gold. Between competition out there and being in the right place at the right time its not very easy to find gold on my beaches.

- Remember this is a hobby for fun. You are not going to always find good stuff. Sometimes I am on a streak and find like 5 rings in 1 day or over the course of a week. Then I am dry for 2-3 months. That's just how it works.
 
Patience and persistence it the key. I hit the beach for at least a couple of hours everyday. That being said it took me from January until today to find a gold ring (6 month drought).

Some days you find nothing and other days you spend the majority of your time digging the signals. Take your time, go slow and never quit! In fact make that beach so clean that no other MD'ers will hit it. They'll all just say, "its hunted out".

Good luck and keep hammering away
 
I detecting the drysand for a summer.. Found lots of coins, silver rings but never gold..

I think you will do better once you hit the water
 
Well, I was able to get out for low tide tonight. First time on this beach at night. Low tide was 11:50 and I got out at 11:00pm and left at 2:00am. Beautiful night and big moon lighting the way.

I am still with the AT Pro until the Seahunter gets its new coil in. I came across one other hunter tonight and saw some grid paths from another.

Even though I dug 30 targets almost everything was crown caps off Cruzcampo beer bottles, pull tabs or foil. I did get one 50 euro cent coin. Derpest target I dug was 6 inches.

I'll keep swinging.
 
Crown Cap Mike said:
... Even though I dug 30 targets almost everything was crown caps off Cruzcampo beer bottles, pull tabs or foil. I did get one 50 euro cent coin. .....
Click to expand...

Seeing as how you specify in this, that you were hunting the wet sand (since you allude to "low tide"), your post is very revealing:

The mere fact that you are getting tabs and foil on the wet, tells me right there that you were into horrible conditions. If the sand is "going out" you will get absolutely zero foil and tabs. Mother nature will wash out all the light stuff, leaving only heavy targets.

If I ever start finding foil on the wet salt beach, is the minute I pack up and leave for greener grounds. Light weight targets are a bad sign on the wet.

Google "Tom's beach tips" and you'll get some info on how/where/when beach erosion occurs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

LongJohnSilver1
FEATURED I found Ralph
Replies
19
Views
323
Caribbeanson
Caribbeanson
Scubacat
FEATURED Strange Pendant
Replies
18
Views
429
Rock Jock
Rock Jock
W
I found a turtle today
Replies
7
Views
317
KOB
KOB
romyrome
Gold 1st Target, Silver & A New Friend
Replies
15
Views
420
romyrome
romyrome
FelixtheCat
My 3rd Class Ring! 14k - And Last 2 Apple Filled Hunts
Replies
15
Views
429
FelixtheCat
FelixtheCat
Back
Top Bottom