2017 Beach Hunting Tips

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Mar 30, 2015
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Just looking to share some secrets and tips for beach hunting. I have generally been keeping up high, around the edges and entrances because when I stray anywhere else I tend not to find anything. I am yet to have a serious go trying in the water. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Ive found that anywhere around the beach that has eroded is usually a nice sweet spot especially after a storm where old items from land above become detectable.

Using a garett at pro.
 
Gday wtg, I was down at the beach this arvo, found 11 coins all up plus a pre dec and a pair of ray bans, like you I found most at the dune/sandy beach edge.
I covered A LOT of ground further down in the middle of the beach and at the waters edge yet found nothing.
I saw one other guy detecting, he didnt hang around long, but I'm thinking this beach gets a hammering from folks.
I was also there the other day, but the beach was really busy so I searched a fence line that isnt even an official track but people do walk down it, I found more coins, a silver pre dec and a cell phone there than all the beach I covered today.
Was wondering today about something like a minelab excalibur 2 to get into the water and if its any better being in the water itself.
All up a good day, even if I found nothing its good to go to the beach, chat to some folks and get some sea air.
 
Sounds like a solid day Kai! Hoping to hear about peoples experience in beach water hunting to get a better idea as well!
 
Where'stheGold said:
Sounds like a solid day Kai! Hoping to hear about peoples experience in beach water hunting to get a better idea as well!

same, would like to know from any experienced people out there.
I have noticed so far in my short detecting career that I have good results thinking outside the box, like the fence line, everyone would walk past it to detect the beach because they would be focused on the beach and not some crappy looking fenceline running parallel to the beach.
 
Working in or near the water is not always the easiest place to detect with a VLF, a compromise on stability over depth is usually the state of play, hence you may struggle to pick up on many deeper targets (more for the multi frequency/PI brigade). As you mentioned, erosion or cuts in the beach are your best bet, or wait till the beach has eroded to steep angle to pick out any possible coin lines.

Anywhere where I see rocks starting to protrude through the sand (gutters, steeply cut beach), they are obvious traps for coins, silver and gold. Even if you see a horizon of larger pebbles/stones say at the bottom of the beach, they can also hold a few good finds.

Checkout the areas under jetties, aside from the obvious sinkers, over the years many other items may have dropped through the cracks or over the edges.

Try either side of river/creel outfalls, they can significantly slow down the movement of sand along a beach, and hence let targets drop out and even concentrate in particular areas.

You may have to set your ground balance manually for the wet sand if the "pumping method" doesn't GB properly, also be prepared to drop the sensitivity way back to get the detector to run stable enough without a ton of falsing. Run the coil an inch or two off the wet surface, this will also help to prevent falsing - dig only repeatable targets that don't jump all over the place. If you dig what you think is a good target, and find the target moves or disappears after excavating a hole, you will probably find it is just falsing off the salt.

Lastly, get a decent sturdy sand scoop, you will never know how you managed without one after giving them a go.
 
Thanks Goldpick, some nice info and advice there! Havent had a scoop until now but picked up this $10 dog poo claw to try out the other day. :cool:
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