Saturday morning I hit a beach for a 2.5 hour beach hunt, I was expecting some erosion with recent high winds and surf.
Unfortunately the main beach was sanded-in with no cuts, so I decided to search an area I have always done well at in the past.
The rocky outcrops away from the main beach area had sand remove from between the piles of rocks, making them interesting places to search for jewelry and coins.
Although this stretch is not as busy as the main beach, it sees its fair share of people snorkeling around the rocks.
Eagle eyed blog viewers may recognize these rocks from previous jewelry shots I have posted in the past.
This youtube video shows the moment I pulled the 14 K gold chain out of the hole, I stopped to turn on my GoPro hoping a gold pendant was attached, no such luck this time, but hey you never know.
https://youtu.be/MLFTX-qFagI
My initial plan was to search any cuts I saw at the main beach, cuts at a beach act as jewelry or coin traps, small or sometimes large vertical walls of sand that jewelry and coins get trapped against.
The rock piles I searched away from the main beach are also jewelry and coin traps, only you do not always have to wait for high winds or waves to make them productive.
In this case sand was washed away from between the rocks, but I have recovered plenty of gold chains and gold rings close to the rocks without any sand washed away.
I usually use a smaller search coil when looking for jewelry and coins close to rock piles, as they often have a lot of bottle caps and can slaw in and around the piles.
Rocky outcrops are natural jewelry and coin traps at the beach, and not just around the rocks.
Large rocks sometimes have cracks and small pockets that jewelry and coins can get washed into, this is the main reason I usually carry a pin-pointer with me to the beach.
Get ready for some serious fun if you search over rocks that were previously covered in several feet of sand.
I will try adding videos to all my upcoming beach and water hunting blogs, early days so please excuse my rookie video production and please subscribe to my youtube channel.
HH Gary
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Less is often more when using a metal detector with a screen
Metal detectors with screens are becoming extremely popular with beach hunters, I use one myself.
Although I only use the display readouts as a second opinion, I still rely on my ears when making my digging decisions.
When you use a combination of audio and display screen target information, it helps if you have accurate read outs.
This video on my youtube channel explains a few of the basic settings I use on the Minelab CTX 3030, towards the end of the video I explain my reasons for not having everything I could have running on the metal detector.
https://youtu.be/CEQfnbXwY2o
One of the things I have learned about using a metal detector with a display screen, is the more things you have running the more inaccurate your readouts become.
Target ID's become less accurate, it may cost you target depth and you could lose confidence in the discriminating capabilities of your metal detector, especially with jumpy display screen read outs.
You do not have to have every box ticked and running on the CTX 3030, by leaving a few options unchecked you may get better depth and definately get more accurate target ID's.
How you set your metal detector up should have a lot to do with the stuff you are searching for.
For example, why have a Deep option on when you are searching for fresh dropped jewelry.
Alternatively, you would have no need for hardly any target ID options if you are looking for deeply buried treasure coins or artifacts.
Those type of targets are probably going to be on the edge of detection range, a metal detector may struggle to identify deep targets and mistakenly reject them.
I believe someone once said, my fellow beach hunters ask not what your metal detector can do for, ask what you can do for your metal detector.
Although I only use the display readouts as a second opinion, I still rely on my ears when making my digging decisions.
When you use a combination of audio and display screen target information, it helps if you have accurate read outs.
This video on my youtube channel explains a few of the basic settings I use on the Minelab CTX 3030, towards the end of the video I explain my reasons for not having everything I could have running on the metal detector.
https://youtu.be/CEQfnbXwY2o
One of the things I have learned about using a metal detector with a display screen, is the more things you have running the more inaccurate your readouts become.
Target ID's become less accurate, it may cost you target depth and you could lose confidence in the discriminating capabilities of your metal detector, especially with jumpy display screen read outs.
You do not have to have every box ticked and running on the CTX 3030, by leaving a few options unchecked you may get better depth and definately get more accurate target ID's.
How you set your metal detector up should have a lot to do with the stuff you are searching for.
For example, why have a Deep option on when you are searching for fresh dropped jewelry.
Alternatively, you would have no need for hardly any target ID options if you are looking for deeply buried treasure coins or artifacts.
Those type of targets are probably going to be on the edge of detection range, a metal detector may struggle to identify deep targets and mistakenly reject them.
I believe someone once said, my fellow beach hunters ask not what your metal detector can do for, ask what you can do for your metal detector.
Monday, October 24, 2016
Searching old cuts at the beach
Unfortunately I never had time to go beach hunting this weekend, but I did check a few local beaches out to see what they looked like.
King tides have helped rearrange many of my local beaches and I ran across signs of beach erosion that probably occurred some time last week.
It was very windy and I made an impromptu video to show an interesting shell line a few yards down from the base of the old cut.
Many beach hunters mistakenly believe when a cut has filled in there is nothing to find, but that is not always the case.
The base of the cut is often the most heavily area at an eroded beach, but sometimes the most productive area is a few yards away from the base of the cut.
If jewelry or coins are washed into the area, they end up hitting the face of the cut and often get dragged out back towards the water.
I have found nothing at 6 to 8 ft cuts when they were first created, but found plenty of good stuff a couple of days later when the surf calmed down.
The following high tides often do not make it all the way to the cut, if you are lucky you may detect a "Coin line" deposited between the base of the cut and the water.
A coin line is basically a previous high tide mark with coins or jewelry washed up along the previous high tide line.
You can identify signs of previous high tide lines, by seaweed or shells washed up in a line on the beach.
The shells washed up along the shore in the impromptu video I made are from a previous high tide that happened after the beach was eroded.
https://youtu.be/4MGqBEXJSmk
You do not have to be one of the first people metal detecting at a cut beach to find stuff, you just have to know what signs to look for.
King tides have helped rearrange many of my local beaches and I ran across signs of beach erosion that probably occurred some time last week.
It was very windy and I made an impromptu video to show an interesting shell line a few yards down from the base of the old cut.
Many beach hunters mistakenly believe when a cut has filled in there is nothing to find, but that is not always the case.
The base of the cut is often the most heavily area at an eroded beach, but sometimes the most productive area is a few yards away from the base of the cut.
If jewelry or coins are washed into the area, they end up hitting the face of the cut and often get dragged out back towards the water.
I have found nothing at 6 to 8 ft cuts when they were first created, but found plenty of good stuff a couple of days later when the surf calmed down.
The following high tides often do not make it all the way to the cut, if you are lucky you may detect a "Coin line" deposited between the base of the cut and the water.
A coin line is basically a previous high tide mark with coins or jewelry washed up along the previous high tide line.
You can identify signs of previous high tide lines, by seaweed or shells washed up in a line on the beach.
The shells washed up along the shore in the impromptu video I made are from a previous high tide that happened after the beach was eroded.
https://youtu.be/4MGqBEXJSmk
You do not have to be one of the first people metal detecting at a cut beach to find stuff, you just have to know what signs to look for.
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Time for a change of pace
One thing I have learned about metal detecting is you have to think outside the box if you want to succeed.
Doing the same thing or using the same equipment all the time will come back to bite you, if you do not mix things up a little and adapt.
Beach and water hunting is often about change, not surprising really as the beach is constantly changing, two high and two low tides every day helps make that change.
Coastal storms or unusually high surf can completely change a beach, so it makes sense that you know how to adapt to searching a beach more than one way.
I will be changing my blog soon, adding beach and water hunting youtube videos showing how I do things differently to other beach and water hunters.
Many of my beach and water hunting techniques are site or beach conditions specific, meaning I do not search the same way every time I go beach or water hunting.
I jewelry or coin hunt to the site or conditions, not regardless of the site or conditions.
The metal detecting finds in the attached introduction video were found all over the beach and in many different depths inside the water.
Doing the same thing or using the same equipment all the time will come back to bite you, if you do not mix things up a little and adapt.
Beach and water hunting is often about change, not surprising really as the beach is constantly changing, two high and two low tides every day helps make that change.
Coastal storms or unusually high surf can completely change a beach, so it makes sense that you know how to adapt to searching a beach more than one way.
I will be changing my blog soon, adding beach and water hunting youtube videos showing how I do things differently to other beach and water hunters.
Many of my beach and water hunting techniques are site or beach conditions specific, meaning I do not search the same way every time I go beach or water hunting.
I jewelry or coin hunt to the site or conditions, not regardless of the site or conditions.
The metal detecting finds in the attached introduction video were found all over the beach and in many different depths inside the water.
https://youtu.be/W9DQphnB9g8
I always attribute my wide variety of beach and water hunting finds to using a wide variety of search techniques in a wide variety of areas.
Also using different metal detecting equipment to suit the site or conditions, instead of just searching one way using the same equipment all the time.
Every year I discover something that works better, both search techniques and equipment, sometimes I try doing or using different stuff and fall flat on my face, but the main thing is I always try to get out of my beach and water hunting comfort zone.
This year has been a heck of a year for me, a lot of metal detecting firsts and a lot to be revealed in the future.
I hope my videos will help you avoid becoming a beach hunting clone, searching the same way, at the same time with the same settings or search coil, every where you hunt for jewelry or coins at the beach.
In several of my beach and water hunting books, I write about people new to the hobby of metal detecting often making unbelievable finds of a lifetime.
It is often put down to beginners luck, but my take is that people new to the hobby create their own luck by searching in places other experienced hunters would simply overlook.
They often find great stuff using metal detecting equipment that leave experienced hunters scratching your heads.
At a beach with competition, sometimes experience can hold you back from putting your search coil over a find of a lifetime.
I will show you what I mean soon.
I always attribute my wide variety of beach and water hunting finds to using a wide variety of search techniques in a wide variety of areas.
Also using different metal detecting equipment to suit the site or conditions, instead of just searching one way using the same equipment all the time.
Every year I discover something that works better, both search techniques and equipment, sometimes I try doing or using different stuff and fall flat on my face, but the main thing is I always try to get out of my beach and water hunting comfort zone.
This year has been a heck of a year for me, a lot of metal detecting firsts and a lot to be revealed in the future.
I hope my videos will help you avoid becoming a beach hunting clone, searching the same way, at the same time with the same settings or search coil, every where you hunt for jewelry or coins at the beach.
In several of my beach and water hunting books, I write about people new to the hobby of metal detecting often making unbelievable finds of a lifetime.
It is often put down to beginners luck, but my take is that people new to the hobby create their own luck by searching in places other experienced hunters would simply overlook.
They often find great stuff using metal detecting equipment that leave experienced hunters scratching your heads.
At a beach with competition, sometimes experience can hold you back from putting your search coil over a find of a lifetime.
I will show you what I mean soon.
Friday, October 14, 2016
Tourist beach gold and silver hunting
Following up on my previous blog about how I prefer to use discrimination at heavily hunted sites, this gold chain is one of the reasons why I do not "Dig it all" at these type of sites.
I have always had the same search strategy for heavily hunted tourist type beaches, get to the gold before the competition.
Im not interested in clad coins or junk jewelry, in the words of the late great Freddie Mercury "I want it all and I want it now."
The 18K gold chain in this photo was recovered towards the end of a two hour beach hunt earlier this year, with four other beach hunters searching along a quarter mile stretch of tourist beach.
The other guys were hunting as a group and I know at least two members of the group were digging it all using their pulse induction metal detectors.
I was using my Minelab CTX 3030, cherry picking for gold or silver jewelry by only stopping to dig low or high tones.
My metal detector is set up to respond to four audio tones, a modified low tone, a high tone and two mid tones.
For anyone interested, my CTX 3030 settings are in my two CTX 3030 beach and water hunting books.
I only stop to dig two tones at tourist type beaches, especially if the beaches are heavily hunted.
Low tone gold and high tone silver are the two tones that get my toes tingling, I dig my fair share of low tone aluminum and nickels, but hey its unavoidable.
When you are not digging every piece of junk and clad coin on the beach, you do not have to spend all day at the beach metal detecting to find something good.
My average jewelry hunt is two or three hours at a tourist beach, searching for gold or silver in those two or three hours.
I combine my beach reading skills and experience using metal detectors to seek out the high priority targets I am searching for, especially at sites I expect competition.
Years ago, I remember every time I would detect a piece of gold the signal would stand out so much from the coins and junk I had been wasting my time digging.
I decided to research what metal detectors gave the best audio response to gold and silver and use that information to help me better make use of my beach and water hunting time.
Beach and water hunters spend way too much time agonizing over they could be missing at tourist type beaches, instead of what they could be finding.
Get to the good stuff by skipping over the bad stuff, hands up how many beach and water hunters dig stuff up knowing darn well exactly what the target is before they dig it up.
I do the same, just to targets I know have a high probability of being gold or silver.
I have always had the same search strategy for heavily hunted tourist type beaches, get to the gold before the competition.
Im not interested in clad coins or junk jewelry, in the words of the late great Freddie Mercury "I want it all and I want it now."
The 18K gold chain in this photo was recovered towards the end of a two hour beach hunt earlier this year, with four other beach hunters searching along a quarter mile stretch of tourist beach.
The other guys were hunting as a group and I know at least two members of the group were digging it all using their pulse induction metal detectors.
I was using my Minelab CTX 3030, cherry picking for gold or silver jewelry by only stopping to dig low or high tones.
My metal detector is set up to respond to four audio tones, a modified low tone, a high tone and two mid tones.
For anyone interested, my CTX 3030 settings are in my two CTX 3030 beach and water hunting books.
I only stop to dig two tones at tourist type beaches, especially if the beaches are heavily hunted.
Low tone gold and high tone silver are the two tones that get my toes tingling, I dig my fair share of low tone aluminum and nickels, but hey its unavoidable.
When you are not digging every piece of junk and clad coin on the beach, you do not have to spend all day at the beach metal detecting to find something good.
My average jewelry hunt is two or three hours at a tourist beach, searching for gold or silver in those two or three hours.
I combine my beach reading skills and experience using metal detectors to seek out the high priority targets I am searching for, especially at sites I expect competition.
Years ago, I remember every time I would detect a piece of gold the signal would stand out so much from the coins and junk I had been wasting my time digging.
I decided to research what metal detectors gave the best audio response to gold and silver and use that information to help me better make use of my beach and water hunting time.
Beach and water hunters spend way too much time agonizing over they could be missing at tourist type beaches, instead of what they could be finding.
Get to the good stuff by skipping over the bad stuff, hands up how many beach and water hunters dig stuff up knowing darn well exactly what the target is before they dig it up.
I do the same, just to targets I know have a high probability of being gold or silver.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Discriminating beach hunters
I always use the best features of my metal detector to maximize my chances of recovering what ever it is I am searching for.
The majority of the time the best features on the metal detectors I use for beach and water hunting, are the iron mask and discrimination control.
These two features increase my chances of detecting jewelry, while at the same time helping me avoid digging unwanted junk targets.
Junk is junk, no matter where you find it so the less time you waste stopping to dig junk the better.
Metal detecting times have changed and metal detectors have changed, you no longer have to dig everything at the beach, just in case you mistakenly reject one valuable target.
Competition has reached crazy levels at many beaches, so using the best features on your metal detector to help you detect desirable targets faster, makes perfect treasure hunting sense.
The old saying "You have to dig it all to find the good stuff" is just that, an old saying.
Even though I have quite a few miles on my beach and water hunter odometer, I am a discriminating treasure hunter.
I class discrimination, target depth gauges, and display readouts as all very good aids to detecting jewelry and coins instead of junk at the beach.
Using discrimination is the best way to quickly sample a new beach or beach hunting site, or detect a coin line.
It is also the fastest way to search an area you expect to have competition, you can always recover the area digging rejected targets, if you believe there may be other valuable targets masked by the targets you initially rejected.
You have options using discrimination at heavily hunted sites, move on to the next site or stay and dig the junk you left behind.
If you dig all metal targets from the start at a heavily contested jewelry or coin hunting sites, those junk targets may cost you a good find you did not have time to get to.
No thanks, I prefer to use discrimination to get me to the good stuff faster.
I never worry about what valuable targets I may be missing, only the valuable targets ahead of me I can detect!
The majority of the time the best features on the metal detectors I use for beach and water hunting, are the iron mask and discrimination control.
These two features increase my chances of detecting jewelry, while at the same time helping me avoid digging unwanted junk targets.
Junk is junk, no matter where you find it so the less time you waste stopping to dig junk the better.
Metal detecting times have changed and metal detectors have changed, you no longer have to dig everything at the beach, just in case you mistakenly reject one valuable target.
Competition has reached crazy levels at many beaches, so using the best features on your metal detector to help you detect desirable targets faster, makes perfect treasure hunting sense.
The old saying "You have to dig it all to find the good stuff" is just that, an old saying.
Even though I have quite a few miles on my beach and water hunter odometer, I am a discriminating treasure hunter.
I class discrimination, target depth gauges, and display readouts as all very good aids to detecting jewelry and coins instead of junk at the beach.
Using discrimination is the best way to quickly sample a new beach or beach hunting site, or detect a coin line.
It is also the fastest way to search an area you expect to have competition, you can always recover the area digging rejected targets, if you believe there may be other valuable targets masked by the targets you initially rejected.
You have options using discrimination at heavily hunted sites, move on to the next site or stay and dig the junk you left behind.
If you dig all metal targets from the start at a heavily contested jewelry or coin hunting sites, those junk targets may cost you a good find you did not have time to get to.
No thanks, I prefer to use discrimination to get me to the good stuff faster.
I never worry about what valuable targets I may be missing, only the valuable targets ahead of me I can detect!
Monday, October 10, 2016
Searching beaches after coastal storms.
Many people mistakenly assume once beaches effected by coastal storms are heavily hunted and weeks pass by there is nothing to find.
From previous experiences searching beaches after powerful coastal storms even beaches that appear sanded-in can be productive many weeks or months afterwards.
Use this photo of my Spanish 1715 fleet treasure ring as a reminder not to assume all the best finds are recovered directly after a coastal storm.
Back in early 2005 when I recovered this 300 year old Inca gold and Colombian emerald treasure ring, I had many Treasure Coast beaches all to myself as other beach hunters gave up on the dream of finding hurricane treasure.
Obviously not me, I was just as hardcore a beach hunter then as I am today.
I believe jewelry and coins wash off the beach and wash onto the beach during a strong coastal storm, I often describe the beach as being like a push penny arcade game.
If you keep grinding you can often find jewelry and coins on a beach well after a strong coastal storm.
I always prefer to rely on persistence, patience and perseverance instead of lady lucky when beach hunting.
You will have plenty of post storm beach hunting opportunities, if you rely on the three "P"s of treasure hunting.
Days, weeks and even months after a powerful coastal storm, beaches are effected by wind and waves that take just enough top sand off an area to expose goodies to patient beach hunters.
Some of my favorite beach hunting finds were recovered many weeks or months after a coastal storm rearranged beaches.
At tourist beaches jewelry hunting is always lucrative following high surf rearranging beaches after a storm.
The recent hurricane in florida did very little visible damage to beaches in south Florida, but I know over the following weeks and months I will be in for some interesting beach and water hunts.
I know the emerald treasure ring I found was more than likely moved around by two hurricanes in late 2004, and I remember thinking in early 2005 there must be more good stuff just out of detection range.
Long after any coastal storm, if you keep plugging away you may discover a find of a lifetime.
Avoid waiting around for more favorable beach or water hunting conditions or giving up on a good beach site that is temporarily sanded-in.
Keep plugging away and be ready to take advantage of future openings at good beach sites known to hold something good.
I wonder how many people walked over the area I found my find of a lifetime?
It just goes to show, if you don't go you often never know!
From previous experiences searching beaches after powerful coastal storms even beaches that appear sanded-in can be productive many weeks or months afterwards.
Use this photo of my Spanish 1715 fleet treasure ring as a reminder not to assume all the best finds are recovered directly after a coastal storm.
Back in early 2005 when I recovered this 300 year old Inca gold and Colombian emerald treasure ring, I had many Treasure Coast beaches all to myself as other beach hunters gave up on the dream of finding hurricane treasure.
Obviously not me, I was just as hardcore a beach hunter then as I am today.
I believe jewelry and coins wash off the beach and wash onto the beach during a strong coastal storm, I often describe the beach as being like a push penny arcade game.
If you keep grinding you can often find jewelry and coins on a beach well after a strong coastal storm.
I always prefer to rely on persistence, patience and perseverance instead of lady lucky when beach hunting.
You will have plenty of post storm beach hunting opportunities, if you rely on the three "P"s of treasure hunting.
Days, weeks and even months after a powerful coastal storm, beaches are effected by wind and waves that take just enough top sand off an area to expose goodies to patient beach hunters.
Some of my favorite beach hunting finds were recovered many weeks or months after a coastal storm rearranged beaches.
At tourist beaches jewelry hunting is always lucrative following high surf rearranging beaches after a storm.
The recent hurricane in florida did very little visible damage to beaches in south Florida, but I know over the following weeks and months I will be in for some interesting beach and water hunts.
I know the emerald treasure ring I found was more than likely moved around by two hurricanes in late 2004, and I remember thinking in early 2005 there must be more good stuff just out of detection range.
Long after any coastal storm, if you keep plugging away you may discover a find of a lifetime.
Avoid waiting around for more favorable beach or water hunting conditions or giving up on a good beach site that is temporarily sanded-in.
Keep plugging away and be ready to take advantage of future openings at good beach sites known to hold something good.
I wonder how many people walked over the area I found my find of a lifetime?
It just goes to show, if you don't go you often never know!
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