Beach and water hunting rule #1

The number one rule of beach and water hunting in my opinion, there are no rules!
Jewelry, coin or artifact hunting at the beach is not an exact science, but you would think it is on detecting forums and beach reports.
The more unnecessary rules you put on yourself, the more good stuff other beach or water hunters will scoop up.
Here are a few out dated "Rules" of beach and water hunting I hope you do not follow. 

Two hours before low tide is the best time to go to the beach

I cannot remember the last time I checked out a tide chart before going to the beach.  
The tide is what it is when I get to the beach, and I search with the tide not because of it. 
When people contact me to see if I would like to go detecting with them, they always tell me it will be low tide soon.
My answer is always no thanks, and my second thought is always I cannot believe people still wait until two hours before the low tide before going beach or water hunting.
The best time to go to the beach with a metal detector, is when you have the time to go and when you feel like it. 

Wait for improved beach conditions 

If you plan on waiting around for conditions to improve or checking other peoples beach reports,  you probably already missed good beach or water hunting opportunities. 
Just like tide times, the conditions are what they are when I arrive at the beach with a metal detector.
I make the most of what mother nature puts in front of me, and so should you.
Reports of improved beach conditions are only good to the person lucky enough to be there at the beach at that time.
Any person following will get sloppy seconds and a whole lot of competition from other followers.
My idea of improved beach or water hunting conditions is finding more stuff than on my previous beach or water hunt. 

You have to dig it all 

At beaches with a fair amount of targets, I love seeing people digging every piece of junk at the beach, just in case they miss one good target.
Like metal detector technology has not changed, or you cannot learn to distinguish between good and bad targets at the beach.
The more time you spend metal detecting at the beach, the more you learn and the easier it becomes to identify targets before they are dug.
For example, using a VLF metal detector I can tell a pull tab from a nickel, a nickel from a gold ring and a penny from a quarter or a dime. 
When you have a more than good idea what the metal object your search coil is over, you can save valuable beach hunting time at trashy sites by not having to dig everything just in case you miss one thing. 
On the other hand, at a beach with very few targets you can and should dig all targets. 
The point being, you should not have a beach hunting strategy of searching one way or the highway.
I often have people contact me saying they dug tons of junk but no gold yet, what am I doing wrong?
The simple answer is, digging it all. 

If you want to bring home what you are searching for at the beach, avoid following any outdated rules of beach or water hunting.