De-masking solutions for detectorists

There are several different target masking problems a detectorist has to deal with, but iron masking is the most widely known reason why a potentially good non ferrous target would not be detected laying next to an iron object. 
In my opinion ground noise is just as bad at masking good targets as iron objects, especially if you are a beach hunter.
Saltwater beach hunters have to deal with salt the one mineral that causes many metal detectors to become chattery and potentially hide desirable targets in the chattery feedback. 
Add salt to a mix of other minerals in the ground and you have a potential target masking problem much worse than iron masking.
If lowering your sensitivity will not make a difference over difficult ground you are probably using a search coil that is too big for the search area.
Use a large search coil over difficult ground and you will make the problem even worse as a large search coil reads more ground.
The more difficult ground your search coil reads the more good targets you will miss in the feedback from tough ground.
One way to avoid potential ground masking problems in difficult ground is to use a smaller search coil on your metal detector.
In many difficult ground cases, it is like night and day using a small search coil in the same area a large search coil struggled.
At many of my favorite sites I use small search coils to insure I do not miss any "Finger tip finds" which are easily hidden in mineralized ground using a large search coil. 

Just like the low beams seeing better thru the fog analogy, small search coils see better thru the thick fog of difficult ground. 
Changing your search coil often translates into changing your fortunes for a detectorist searching over difficult ground because you can not dig what you can not hear. 
For more tips on how to find old coins and artifacts in difficult to detect areas check out my website at www.garydrayton.com