You will find the Tiger Shark to be the ticket in fresh water. I would advise you to leave it home when you go to the salt water beaches, though.
It doesnt like salt, no matter what the ad hype says.
That being said, let me now say this:
I find more jewelry goodies in 4-5 months of fresh water beach hunting than I do in YEARS of dirt grubbing. It is, hands down, my favorite hunt regime. I mean consider:
Cool, fresh water
No waves
Bikini babes
Typical lake scenery
Jewelry and coin finds
Added up, this tally makes for some good detecting.
Last year I took out of local beaches right around 1200$ worth of replacement value gold and silver jewelry. Not to mention all the costume stuff, assorted goodies and the random stuff always find. I turned up a sweeeeeeeet stainless pocket knife I still use daily. I hunted once a week, maybe twice.
To use your TS, I'd suggest you do these things:
- Dont monkey with the SENS control until you have used the detector for awhile. Trust Tesoro.
This can be a killer and improperly adjusted, will send your TS into twitchy fits. This has been my biggest problem, as I insit on twiddling the SENS, trying for that fraction more in depth repsonse. Fight the urge!
- DO turn the THRESH up a bit.
The TS will hyper tune like all Tesoros and this sharpens the overall response. Dont over do it, as this will botch the All Metal mode, Just get a happy medium.
- Turn the VOL up
Make it comfortable to hear but as loud as you can and not do harm to your eardrums. I tried my friends DetectoPro last year and it had a wimpy audio - not good, I can tell you.
- Try the control housing mounted in different ways
I have settled the control housing below my hand, on the rod. Once in the water, this makes the buoyancy more neutral, compared to the other placement possibitlties. I DO NOT like neck or hip mounitng, although you might. Experiment.
- Get the following items to go with your TS...
An overlarge wide brimmed hat
Good sun protection
Better than good wraparound, UV proof, polarized sunglasses.
Better than good water sandals or SEALED water boots.
The very best long scoop you can afford. DONT cheap out on this.
Wear a shirt or dive top when detecting.
And finally, I discovered the joys of a tow basket last year. Mine is a heavy wire grocers basket about 10x14", with swim noodles wire-tied to the top. It floats about 3" out of the water, towed behind on a lanyard attached at the small of my back. I have settled on a tow cord about 4 foot long... Too long, it wanders off and too short it gets in the way.
Good Luck
