Beach Tips

[Woods Walker]

Hey guys, I wonder if you could :help me out with tips and techniques on how to search the beach. Where to look for most good finds.:yikes What are the better areas of where waves break? etc...
I am getting ready to purchase a :fisherCZ-20. Have been using a :whitesXLT for a couple of years and it disappointed :rageme a bit two weekends ago at the beach. Wouldn't detect, (or rather broken sound as if rejecting as iron) on a heavy gold chain with pendant that I have around my neck. Took it off for the test of course. The weather here in Maryland is just getting ready to warm up ...hopefully and students are getting out of school for the summer so the sights and finds should start getting good! Hopefully I'll have nice pics to post like some of the ones I have seen on these forums.
Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Most chains are going to sound broken on ANY detector. Except for the Tesoro Tiger Shark from what I've heard. What part of the country do you live in? East coast beaches get turned over more than the ones on the West coast. I can't wait to get back there. Pay attention to the tide charts. When there's a minus tide, get out there! No matter what time it is. The greater the difference between high and low tide the better. Start working in a "W" type pattern up and down the wet sand, kind of like an EKG that measures your heart rate at the hosptial. This is so you won't spend too much time focusing in one area. When you start hitting targets close up you search pattern and cover the area with more detail. Coins, sinkers and rings tend to hang out together. Also, you'll notice that the heavier stuff like sinkers, quarters and nickles are closer to the water, Usually. This is where you have a better chance of finding gold rings, but don't neglect the wet sand area above where you're finding this stuff. The lighter women's rings the the diamonds sometimes hang out closer to the beach than these items.

HH
RIck

 

[Woods Walker]

Thanks Rick, That was a wealth of information...no pun intended! I live mid eastern, Maryland, about 40 mins inland from Ocean City.

When you say the "East coast beaches get turned over more than the ones on the West coast" what do you mean?
Also in reference to the "W" search pattern, it makes perfect sense. I have a nice GPS that will give me tides...man things are starting to come together! My barber and his wife "MD" also. He says as you work your way down the beach look back and eye ball where you've dug. He said alot of times you will see a line where the waves have thrown the goodies. He says it is good to try and stay near that imaginary line. Oh and by the way, he has a Tesoro Tiger shark and he has mentioned it being able to find the gold chains also. What I was really dissapointed about my XLT is that it was at the end of my hunt before I decided to test the chain. My detector gave off the same sound when passing it over the chain as several other places along the beach I had passed. How many chains did I pass up??? Hope it was just iron trash!
Again Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

By beach turnover I mean that the East coast tends to get more storms than the West coast does.
More sand gets pulled off of the beaches there than it does here. Winter is about the only good season for wet sand hunting. Although I did find a nice bracelet and pendant that got washed up today. Maryland is one of the better states to live in for beach hunting. Noreasters tear through there all the time. If you hear that one of these is headed your way, head to the beach. The cuts that are made after these storms are awesome. Not only does lots of old stuff get washed up but lots of old stuff gets uncovered that was previously at depths that are undetectable. Always work the edge of a cut. After the cuts have been made during a storm things get washed up against the wall of the cut. Your friend is right on about looking where you've dug previous target and watching the "imaginary line". I'm sure there are plenty of other people on this site that have a wealth more of knowledge than I do but these are the things that have worked for me.

HH
Rick

 

[mattockman]

n/t

 

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I own a Whites Eagle Spectrum VLF (very similar to the XLT) and a Surfmaster PI Pro detectors.
I never tried Fisher detectors nor I have any hint on how good the CZ-20 is.
My experience is that On dry sand a VLF detector is unbeatable, expecially if coupled with microprocessor supported target ID, as the XLT and Spectrum are. Once you know how to set it up (program) and you know the kind of targets your beach has on the average, then you can take the most out of it in terms of speed/good tagets ratio. I still stick on my eagle Spectrum because it proved to be the most effective detector against competition on dry sand in my area (Italy) where you have to be fast and surgical or they will take everything out of the sand before you.
On wet sand and in the water I consider pulse induction detectors as the most powerful detectors to use, expecially if you hit a eavily mineralized area (black sand).
I've never seen or eard people really happy with VLF detectors underwater. They usually have to turn discrimination off or they lose targhets; so it is better to have a PI and dig everything and have also the advantage of grater depth of detection.
My experience also is that a few feet from the swash area there are only , or mainly, good targets.
My idea, I could be wrong, is that you're going for a compromise solution, giving back on the microprocessor and graph target display power but not having the water depth power of a PI machine.
If you can spend money, take two detectors and use them one for dry and the other one for wet sand.

Cheers
Luca

 

[Woods Walker]

In reference to the tides here is a good site for anybody trying to get that info.

http://www.saltwatertides.com/pickpred.html

 

[Woods Walker]

Luca,
Thanks for the info!When I get the CZ-20,I will do some nonscientific testing against the XLT.

Abbia un'estate grande!
Gli assomigli voi sono disinseriti ad un inizio grande!

 

[rustynh]

Hey Mattockman If you haven't checked your beaches in the last few day's you better get out there.

 

[mattockman]

n/t