At least, in murky water. I cut my teeth in in water hunting in the muddy, murky lakes of OK. Visibility 6" or less at most lakes. It's all by feel and sound. When I get a target, I move the coil left-to-right and back again, several times, slowly decreasing the distance traveled by the coil with each sweep. When I can not more the coil left or right even a fraction of an inch without getting a signal, then I repeat the process, but in a front-to-back pattern. Again, when I can not move the coil a fraction of an inch front or back without a signal, I then try moving the coil slightly in any given direction. If I've pinpointed right, I'll get a signal each and every time. I like to call this "bracketing" the target. I'll push the coil firmly down onto the bottom, and with my left foot, move forward until my left big toe touches the coil. I then move the coil away, and place the tip of my scoop just forward of my big toe, angled down into the sand. I then scoop. I'll lift the scoop up, and to the side, and check the hole with my scoop to see if I got it (multiple targets are fun, sift the basket first, retrieve any goodies, then check again). If there's no signal in the hole, I'll sift the scoop out and see what I got.
HH from Allen in MI
