Todays Tiger Shark Hunt

[Rainyday101]

I just got back from a 4 hour hunt with the Tiger in a large lake bay. I was't able to even get to knee depth becase the ice was still there, but a still had a large are to cover between the ice and the shoreline. The bottom is hard sand. My total take was a mere 87 cents in clad. I also found bullets, bullet casings, nails, 13 batteries, twist off tops, tabs, and misc. other garbage. I started in all metal fast with threshold and then switched over to disc. with a setting of 2. Overall I was pleased with the Tiger, just wish I would have found some gold! This beach is pretty big and you can walk out about a quarter mile and only be waist deep in most spots. There are sandbars popping up here and there. I gridded a large area, but am sure I missed spots between my grids.

Questions for you water hunters:
Do you need to get deeper to find rings? Like waste level. I notice as you get further from shore target signals get far and fewer between.

How do you cover a large area? Grid it or meander aimlessly and hope for the best. This area gets plenty of wave action as it is off Lake Michigan.

Are there certain areas I should key on? On top of sandbars or before or after them?

Yep, I am newbie at water hunting and any help would be appreciated!

 

[pulltaber]

You can find rings in any depth of water.but try to think why would it be lost in the fist place. people lose things when they are running and playing so do think they would be running and playing more in knee deep or waist deep.I find most rings from waist deep and deeper. But I find a lot of wedding bands about as far out as you can though it from the bank I guess when people get divorced they though them in the lake. Grid it and grid it again at a 45 degree angle.Go to the beach and watch where people swim and take note,then go back later when the crowd leaves.

 

[Rainyday101]

Thanks Pulltaber. I still wonder if waves move the sand and rings. I wish I could have gotten out deeper, but I would have had bust my way throught the ice to get there. Maybe in another week or two. The rivers are definetely off limits now with the high water levels and extremely fast current.

 

[bigtim1973]

Where ever the most poeple would have congregated to me would be the most likely place to find the gold and where you seem to find the most trash. Generally where the trash pop tops and general areas where alot of change would be in one part, I would slow down and take note of where you are and grind it out and really overlap your swing. Also women are always taking off their jewelry when sunbathing or putting on sun screen, so I would say the areas that they lounge around at on the shore would be a nice spot too. Grid it out like an old area in front of a house. I do that and that works very well for me. HH, Tim

 

[Habanero]

I just got back from a 4 hour hunt with the Tiger in a large lake bay. I was't able to even get to knee depth becase the ice was still there, but a still had a large are to cover between the ice and the shoreline. The bottom is hard sand. My total take was a mere 87 cents in clad. I also found bullets, bullet casings, nails, 13 batteries, twist off tops, tabs, and misc. other garbage. I started in all metal fast with threshold and then switched over to disc. with a setting of 2. Overall I was pleased with the Tiger, just wish I would have found some gold! This beach is pretty big and you can walk out about a quarter mile and only be waist deep in most spots. There are sandbars popping up here and there. I gridded a large area, but am sure I missed spots between my grids.

Questions for you water hunters:
Do you need to get deeper to find rings? Like waste level. I notice as you get further from shore target signals get far and fewer between.

How do you cover a large area? Grid it or meander aimlessly and hope for the best. This area gets plenty of wave action as it is off Lake Michigan.

Are there certain areas I should key on? On top of sandbars or before or after them?

Yep, I am newbie at water hunting and any help would be appreciated!

Please take what I say with a grain of salt as I'm only in my second year water hunting and so many others have a vast store of information way better than mine. Ok, my little disclaimer out of the way, here is what I think:

Do you need to get deeper to find rings? Like waste level. I notice as you get further from shore target signals get far and fewer between.
Not what you want to hear but rings are where you find them and they are all over in depth. I have found some on the shore itself as well as almost neck deep; this goes for the other jewelry. Look up the lake level history, especially during summer. If there are periods of drought where the water level was low, then you may have to wade deeper get some of the stuff. If the water level does not change much then this narrows it down to the current conditions and depth. Most of my stuff was found between knee to just above the waist in depth. The closer to shore you are the more targets you will get because a lot of this stuff will move towards the shore with wave action/current. You should notice an increase in amount of trash towards the shore as well as this stuff is lighter and will move easily. The heavier items, once they nestle into the bottom tend to stay there unless you have some strong, bottom moving current

How do you cover a large area? Grid it or meander aimlessly and hope for the best. This area gets plenty of wave action as it is off Lake Michigan.
I used to meander about a bit when I first started but now I try to stay consistent in a pattern. I will sometimes move out from the shore while focusing on an object on the horizon, get out as far as I can or want to go, turn around, side step left or right a couple of steps then head back towards the shore while focusing on heading straight towards a reference point on the shore. Rinse and repeat. I will also go parallel to the shore trying to stay at a constant water level as a guide as I grid back and forth. I sometimes do both in an area and no matter what, I seem to hit targets that I know I should have already gone over before but it's practically impossible to cover every square foot of lake bottom as you have less accurate references to make sure you are overlapping some of your grids. Sounds like a huge area to cover so don't expect to get it all done in a day or two!

Are there certain areas I should key on? On top of sandbars or before or after them?
Good question! I have not done any sandbars yet but it would seem to me that most of them, with any wave action are constantly in flux so on top may not be the best spot unless it has been used recently and frequently by people swimming and playing. I would think the areas above and below the sandbar would be worth checking out.

Like others have mentioned, hit the spots where you notice the majority of activity, but this would mean a weekend trip to the area during warm weather to see where everyone hangs out at. For now, pay attention to what you are digging. If you are hitting a lot of targets, especially coins or anything out of someones pocket then you are in a good area to grid. You also have other hunters to contend with for competition at some of these spots. I have a place I started hunting for the first time this season and I know other's have been there before me but you know what? They can't get it all because I have made a few nice finds in the same area. I also can tell by the amount of trash I am recovering that these spots are not nearly hunted out; otherwise there would be few targets of any kind.That's what I have for you in my limited experience and ever humble opinion.

 

[Rainyday101]

Thanks for the info. I just need all the ice to melt so I can get out further. My friend also bought a Tiger Shark and scored a 1882 silver dime in a park that has seen some hunting before. He found it in the beach sand about 9" deep while detecting in All Metal Fast mode. It was his first ever with a detector and he was excited and has the detecting bug for good now. He's already talking about another machine for land (Tesoro of course). In all metal mode the Tiger is a depth beast! I am sure that in all metal mode on dry land this thing will sniff out the deep silver, just gotta listen for those faint changes in threshold.