General ocean beach question

[an808state]

My friend detects at the ocean and finds stuff all the time. Me, almost nothing. I'm used to hunting parks and river beaches. I know she always looks for fresh cuts and detects those. My question is, is it best to go out at low tide? Any other general tips for ocean detecting? Thanks in advance.

 

[KOB]

There are so many tips on here , you will spend days reading. It can really get into a science if you are hardcore. Best , simplest advice is...hunt where there are alot of sunbathers/swimmers.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

What part of CA are you at ?

As Kob says, there's volumes that can be written on the best time to find beach erosion going on. It's like a science. But in a nutshell :

Watch for when higher than normal ocean swells arrive along your coast. Pay attention to the direction they're coming from. Because various beach might be "shadowed" such that the swell won't impact certain beaches, whereas it affects other beaches (that "catch" the direction of a swell). On shore howling winds drive those swells even more. And when the rough surf/swells arrive at high tide times (preferably 5.5 or higher), then that allowing those waves to be "breaking right on shore" (as opposed to offshore and merely "rolling in").

When the high surf combines with high tides, it can create various forms of erosion : Cuts, scallops, or slopes. And the trick is to be there right on those days (after allowing 3 or 4 hrs. for the tide to pull out enough). And find where hopefully mother nature has grouped targets. Like in a sluice box riffle board fashion.

I'll post some pix of what cuts look like .........

 

[Tom_in_CA]

samples of beach cuts :

 

[gismapper]

My friend detects at the ocean and finds stuff all the time. Me, almost nothing. I'm used to hunting parks and river beaches. I know she always looks for fresh cuts and detects those. My question is, is it best to go out at low tide? Any other general tips for ocean detecting? Thanks in advance.

I'll throw one back at ya, because I don't see too much talk on here about hunting rivers. I have a decent sized creek near me that gets a significant amount of fishing and people floating in tubes. I went out once a few weeks ago (up to my knees in the creek, as well as the beaches along it) and found about $1.50.

Ever have any success with finding jewelry on river banks?

 

[an808state]

I'll throw one back at ya, because I don't see too much talk on here about hunting rivers. I have a decent sized creek near me that gets a significant amount of fishing and people floating in tubes. I went out once a few weeks ago (up to my knees in the creek, as well as the beaches along it) and found about $1.50.

Ever have any success with finding jewelry on river banks?

Somewhat. When I first started detecting I only hunted the local popular river beaches and found mostly coins and occasional jewelry, but not so much lately. I've gotten kind of spoiled in recent years. I like to go to the parks and soccer fields because they are closer to my house, and I usually come home with a pocket full of coins and sometimes a silver ring. As I'm getting older (63) I like the easier shallow targets.

 

[FelixtheCat]

For my 4-5 hour hunts, ideally I like going out 2-3 hours before low tide to maximize any depth I may encounter. I rarely work the wet set sand as cuts are rare down here. We also don't have much wet sand to work with either. If you frequent a beach you will notice changes, and those changes are what you want to work. A consistent change in wind patterns will move sand and present opportunities. Frequent and "learn" your beach(es).

 

[Scubacat]

Those are one beach cuts.

 

[OBN]

 

[Tom_in_CA]

some more beach erosion cut pictures :

 

[Pete e]

some more beach erosion cut pictures :

Some very impressive cuts Tom....So do Finds that were lost further towards the low tide line get thrown back up along the cut by storm/wave action?

Also what's the typical distance between your high and low tide points?

 

[Pete e]

My friend detects at the ocean and finds stuff all the time. Me, almost nothing. I'm used to hunting parks and river beaches. I know she always looks for fresh cuts and detects those. My question is, is it best to go out at low tide? Any other general tips for ocean detecting? Thanks in advance.

I am in the UK, but I am in much the same situation as yourself...

I would to the excellent advise here to also look for fresh drops in the towel line, and around any access points on and off the beach.

As others have said, footfall, (either current or historical) is vitally important...

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Some very impressive cuts Tom....So do Finds that were lost further towards the low tide line get thrown back up along the cut by storm/wave action?...

You're asking (if I understood you correctly) about coins that "come back in" , during the summer beach build-up ? Yes It is presumed that targets come back "in". We're not really tracking that . Since the summer sand buildup takes all summer long, 1 inch at a time, to build back up the beach. Either during the slow buildup, or perhaps "thrown back up" during storms ? Ie.: One storm seems to "build the beach", while the next storm seems to "erode" the beach".

I have no idea about your question of finds that were/are "back up". Because if we arrive at a beach (during our reconn. samplings) to find that it's built "up", we know it will be no good. There's no rhyme or reason to target placement, that I know of, to that (insofar as when targets that "came back in/up).

Instead what we are looking for is targets that had ALREADY been in the sand . Ie.: Those sand dunes , with the ice plant, that you see in the pix. And we are looking to see where the targets are in relation to the inter-tidal zone below those cuts. Typically at the foot of the cut. To perhaps the first 10 or 20 ft. out. But I've seen erosion episodes where the target beds (where the targets "came to rest") can be all the way at the water's edge.

And I've even seen rare conditions where : All the lightweight stuff (zinc pennies, etc...) are at one parallel. Then you go a bit further down and it's your heavier coins (dimes and copper pennies). Then you go a little further down, and it's now the heavier coins (quarters). And alas, at the water's edge is fishing sinkers and gold rings.

Now as to whether this ^ ^ meant that we're getting targets that were "coming back in " vs "going out", I don't know. We just know the look of the beach (the lay-of-the-land) that bodes goodies. And it's either : 1) Cuts (as you see in the pix), or 2) Scallops (indents that resemble giant inverted scallop shell formation), or 3) Steep slope. Ie.: more sloped than is normal for the particular beach.

........ Also what's the typical distance between your high and low tide points?

The biggest swings (called "king tides") have about an 8 ft. spread. That would be a high of perhaps positive 6.5 ft, and a low of negative 1.5 -ish . Which, as you can see, is an 8 ft. difference. At least in my part of CA.

 

[Pete e]

Thanks Tom,

Yes, I was thinking coins/rings ect lost on the lower beach were getting "thrown back" up to the cut area during storms. However if i understand correctly, you are predominantly looking for items emerging from the dunes, and also those that have been buried deeply, but are now in detecting range because the sand has been removed...

Thanks again,

Regards,

Peter