Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Typical Finds From the White Sand Dune Area Shown Yesterday |
I didn't show those spots so you could run out there and detect them. That wasn't the point at all. I had a bigger purpose.
At least one of those spots has been almost totally obliterated by construction in recent years. At least a couple of the others will still be productive from time to time when the conditions are right. But the reason I showed these spots is because I wanted to give you some tips.
First, let me say it helps to know the history of an area. The spots that I selected to show yesterday (all but no. 1) are areas that produced good quantities of older coins. That is what I was focusing on.
There were and still are other areas on those two little islands that are good spots to metal detect, in fact better spots than those that I showed in that they produce on a more continual basis - but mostly modern jewelry.
Here is one very important point that I want to make clear. Get to know your beaches very well - what can be found at different areas and when. And not just the places where every body else hunts all the time or the spots that produce on a more regular basis. Get to know your beaches well enough so that you know what types and ages of items different spots produce and when they produce them.
Some of the spots near the area that I showed are hunted much more heavily than the small spots that I selected to show. When I was hunting down that way on a regular basis, I would always see other detectorist at a few other locations near there but never once saw another detectorist at four of the five spots I pointed out yesterday.
There are those places that most detectorists hunt all the time, but there are also spots where few others ever hunt. I've talked about that before. That to me is a very important point. There are places out there that you can have pretty much to yourself, even in these days when people complain about the amount of competition. It does require knowing the area though. It also requires knowing something about changing conditions.
Many people won't explore enough to find these secondary detecting areas and if they do look around an area and happen to hit the area when it isn't producing the first few times, they'll forget about it. It might take a while to identify one of these good spots that produce old coins. They don't produce all the time.
Taking beach conditions into account is important. Realize that some spots will produce only when conditions are right. That is particularly true of areas that produce older items and are not continually replenished with new items.
Once you know about those types of secondary areas, it is easy to take a quick look when you are close by to see if it might be producing at the time or not. If it is, stick around and detect, otherwise quickly move on.
If you know the area good enough, you'll pretty much know when those areas are likely to be producing from the direction of the wind and waves. Notice that the areas I showed yesterday face different directions and therefore will erode at different times. That is a good thing that you can take advantage of. When some are not producing, one or two of the others very well might be.
That is something I like about hunting islands as opposed to straight coastlines. The beaches face different directions and will erode at different times.
In order to find these good secondary areas you will have to explore a little. It can take some time to find them because they won't be producing every time you are there. You'll only learn the secrets of those places if you spend enough time with them. A visitor or stranger to those areas would have a small chance of being there at the right time. They might walk right through one of those areas and conclude there is nothing of interest there.
Here are some of my main points today summarized. There are still a lot of good detecting spots that are not widely known and heavily hunted. It can take some time to find those good spots because they will not necessarily produce continually, but you can find them if you invest some time in exploration. Knowing how to read beaches will definitely help when you do explore for those new areas.
In the near future, maybe tomorrow, I'll give some more tips on how to handle these types of secondary locations after you have identified them.
Maybe you saw this video on TV. Really amazing. It shows trees being swallowed by a sink hole.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/08/assumption_parish_video_shows.html
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There isn't much storm activity out there now, just two low pressure areas in the Gulf. I don't think they'll do much.
On the Treasure Coast things remain pretty much the same. Expect a 1 - 2 surf today and tomorrow. The low tide might be a touch less low today and tomorrow than it has been recently.
Low tide today will be close to 5 PM.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
