San Diego/Orange Co. Low Tide Disappointment--Any Feedback?

[califteacher]

Happy New Year to you all. I was excited to get out into the shallow surf and take advantage of the record low tides at the end of December and beginning of January, but came up empty-handed. I spent four days with my Minelab CTX3030 in the surf in Del Mar, Oceanside, and Laguna Beach, but found almost nothing. I am wondering if the recent resanding projects have ruined shallow water hunting along the San Diego and Orange County coastline, or if there is something I am overlooking. I noticed in the two days I spent working the surf line in Oceanside, I saw no one else with a metal detector--as opposed to the usual handful. Maybe they knew something I didn't. While I know we can't all be "Gary Drayton's" with the loot he pulls from the Florida surf, I expected to find something. Any insight?

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Happy New Year to you all. I was excited to get out into the shallow surf and take advantage of the record low tides at the end of December and beginning of January, but came up empty-handed. I spent four days with my Minelab CTX3030 in the surf in Del Mar, Oceanside, and Laguna Beach, but found almost nothing. I am wondering if the recent resanding projects have ruined shallow water hunting along the San Diego and Orange County coastline, or if there is something I am overlooking. I noticed in the two days I spent working the surf line in Oceanside, I saw no one else with a metal detector--as opposed to the usual handful. Maybe they knew something I didn't. While I know we can't all be "Gary Drayton's" with the loot he pulls from the Florida surf, I expected to find something. Any insight?

Yes, here's your answer: It's not the low tides (even the "king" annual super low tides) that cause there to be good metal detecting. If the wet sand is sterile,....... then it's ! The only thing that super low tides do, is reveal ..... LOTS MORE STERILE SAND to walk around in and find nothing at

There simply has to be erosion going on. And so if there were no on-shore swells, and on-shore winds causing them to break up high (at high tide times) then the subsequent low tides do nothing more than reveal lots of sterile landscape.

You've got to study the surfer websites (buoys, weather reports, etc...) to know when erosion might be occuring. And then, sure, low tides will reveal the goodies that mother nature has hopefully conveniently grouped into nice pockets and zones for you.

 

[LootHunter]

Those beaches are hunted so frequently that as Tom in CA stated, simply hunting at a super low tide isn't going to unearth the goodies. Other than the last week (great weather, people vacationing for the holidays) the beaches are not very crowded.

If you are after the goodies, wait for the beaches to have more people or a nice storm, other than that the beaches will be pretty bare regardless of how low the tide is.

 

[DIGDAWG]

I went out last week to Seal Beach, they brought in alot of new sand for a barrier wall was also a no hit day as well as Huntington Beach on the same day....Nothing.

 

[Mackaydon]

From my experience at O/S and CBD, the best time is after the sea has created 4, 5 or even 6 foot cuts along the shore.
Low tides seem to expose only more sand, not more goodies.
Don..........

 

[LootHunter]

Wow nothing at Huntington Beach? Looks like it has been pretty busy with the great weather we are having I was figuring MDers would be finding something.

 

[DIGDAWG]

Yeah, I think Huntington Beach was already MDed out that Day, went out there after this last wave storm and found alot of clad, no Gold

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Wow nothing at Huntington Beach? Looks like it has been pretty busy with the great weather we are having I was figuring MDers would be finding something.

loot-hunter, most md'rs who hit the beach, are not guaging the potential finds of recent spats of good weather, or recent crowds or busy weekends, etc.... Instead, if we're talking about wet sand after erosion, then recent crowd activity has utterly nothing to do with results. Because you're not looking for recent drops anyhow. Instead what you're looking for is long-haul accumulations over time, which get compressed into concise zones. Like a giant riffle board or sluice-box effect.

I mean, sure, if recent losses from "just last weekend" are your gig, the fine. But even for dry sand, I would still bank my spots NOT on simply having a nice hot spell or whatever-recent-activity, but would instead go for where dry sand targets have been allowed to accumulate over longer periods of time un-harvested. Either d/t others not hunting/harvesting there (so targets allowed to accumulate over years), or because they're not reaching deep enough, etc...

 

[DIGDAWG]

GREAT ADVICE

 

[coinshooter]

Here is my theory: I have noticed a SIGNIFICANT drop in finds in the last 3-5 years at the beach.
1. Too many recent metal detecting/treasure shows have brought (unwanted) attention to our hobby. This causes everyone with a little extra cash and the general idea that they feel they can get something for "free" to go out and buy a detector. Too many people hunting specific beaches = less finds
2. Booze ban - San Diego (at least) put in a booze on the beach ban. No booze = less finds. This is true, no drunks, no finds.
3. Price of metals went up. Yahoos buying detectors to "get rich". More TH'ers scouring for what is left = no finds
4. People have gotten rid of their bling. It's not cool to wear anymore, thus when finds are made these days, it's usually a nice wedding ring or more of a sentimental piece.
5. Retirees with a detector and way too much time on their hands.
6. out of towners with full days to detect. (although this is probably insignificant)
7. People have cashed in what they had just to live in the Obama economy.

 

[maipenrai]

I just knew Obama had something to do with it!

 

[bronzecannons]

Califteacher, are you in Oceanside? I recently moved back here after being away for about 20 years. I'm thinking about getting a new metal detector so will be in need of good metal detecting buddy if I do so. Plus, I wouldn't mind making some trips up North to the real Gold Country to search for some REAL gold nuggets! Hit me back if this sounds interesting.
Tony

 

[Got_4by4]

This thread is kinda old.
You might want to search the clubs for a local prospecting club.
There is a GPAA chapter in San Deigo and Temecula.
Good Luck!

 

[Don in SoCal]

Hi bronzecannons, Looking to go up the East Fork with detector and pan. Days off work Tues.-Thurs. In Corona, looking for someone to buddy-up with. Don

 

[jj808]

Aloha all, just getting into the MDing world myself. Kinda disappointed in the things i am reading here about MDing in the SD area. Im actually more interested in doing this back where im from in SC and GA but that will be a while away. Anyway, back to SD, so MDing in SD is pretty much worthless im reading? Im not one of those types looking to get rich or anything but if my new little F4 isnt going enough then what?. Also, in an earlier post Tom was writing about some things i dont understand but i think i should to be able to pick decent spots to go detecting at. Help? Advice? Pointers?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

Aloha all, just getting into the MDing world myself. Kinda disappointed in the things i am reading here about MDing in the SD area. Im actually more interested in doing this back where im from in SC and GA but that will be a while away. Anyway, back to SD, so MDing in SD is pretty much worthless im reading? Im not one of those types looking to get rich or anything but if my new little F4 isnt going enough then what?. Also, in an earlier post Tom was writing about some things i dont understand but i think i should to be able to pick decent spots to go detecting at. Help? Advice? Pointers?

Hey there jj808, I'm not understanding your question. Are you asking about decents spots in SAN DIEGO ? Or in SC and GA ?

And if you meant San Diego, are you referring to beaches? Then as my posts above relate: You watch for storms that bring high swells and on-shore winds, to bash and erode your beaches. In fact, I think it's moderately rough on-&-off even in the last week or so. While the tides haven't been particularly good (they arrived at pittly poor high-tide times), yet it's been consistently bumpy seas now for a good week straight. So that might have provided for subtle slow sand removal. Not enough to get down to silver coins, but .... could be in for some concentrations of clad which'll contain jewelry.

During that last Friday swell that hit all of CA (hit us on Thurs, and you on Fri), most of the beach reports coming from Los Angeles were poor. D/t not all the requisite ingredients for erosion were there. However, one guy found a producing eroded beach in Los Angeles area, which gave coins as fast as he cared to dig. Even about a dozen or so silver coins, wheaties, etc.... too.

Point is: we're in the right time of year (winter rough seas season), so if I was you, I'd be studying all the surfer/buoy projections, tides, winds, swell charts, etc...

Or were you refering to land site hunting ?

 

[gollum]

Tom is absolutely correct. Erosion matters more than about anything else.

Almost every beach slopes down to the water. Somewhere past that waterline, there will be a trough running parallel to the beach. The trough will be more hard pack than soft sand. You will know you are in the trough, because it is where you will find a lot of lead fishing weights. I don't remember seeing what type of detector you are using, but it does need to be waterproof.

Mike

 

[jj808]

I have a Fisher F4 and im pretty sure that it isnt waterproof. I guess ill be hunting in other places besides the beaches then. Any suggestions for a newbie on places in SD?

 

[DiggerGal]

Head to the old parks in East County area. Also plenty of history in parks downtown too! What about Balboa park under the bridge? Many many places besides the beach. Research where many have been in the past. Find an old church and ask the Pastor to search the grounds. Find areas where families go to picnic, outdoor venues where concerts are held, baseball fields, soccer fields, how about Coronado? There is an abandoned railroad that was used in the late 19th century...so many places!!!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I have a Fisher F4 and im pretty sure that it isnt waterproof. I guess ill be hunting in other places besides the beaches then. Any suggestions for a newbie on places in SD?

What gollum is telling you is true only if you are going to go *in* the water. Otherwise, a non-water-proof machine can hunt the beach just fine. You can even dip your coil in and out of the ebbing surf no problem (as the coils are waterproof). If you fear you'll get splashed up-the-the-box, or if you plan to go out in the rain, you can always wrap up your box with plastic and black tape, for splash/rain proof.

As for land sites, just about any park or sandbox will provide you with clad, etc... But if you meant old coins, you're gonna have to be one-sly-fox to get silver out of the hard-worked parks there . The days of easy "4 -star-signals" silver from turf, ended long ago. Doh! So if you're not a proficient experienced user, a good place to "cut your teeth" on silver in turf, is to hit old yards. Like 1940s/50s post-war housing residential urban yards. Yes that means knocking on doors, but it's the easiest place to get the hang of the machine, sounds, signals, tones, etc...., yet still have a chance at wheaties & silver.

If you want to travel, you can research where all the old scout, fraternal, & church type retreat/camp grounds were in the hills east of San diego. If they date to pre 1960 (and preferably ABANDONED/DISCONTINUED by 1960), then there's gonna be silver there. Maybe you'll get lucky with your research, and be the first to try one of them