Hunting in the water

[Steve from Ohio]

Just a few tips to the Newbie water hunter.

When hunting the water in the ocean, walk parallel to the beach always watching the sea for the big waves.

The trick is that the thinnest part of the body is the side (for most people) and so you need to expose your side to the wave to keep the wave from knocking you over. I watched several people walking into the waves getting creamed in the face with big waves and falling over while I was having no trouble at all walking parallel to the beach. The waves just passed me by as if they were not even there.

I also recommend getting a nice full body wet suit. Several of the sporting goods stores have them fairly cheap. I got mine for $69 on sale. Get at least a 3 mil suit. Thicker if you plan on doing early season water hunting up north. 7 mil would be the ticket for that. Get a larger than recommended suit as getting it on or off will be tough if it is just a bit smaller. I know some folks will have trouble and will have to get a custom tailored wet suit. Just too much trunk to pack from the available off the shelf suits.

One more thing I would get is a good set of wet suit booties. They have a solid plastic bottom and a nice high rise to keep the sand away from your feet. Nothing worse than having sand in your tennis shoes scrubbing away at your feet. Get the ones with the zipper on the side. Makes it easier to put on and take off.

 

[JOHNMARKHAM]

humm i must say to my fellow buckeye,yes that stuff is nice to have but IMHO you just need to dress for the conditions your hunting in....i wear a pair of waders myself at times,or my shorts and those cheap rubber beach shoes $10.00 at the surf shop,Ive debated about getting a wet suit but Ive come to realize down here in Fla the water temps warm up pretty fast and Ive not needed a suit..only time Ive really thought about getting a suit is when the jelly fish seem to be close to shore,so far Ive just stayed out of the water and walked the wet line or the dry sand...bring water to drink with you as you'll be out in the element's,bring a towel,and maybe sunscreen if you wear it then the usual stuff we all take with us,might even bring a snack like cheese crackers or peanut butter crackers for the extra energy boost....and most important make sure battery's are fully charged and have an extra set with you just in case....then just go out and have fun,enjoy the sights and dig everything that's under your coil...
jmop here...
it works for me and I'm having a blast ..
good luck
hh
john

 

[GraveDiggerMax-VaBch-Va]

for many years i have worn "Athens"...........rubber style FlipFlop made by Crocs..............................i tried so many kinds of shoes...................boots...............dive boots..............etc

waves................do not know exactly, but water is around 9 to 11lbs per gallon.................most waves have many gallons.......................i have everything i ever put on washed off except pants and shirt.

u just never know when one is going to get u.

parallel.........................not for me, but for years i did hunt that way..........i am zig zag kinda guy now...............tight..................wasit deep to top of damp.................most of the time if waves permit.

everyone hunts kinda different and all wear all sorts of shoes..................my buddy lowtide tim................swears by tiva sandels or another style.................straps eat my meat.

good luck

 

[Neptune]

Aqualung dive booties for me and a shorty 3 mil wet suit for the colder months. I always walk grid patterns. When conditions are very calm I walk straight out from the beach and then back in but when there is a chop or breakers, I work a parallel grid. The thing I have noticed is that when you are in the water you work slow.

Just my taxed .02

 

[Steve from Ohio]

Even with 85 degree water, a wet suit or a set of waders is necessary if you are in the water longer than just a few hours. Your body will try to keep its temperature to 98.5 or thereabouts and that will require energy. You will get tired a lot sooner even when the water is warm. A few years ago I was hunting in Florida when the water was 87 degrees. I was totally beat after just 4 hours with just shorts and T-shirt. A couple of days later, I wore a wet suit and felt great after 6 hours of hunting in the water. I did the same thing again just wearing shorts and T-shirt. Same result......tired and beat. Since then I have worn a wet suit every time I'm in the gulf or in any water. I can feel the difference. The wet suit will also protect you from jellyfish.

Walking parallel to the beach is necessary when the waves are larger than a couple of feet. Trust me on this. I have been water hunting in Florida since 1986. Getting hit with a good size wave is no fun when you are trying to listen for targets and don't see it coming. Keeping your profile small to the wave is the key. I've seen hunters in the water struggling to keep themselves upright. I don't have that problem. And you can do the zig zag pattern while walking parallel to the beach. Just do the side step. Of course if you are wider than tall, then you can pretty much not worry because no matter what you do, you will have a large target for the wave to hit.

I have been water hunting for many years. My First water machine was a Silver Turtle and it found its share of finds. My next machine was a Fisher 1280X and had that for almost 15 years. Not the best for salt water but it did work. I have had the Excalibur 800 and now the Excalibur II 1000.

I gave up on land hunting as gold has gone so high. I have found more gold in the water than most people will ever find on land.

The biggest problem we all face is now that gold is so expensive, not many people are buying gold bling and so they are not wearing it as much at the beach. I have been finding a few stainless steel rings with cubic Z. Kind of a downer when you are thinking maybe silver or platinum. A lot of the gold is being bought up by the Chinese as their country is recommending that their citizens buy gold. Lots of people have sold their gold to these "Ill buy your gold" companies (which ship the gold the China) and so they are not wearing the bling at the beach.

Don't give up though. Lots of stuff lost in the past years are still out there waiting to be found.

 

[Neptune]

Still plenty of gold being bought, worn and lost in America!!! Things may not be perfect here but the Chinese are buying everyones gold.

 

[Micheal_R]

n/t

 

[Ron Lord]

n/t

 

[Steve from Ohio]

You may be misunderstanding what I mean by walking parallel to the beach.

I can maneuver to any area that I wish by keeping the thinnest part of my body, the side, into the waves.
For most people,who are not corpulent, it is a matter of fluid dynamics. The less exposure to the waves, the easier it is to stay upright. Less exposure to the waves, less effort needed to keep upright and less splashing. Why do you think the bow of a ship is the narrowest part? To be able to cut through the sea with almost no resistance. That is what I am doing when exposing my side to the waves. If you are corpulent (fat), then it really does not matter as your widest part of your body may be your side.

Also, by keeping my two feet perpendicular to the incoming waves, it gives me more stability to be able to resist wave action from tipping me over.

I still can do the zig zag as well as anyone to find where the best finds would be in the water. I just do the side step and I can cover the same area that anyone else can. I am not limiting the area that I can cover by walking parallel to the beach.

I was watching another detectorist in the water getting pounded by the waves as he was jumping up and down to avoid the waves walking head on into them. He got hit so hard once that his sun glasses got knocked off. All I heard was cursing and he then walked out of the water. He complained to me that the waves were just too rough. I showed him my way and he was amazed at how easier it was for him to avoid getting pounded by the rough surf.

Once out of the breaking surf, then it does not matter.

 

[muggsc]

You can say FAT on here

 

[Steve from Ohio]

You can say FAT on here

I did!

I don't really see all that many fat people water hunting.

It takes effort to walk to the beach. It takes effort to stay upright when a wave hits. In 4 or 5 hours of water hunting, I probably walk a mile. It takes effort to scoop and shake the scoop to see what you found. It is almost like swimming in that there are a lot of calories being used to water hunt.