Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
When I think back over the years, I especially think of the times when metal detecting conditions were exceptionally good. There are times that really stick out. They are rare. They occur once a decade or less.
To give some examples, there was the legendary Thanksgiving Storm of 1984. I've mentioned it a lot in the past and presented the weather conditions from historical weather and news reports.
There was hurricane Andrew, which did surprisingly little to the most of the Broward and Dade County ocean beaches, but there were some spots that produced a lot of treasure.
In 2004 there were hurricanes Frances and Jeanne that produced large and widespread erosion. I think that changed some of the South Hutchinson Island beaches for the long term.
And there were other times when exceptional hunting occured that weren't associated with a hurricane and don't have a name. Some of those were more local in nature.
If you have been reading this blog over the years, you know that there was a time when I gave daily beach conditions rating for the Treasure Coast beaches. Most of the time conditions were nothing special and I got tired of giving the same old level one rating every day.
My rating scale is a five point scale. A 1 rating indicates poor beach metal detecting conditions, and a 5 indicates great conditions. A five would indicate widespread massive erosion including erosion to the dunes. That occurs infrequently. The Thanksgiving Storm, for example, was many years ago but is still talked about today because of how rare it was. It was one of those times that people remember and talk about for decades.
Great beach metal detecting conditions (level 5) are rare and poor conditions are very common, similar to the curve shown above. Bdsides the time that beaches are essentially not changing or are filling, they also often erode a little, but too little to do any good.
When I was giving my beach rating on a daily basis, level one (poor) conditions existed most of the time. Occasionally I would get up to a level two, which indicates slightly improved conditions, or what I later came to call "transitional" conditions, but seldom did I issue a four or five rating. They are unfortunately very rare.
See Treasure Beaches Report Part 2. 2020 and Beyond: 9/23/20 Report - Last Day of Big Surf For A While. Beach Conditions Rating Scale. Dune Erosion Slight. (tbr2020.blogspot.com) for more about the rating scale.
Great beach metal detecting conditions can be widespread, as was the cases during the 1984 and 2004 storms, or more the good conditions can be scattered and local. I tried to take that into account to some extent in my ratings. Of course when only some beaches are greatly affected, as was the case in the Fall of 2020, it is easy to miss out on it. Some people will discover the right spots, but many won't.
You will have a better chance of finding one of those localized opportunities if you are spending a lot of time in the field and keeping you eye on a lot of different beaches - including those that might not have produced much of anything in years.
In the Fall of 2020 we had an unusually high surf and tides but one spot that produced some of the best finds was not one of the beaches that was considered to be one of the better shipwreck beaches, and as a result, many people missed some of the best action.
Hurricane Andrew in South Florida was something like that. As I said most of the Broward and Dade beaches were not eroded, but there were a few places that were very good. Key Biscayne near Virginia Key produced a carpet of silver coins and artifacts.
Besides how widespread the erosion of a productive area is, there is also a duration factor. Sometimes an area will open up for only a day or even a single tide cycle, and at other times it will be several days. I remember one day that I've talked about before, when a Fort Lauderale beach opened up and produced a carpet of good targets for two days. Every foot for at least a hundred yards produced a good signal. The second evening I was working the area, I noticed a front coming through, and when I returned the next day the carpet of targets was gone. There was a lot that I didn't get. I should have appreciated how rare the conditions were and worked it more intensely.
A third, and very important factor is access. During some of the best times, the beaches are closed just when you most want to be there. Some people can have access when most don't. Either they live on the beach or have a constructoin or utility permit or connections. But access is a big factor.
I missed the best hunting after Francis and Jeanne voluntarily. There was so much damage to homes in the area that I decided to help people instead of going metal detecting. As a result I totally missed it. It was also the year my wife's father passed away and a lot of other things were going on that took priority. I do remember seeing the eroded banks of Indian River Drive, part of which fell in, and the west side of the river was paved with bottles. For bottle hunting, I have seen nothing like it since, and it has now been nearly seventeen years.
I forget which year it was now, but there was a similar fossil hunting event. That was the only time I've seen it like that. One beach was lined with fossils, including some very big ones. Some shipwreck wood also washed up during that event. It seemed like that time a lot of things that were normally covered with sand under the water got washed up onto the beach.
To sum it up, the very best hunting events are all too rare. Those events can be widespread or localized. They can be of short or longer duration. And they can easily be missed, but if you manage to be there at the right time, they will be long remembered.
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Here is a pattern I mentioned yesterday. It is the pattern of fading big surf predictions. It is not uncommon to see a big surf predicted seven days out, but as time progresses, it seems that very often the predicted big surf fades, and we end up with something much smaller than the earlier prediction.
We saw that this week again. I think it doesn't happen as much as it did in the past. Maybe the model was improved. Now we are down to a prediction of a 3 -5 foot peak surf. That is getting down to the point that I wouldn't expect much, however the tides are high now, and it will also depend upon the direction of the swells, which I'll look at more in the next few days.
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| Surf Predictions. Source: MagicSeaWeed.com. |
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net