Well, I'm back...

[portraitartist]

I'm back from my vacation to Florida... had a pretty good time, wasn't exactly wat I had envisioned, but in all it was relaxing, and I did enjoy myself...

Only got to hunt once, but I hunted for about 6 hours, on Siesta Kay beach... could only hunt the dry sand, as my 1266 doesn't like the wet sand, but I did manage to find a few things... oh, and I got burned to a crisp in the process...

Manages to find about $3 in clad, and I did find a tiny piece of something I do believe is gold - will have to have it tested to know for sure... also found what I believe to be a tiny little silver bracelet/necklace, and a couple of pieces of what I'm pretty sure are pieces of silver costume jewelry, but the stone in one of them is really pretty and looks like it could be a good one - light blue, sapphire???

Anyway, wow, beach hunting is a totally different animal... I didn't have much trouble with my machine except for the wet sand issue - and nothing I did would keep it from falsing, so I stuck to the dry sand...

Couldn't really hit the "towel line", as we were there during the day and there were tons of folks, so I spent most of my time around some volleyball courts, and spent some time back away from the crowds up and down the beach...

I have no doubt that there is anything I could've missed depth-wise or size-wise, as I dug many, many pull tabs at at least 10", some deeper, and lots of very tiny things - some the size of a BB - down very deep... and what I think is even more annoying that pulltabs (didn't find too many of the newer types, shallow as I had expected) are FOIL GUM AND CIGARETTE WRAPPERS - I found TONS and TONS of those things, and they about drove me crazy...

and as I couldn't take any digging tools with me on the plane, I had to buy a cheap little plastic shovel from Walgreens - kinda felt like an idiot with all the other hunters out there with their stainless scoops, but it did what I needed it to do, sortof...

There were quite a few other hunters out there while I was there, and I did stop and talk to a few of them - there was one guy that wasn't very friendly, and who hunted a lot right in the middle of the towel line, which I thought was quite rude and just not right, yknow? But I didn't say anything... nobody from the board, but I did ask, and told them about us...

But probably the highlight of my trip was the fishing I got to do... my gf's parents are in a country-club deal right on a golf course, and there were many nice ponds... I didn't take any rods or tackle with me, but I did buy a cheap little ultra-light spinning set-up from Target, and I had a BALL catching some nice, fat Florida largemouth bass! I believe that even if I hadn't gotten to hunt at all, the fishing alone would've been enough to make the trip enjoyable... didn't take any pics though, but I should've...

So, all in all, it was a nice trip... I would've liked to have been a little more mobile, but I did have a great time, ate like a pig, relaxed a bunch, caught some fish and maybe even found a little gold!

[pris]

Sounds like a great vacation to me! Congrats on those finds. It's better than I've done, in total, at the beaches. The only jewelry I've found at the beach is that one little gold ring.

I love fishing Did y'all eat what you caught?

[Lt1stone]

Overall it sounds like you had an awesome trip!

[anne]

Glad you had a good time

[johnj45586]

Dirt fishing or water (fish) fishing, it all is great. I think I like water fishing better (if the fish are biting)!
At least you did find some stuff. Yes, all that foil is a real bummer at the beach. My pet peeve is that $#^%$ Go-Gurt package! There are millions of them at the beaches here in California. And the hot sauce or ketchup packages from the fast food places. But wadded up gum wrappers are the worst. They often read like coins - and they all have to be dug to get the trash out.
A tip for travelers to the beach. You have to have a scoop/basket to sift sand or waste a lot of time trying to locate something in the sand. If there isn't a ready source of a real scoop nearby there is a workaround. Check the local thrift stores for a deep fryer (smaller the better). They have baskets that are fantastic for working the sand. When I started I lucked into a basket for a quarter by itself. Big Lots sells fryers for $10-$20 - throw the fryer away and keep the basket!
And finally, there is a mesh at Home Depot, Lowes or whatever lumber/hardware store that is in your area that is 1/2 inch or less. Cut a piece to make a cylinder, cut another piece to be round and cover the bottom, then add a handle. If you have tools available a coffee can makes a good cylinder with the mesh at the bottom.
Anything is better than fishing around with your fingers - that is how the stuff got lost in the first place.
Happy hunting

[portraitartist]

here's a pic of my jewelry... the gold piece is slightly smaller than a dime...

[EPC Guy]

Sounds like a great time...glad you had fun and made it home safely!

[grasshopper]

looks like you had a great trip!!

[EBCIII]

Congrats on the great trip! I am gald you enjoyed it. I really enjoy both types of fishing, Beale.

[Buster]

Robert, glad you got to get away and relax some...Good to recharge your batteries for sure..My wife and I have not been on a real vacation in over 6 years..Maybe this year...You done good my friend...Glad you are back safe...Time to hit the easements...Buster...