# sand fleas 101



## greg12345

I fish exclusively with fleas from the surf and I came across a good website for newbies who don't use them...seen a couple of posts recently about people unfamiliar with them so thought I would post this and at least save y'all some bait money (the price on sand fleas is always right):

http://fishingdestinguide.com/baitSANDFLEAS.html

Couple of things I do different - I hook them as shown (bottom to top) except I go through the "digger" and keep it close to the end of the flea...this allows my circle hook point to face the shank unobstructed and fresh fleas hooked this way will stay alive for 15-30' or so in the water...if your fleas are "old" and barely alive, i.e. they've been stored for a couple of days, they'll die in about 5' (but dead ones still work).

For storage I do a variation of this: 

http://amelia-island-fishing.com/fishing/articles/sand flea holder.cfm

I use a similar double-container set-up (allows waste to drain, I use 2 small plastic buckets, one with holes drilled in the bottom goes inside the other) but I always keep them covered with a small wet rag/towel soaked in seawater. If they dry out they die. I keep them cold/sheltered in a cooler while I'm fishing. For long term storage (max 3d or so) I "recharge" them at least daily, preferably 2x/day, by just pouring some seawater over them several times. You can tell when they are close to dying as their shell will turn a greenish hue and they will start to smell (not to mention they won't be lively when you pick them up). If kept cold and maintained as above about 75-80% of your initial catch will be alive on d3. I find most fridge's are too cold to keep them in...they end up dead, I usually use a cooler with a block of blue ice in it not touching the flea container and periodically change out the blue ice. If it's not too hot outside (i.e. fall pomp run) just take an old sock, dip it in seawater to wet it, and dump a handful of fleas in there and leave it next to your pole.

I always use fresh if possible, old live ones from a day or so ago if I don't have fresh, and last resort is stored ones (e.g. in early winter when they are buried deep and u can't catch them but you still want to go after whiting, black drum, sheeps). To store them you have 2 options:

1. put live ones in a strainer/colander and dip them in boiling water for 3-5 seconds (they will turn pink), cool 'em off, pat 'em dry, and vacuum seal/freeze.

2. dump live ones in a pre-mixed ICE COLD brine solution (seawater + kosher salt if you're cheap, some fancy one like bionic brine you're not), they will die immediately, and then store them in this liquid in the freezer (liquid will not freeze due to the salt in it) and they will be good as new...this is what i do for late november pomps in SE NC.

You cannot freeze them without doing either 1 or 2 or else they turn black. Best time to load up on ones for storage is later in the season (late summer/fall) as they get bigger with the summer (at least in NC where I fish), they show up here ~may and last through october/november.

Maybe other people have some of their own flea secrets? Don't waste your money on artificial ones, gulp ones, etc...the real thing works better and is free. This is all based on my experience in SE NC & myrtle beach.


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## BubbaHoTep

Great post, Greg.

I say put this one in the Bible!

Again, great stuff.


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## draggsxr1000

What are u using for rigging. Fish finder or double bottom. Ill be at oak island next week looking for some Pomona. Also what size hook.


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## Hooked Up

a guy was nice of enough to show me something about fleas this past spring................that shovel you carry in your truck for those days ur too stubborn to air down well..... stick it in the wet area of sand above the wash.......scoop up some sand and toss spread it across the beach........watch um run ...the wash will fill the hole..........easier on the back n shins then a rake....but seems as productive.....but dont leave ur rake at home


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## neckfat

Thanks for the tips! I've caught them by hand, but obviously that isn't the best method. I always wondered why the equipment rental outfits (bikes, boats, rods/reels, etc.) don't rent flea traps. I usually spend a half day scouring the second hand shops looking for stuff like that.


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## surfchunker

half of a minnow trap works if you have one laying around and doesn't take up my room


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## SmoothLures

surfchunker said:


> half of a minnow trap works if you have one laying around and doesn't take up my room


Yup. Just make sure you punch down the hole in the middle. Take both sides one inside the other and you can dig with one and stick the fleas in the other. It's really easy to keep them alive in it since you can just rinse them off every 30-60 minutes, too. 

Just a tip - take some kind of bait with you, even if it's just a pack of clams or a half pound of shrimp, because some days or some tides the fleas are almost impossible to find.


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## new2salt

I'll second this one for the bible. Thanks for the info.


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## greg12345

I love my flea rake but when space is at a premium I have a minnow trap that I have pounded down the conical part so it is just a mesh bucket with a hole in the bottom, I have the hole plugged up with GOOP.

The easiest way to save your back is to teach your kids how to identify the spots in the sand where they are and then just have them collect all the bait while you kick back and fish....they think it's fun.

And +1 on what SmoothLures said...NEVER count on fleas as your only bait if you are fishing someplace new, some beaches the sand fleas are nowhere to be found (overdeveloped, poor sand, recently renourished, etc.)...my back up is BW fishbites and a container of salted shrimp. Plus it may take you a while to gather up some to fish, or you may show up at the wrong tide (outgoing high tide is the easiest time to spot them on the beach). If you are having a hard time finding them find the nearest pier an hour or so after high tide and walk down the beach in either direction, for some reason the colonies are usually more concentrated near piers where I'm from. The beach I fish (topsail) got renourished this past year and it is way more work/walking to find the colonies now than it used to be.

Hook size depends on the flea, they can be from the size of a small raisin to a big walnut. I fish the huge ones on fishfinders for sheepshead/black drum under the pier or shallow in cuts or in the slough for pups. Medium ones go on a 2 or 3 hook bottom rig for pomps.


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## surffshr

Thanks great information.


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## surfchunker

I have no problem with an unaltered trap ... If they are there you might have to just try twice instead of once and I still have my trap for when I get back to the campground to throw in a canal to catch other bait ...


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## NCfisher

Bible X3


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## greg12345

Couple more things:

Sand fleas are, in my opinion, a "sight bait", i.e. I don't think they give off a lot of scent. Maybe I'm wrong but as such I fish them primarily in clear water (which is the water you're usually going to find pomps in) AND I fish them with some sort of visual attractor, usually a 8mm bright orange bead above my hook. Pomps have great eyesight (it's how they hunt) and the bead will attract their attention, they'll swim close, see the flea, eat it, and then you eat them. Other attractors people use to get the pomp's attention include gold hooks (points get dull too fast for me so I don't use them), bright floats above the hook (this has the added advantage of suspending the bait above the bottom where it is theoretcially more visible to the pomp), and fluorescent sinkers (I just made a bunch....buy a can of high gloss white spray paint for 3 bucks and a can of high gloss orange paint, spray a coat of white, let it dry, and the spray a coat of orange on your sinkers). All this being said plenty of pomps are caught on nothing but a hook and a flea without any attractor...BUT I feel better with some sort of attractor.

I do not use fleas when the surf is really stirred up and muddy as I feel like they don't give off enough scent to get the smell feeders to find them but maybe others have had success? If the surf is mildly stirred up and they're all I have I put a 1/4" x 1/4" inch of fishbites (I like BW or orange clam) on the hook first then put the flea on...idea is to give off a little scent to help the fish hone in to the bait. If the surf is really stirred up though I usually switch to cut bait to catch the scent feeders.

That website also has a good pomp fishing tutorial w/fleas: http://fishingdestinguide.com/FISH-POMPANO.html

Scroll down to the middle and look at the diagram of where to put the fleas..I do the same thing when I'm starting out, one pole casted out to the first gut right past the breakers, then another in the 2nd gut past the 2nd bar, then another (if i have a 3rd pole) to any other appealing structure I can see. Then you adjust as needed depending on where you're getting the most hits...but I always leave a bait out past the 2nd bar hoping for that 5lb pomp...

My favorite flea hooks are gamakatsu octopus circles (nickel finish) which are a light wire hook with an offset point, size 2 to 1/0 usually. 2nd would prob be owner mutu light circles, another light wire offset point circle, usually in same size range. Both are extremely sharp out of the package and hold their point well. I change out my hooks after EACH fishing session if they are dull...you can test by running the point across your fingernail lightly...it should stick and make a visible scratch...if it doesn't you're going to miss hook-ups IMO. I like frog tongues or sputniks...most holding power oz per oz.


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## lfunk11

I bought a decent amount of bait my last trip, but caught more with the sand fleas than anything else. No need for a rake or shovel, just look for the "V"s in the sand and scoop a big pile of sand and throw it up on the beach. Then grab the sand fleas as they try to escape. I am sure the rake works much better, but I can only surf fish when on vacation and thus this method works well for me.


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## Jersey Dave

I use a sand flea bucket....I took a cat litter bucket and drilled a bunch of .375" holes in the bottom and a few inches up the side....my kids get a kick out of using it just to catch and release...one scoop a summer or two ago, the kids got 125 of them...the bucket also doubles as a place to put their sand shoes after they have been rinsed off.


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## joe l.

greg12345 said:


> And +1 on what SmoothLures said...NEVER count on fleas as your only bait if you are fishing someplace new, some beaches the sand fleas are nowhere to be found (overdeveloped, poor sand, recently renourished, etc.)


Experienced this part first hand. The beach in front of the house we rented several years back had sand fleas everywhere, it was amazing how many I was getting for bait. So I bought a rake for the following year. Went back, all ready to use my new rake and thinking I was set for bait - and couldn't find a single flea. Little buggers packed up and left... lol


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## DrumintheSuds

Sandfleas are pretty much my prime bait now along with any kind of crab I can dig up. The OP pretty much covered the basics but I will add a few things just for flavor. When I first switched to "flea fishing" I tried to do it with my heavy action beefstick drum rods and it just doesn't work for flea fishing. If you want to be successful with sand fleas you HAVE TO LIGHTEN UP. I switched to 9'-10' steelhead rods, braided line and 2/0 to 3/0 circle hooks.

I do things a bit different than most when it comes to the water I fish. I fish the flattest beach I can find and look for "swash bars" with a shallow ditch that leads to a "runout". I fish right next to the runout on "top of the bar" and catch 90% of my fish in 2 feet of water or less. Most people wouldn't stop and fish where I am setup if their life depended on it........Fishing this way is an incoming tide strategy and it helps to mark several spots and move back and forth. I move to a deeper slough for outgoing but I still follow the same approach and look for narrow sloughs and runouts. Just enough current to pull sand off the bar so fish can get to the crabs, clams and fleas.

Last suggestion........DON'T OVERTHROW. Many times they are so close to your feet you can see them!


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## solid7

I put whole fleas in the REFRIGERATOR covered in coarse salt. They keep well, and no dicking around with any of that brining, freezing, etc. Just grab and go...


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## greg12345

interesting, how long do you keep them like that and i'm assuming they dry out over time??? i need some for long term storage as i don't live near the beach and need some for occasional late season runs....


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## solid7

greg12345 said:


> interesting, how long do you keep them like that and i'm assuming they dry out over time??? i need some for long term storage as i don't live near the beach and need some for occasional late season runs....


My last batch is almost 6 months old, and they still look like they did the day I pulled them out of the sand. It does intensify the smell a bit, but that's not a bad thing, at all. (they don't smell rotten - just strong "flea-ish")

You have to make sure they are completely covered in salt at all times, though. I put about 4 parts salt to 1 part flea. Fleas go in while they are still alive, and straight to the fridge. Helps if they are just a bit wet, but don't go out of your way to add water. Too much water, or too much exposure, and they turn black.


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