# Am I just bad



## Got Fish? (Dec 31, 2014)

So I walked for about 45 minutes looking for sand fleas at OKI and didn't find any. Am I just bad at looking or are they not here? I have watched 311pope's video. Anyone have any tips for me to find them?


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Look for v shapes in the sand when water recedes.. What works for me..

Next question,do you have a rake??


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## kraus (Jun 8, 2009)

I've no experience on OKI hunting fleas but, across the river half way into a rising tide and on to the top, are when they can be seen the easiest, just as Drumdum describes above.


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## DANtheJDMan (Aug 29, 2012)

A lot of things can change in a month and we were on Haterass and not OKI but there were so many sand fleas a month ago you could dig them everywhere. 

The easiest way I know to find them is to look down the beach and look 50 feet ahead or so. This is in Popes video. It takes some time to figure out what your looking for. 
Look down the beach and watch the waves. Every three to four waves there is a longer one that goes further up the beach. Watch it as it goes all the way out. Look at the sand. It will be shiny and wet looking. If you see a place where it is not shiny and wet looking. That is where the fleas are. 
Look for shiny wet sand that is flat and smooth when the wave goes out. 
When you see an area that is not shiny like all the rest. 
Mark the spot in your mind and walk up closer. 
Wait for the long wave to come all the way up and over them like 4 inches deep.
Wait for the wave to go back out and attach the fleas. 
You will get a big scoop of them swiming into your rake. 
If they are too small they usually are all too small. 
Find the next colony and they might be bigger.
When we were there a month ago at 55 there were so many fleas it was a 3 ft wide strip of fleas all the way down the beach with no real break in the colonies. 
Its easy.


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

Learned to catch fleas at the old wooden Johnnie Mercer pier too many years ago to recall. But, I never could tell much difference whether the top of the v or the sides or middle held more fleas. Some of you experts tell me were the best spot is. Around Murells inlet north, anywhere there were rocks, you could run your hand down beside the rock and get fleas. Not as many as a rake, but enough to put in your pocket and fish. Be interested in where in the "V" the best catchin is.


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## greg12345 (Jan 8, 2007)

i think the "v" is referring to the mark in the sand that one individual flea makes with their head/antennae/eyes protruding out. I have probably walked (not to mention driven) hundreds of miles in total collecting fleas over the years. Once you know what you are looking for you can pause at the top of a beach access and look up and down the beach a hundred yards each way and know immediately whether that stretch of beach has fleas available for catching AT THAT PARTICULAR TIDE STAGE. fleas on a stretch of beach are not always visible at all tide stages, they may only show up on the outgoing, etc. 

some beaches just do NOT have any fleas at all (or very few), others have so many they are everywhere. the colonies will appear/disappear depending on the tide stage and how steep the beach is. your best bet is to find an undeveloped stretch of beach (no houses, minimal people) that has never been renourished, next best is to look in the 50 yards on either side of a pier (they seem to like piers for some reason). when i first started fishing s topsail more than a decade ago fleas were so thick there was a large colony every 20 feet up and down the beach...12y and several beach renourishments later there is on average one small colony every 1/2 mile.


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## Got Fish? (Dec 31, 2014)

Thanks for all the replies. The dry sand tip seems to be very helpful. And yes I do have a rake. I'm going to fish a pier tomorrow so I'll look to either side of the pier and see if I can find some.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Got Fish? said:


> Thanks for all the replies. The dry sand tip seems to be very helpful. And yes I do have a rake. I'm going to fish a pier tomorrow so I'll look to either side of the pier and see if I can find some.


 Sometimes you can hit the jackpot with one scoop right near the pilings...


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## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

When I teach people I have them stand with their feet in wet sand and look up and down the beach. If they are there you will see them. Forget V's. It looks like a rough patch. 

Probably have a better picture on my phone somewhere, but this.


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## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

Apparently my camera sucks, but here's another view of the same pod. See the orange shell in the bottom left corner, how it has a "V" behind it? That's the water flowing back out that gives a shell or a flea away.

For what it's worth I was 20 yards from this pod and there were NONE to be seen at high tide. An hour or two later, hey there they are. 

Just my $.02.


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## smeiser78 (Jul 31, 2013)

Has anyone tried the fish bites sand fleas? Does there need to be sand fleas around for it to work well?


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## cooper138 (Aug 8, 2012)

smeiser78 said:


> Has anyone tried the fish bites sand fleas? Does there need to be sand fleas around for it to work well?


Tried them in May and they actually out fished fleas. I will still always start with fleas first then move on from there. I'll keep a bag in the truck from now on.


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## Got Fish? (Dec 31, 2014)

Thanks for the help. I went to a pier near me to search for fleas. Didn't see any, but didn't have much time to look. I'll try again soon.


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## ez2cdave (Oct 13, 2008)




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## Wvlheel (May 13, 2015)

I was at Emerald Isle yesterday and could not find any at high tide. At low tide I could not miss them, once you know what to look for they are easy to spot. 

The photos above are excellent, exactly what I look for


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

I call them v's,maybe wrong in description,but caught BUNCHES and I mean enough for a whole week if kept properly,right near pilings of Avon pier.... AND YES,I look for v's.... OR an area in the sand as in pics above...


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## DANtheJDMan (Aug 29, 2012)

Drumdum said:


> I call them v's,maybe wrong in description,but caught BUNCHES and I mean enough for a whole week if kept properly,right near pilings of Avon pier.... AND YES,I look for v's.... OR an area in the sand as in pics above...


When my wife and I were at OBX a year ago in August we tried fishing just south of the Jennetts pier. I threw out a couple of lines and my wife took the rake down the beach to find some fleas. She came back with a few. 

It was early and half raining so there were not any people there swiming yet. 

Then the huge rollers from the hurricane that was off shore started to hit the beach and waves started washing way up around our beach cart. 

We moved back 50 ft and just watched the waves because 10 ounces would not hold bottom. 

A big wave washed up and I told my wife. Look at that huge flea colony. It was 20ft around. I grabed the rake and filled it up in one scoop. They were all as big as my thumb. 

There was not a sign of them before the waves washed up high on the beach. 

Nice pictures of the flea colonies.


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

Low tide 46th W


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## Got Fish? (Dec 31, 2014)

NC KingFisher said:


> Low tide 46th W


I'm having trouble finding 46th w on maps. All I'm finding is 46th SE. Is it in the middle of the island?


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

Head towards the point it might be 48th or 52nd W


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## Got Fish? (Dec 31, 2014)

Ok Thanks


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