Besides Pompano what else eats sand fleas?
Honestly I know nothing about them besides what I just learned on youtube how to catch vids but they look like they would be good bait for Sheeps and Reds. Thoughts?
Does anyone catch them on SI or IOP?
Can you freeze them?
It appears some people eat them, anyone tried them?
First, Most, Biggest
I want to catch them all
Whiting eat them. If you get on some honcho Pomps you wont want anything else…ha
Stripers love them in the surf but thats of little relevance here… Try hooking two back to back, the first one that hits the sand will dig in causing a sand cloud and leaving the other upside down and wriggling… I liked to use one on a hopkins with a single hook and drag it across the bottom, mostly from the beach parallel to a jetty… Again that was for striped bass but i’d imagine a red or sheep would have a hard time passing one (or two) up.
Can you find sand fleas??
They get wipped out after beach renourishments. Haven’t seen them around since I was a kid 30 years ago. Have found them in little river & down south but not around here. Ended up buying Berkeley gulp sand fleas before they discontinued them…
YMMV
I’ve never seen or looked for them but saw somebody say they did catch some in Charleston last year. It piqued my interest so I figured I would look for a little more info. Given that they appear to be a type of crab I would think if there were a few here eventually that number would swell.
First, Most, Biggest
I want to catch them all
I’ve lived here for 20 years and never seen a sand flea outside of a frozen bait container. they have them all over the place in the gulf though. I’ve never eaten one, never even thought about it. what’s there to eat? I’m sure they may be great bait, but being I never see/catch them, I never use them.
use to catch them edisto beach
I found some on IOP a couple seasons ago, but they were tiny. Some of my largest bull Whiting, 2 lbs+, were on fleas.
It’s been several years ago but have caught many 5 up to 20+ lb
black drum on fleas but after beach replenishment (oak island),sand fleas vanished as did the drum!!!
[http://www.militaryappreciationday.org
When you see “Old Glory” waving in the breeze, know that it is the dying breaths of our fallen hero’s that makes it wave.
author unknown
We can get them at times at Garden City Beach. We have been 10 plus years since renourishment, and it should still be awhile. We got plenty of beach. I hope to find some when it heats up, because I have worn out some big Pompano here. On July 4th bout 4/5 years ago we caught like 6/8 really nice ones.
we found a bunch of them at botany bay last year. when the waves would roll back they couldn’t dig into the muddy areas like they can in the sand.
Melbourne Beach each in FL was loaded with sand fleas. Frozen ones dont hold up . We used different bait for Pompano, it all depended what they wanted that day . We used shrimp, clams and fleas . Every one had sand flea rakes , gave mine away when I moved back to SC
I DONT HAVE A BOAT
BUT LOVE TO FISH> HINT
Found them near Breech Inlet last year…scattering around at night…they were staying close to the rocks. Put about 15 in a cricket bucket and fished daylight for pompano…Nothing bit them. I didn’t try 2 at once…might be a great idea.
Key West 1720 115 HP Johnson Saltwater.
I used them surf fishing when I lived in Surfside,they where great for Pomps,Whiting,Croaker and a misc,Red every once in a while.I had a strainer that I used just for the purpose of catchinjg the Sandfleas,made it easy when I found some.
We see them up in N. Myrtle but not in large numbers.
“Apathy is the Glove into Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.
If you find them, take one half of a minnow trap to catch them. They work perfect to filter the sand out and trap the fleas. I usually sit the trap back in the edge of the surf to keep them alive.
Anyone know what time of year they start showing up? Hoping to find some this weekend.
18’ Hewes Bayfisher
North Myrtle and Myrtle produce them in good numbers mid-summer and you can find them in pretty good numbers around low tide. Haven’t seen any around Charleston though
“When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.” - Thomas Paine
I always found hundreds & I mean hundreds of the little buggers on Holden beach…
So many & so much fun for me as a kid to dig em up for my dad & I to fish with. Pomps love em & that’s why I bought some fakes from gulp!! Gonna try em out soon on a sand bar I got picked out on Flopy. Did good last year with shrimp for pomps.
You can freeze them but you have to blanch them first otherwise they fall apart when they are thawed.
If you remove the triangle shaped fin/arm before you hook them they can’t dig back in the sand.
All Day I Dream About Fishing
Malibu eXtreme
Diablo Adios
Key West 1720
They were in the tidal pools on IOP yesterday, moving in groups as the waves were pushing over the main bank.
Caught one to show my daughter.
She squealed, pet it, squealed again, then ran.
So much fun to be 2.