Sand Fleas

In Maryland they use fleas for blackfish instead of fiddlers. They are the same sand crabs that I used to dig for in the sand at Rockaway when I was little, just much bigger. The ones they get are two inches long.

Bill Sullivan
Jones/Debs editor
Nor'east Saltwater

When the surf is churned up a little we use sand fleas/crabs on a floater rig in the surf holes. They are good for Blues and stripers.

I don't know about stripers, but the pompano down in Florida sure love 'em. Never tried them for tog, but I bet they would work.

Hey gottog, weren't you gonna give them a shot for blacks?

Gamakatsu

Gama, well lets just say they didn't freeze very well so I didn't get the oppurtunity to try em. I've heard they work well on tog especially down south and have heard people using them for striper bait.

Remember, ya gotta hook 'em to cook 'em.

got tog?

Bergalls have feelings too...

Thanks for the quick reply. They're there from July thru September. Look for the lumpy sand. I just don't know how well they will stay on a hook. That's what I was hoping to find out. Rigging and all that stuff.

Hey Gamakatsu and Gottog...
To be perfectly honest with ya, I've tried it on blackfish and all I can say is... It's deadly!

Also - many years ago when I fished at Daytona Beach (Fla.)- I caught all the whitings (kingfish) I wanted with sand fleas!

"Crazy" Alberto
[email protected]

Crazy-Al - We dig into the sand with our hands,when the surf temp is in the high 60's,july and latter,the fleas are a little larger then.They can run very fast and quickly dig into the sand.

Iningolob, to hook a sand flea, insert the hook through flapper on the underside, into the body of the sand flea until the point of the hook just pierces the main shell.

Thanks for the tip CA...Sounds like next time one of my friends comes up from Florida in the fall, he is going to rake some live fleas before he leaves.

Gottog, they will freeze, but become a little delicate. If you hook them the way I described above, they will stay on the hook reasonably well, even when frozen and thawed.

Gamakatsu

Here's my two cents worth:

I caught a 15 pounder in broad daylight this past October at Jones Beach Field 6 with a Bottle plug, only to find out, when filleting it and checking its stomach to find what it had been eating, that it was gorging on sand fleas/mole crabs. I guess there was so little bait in the water at that time they found other means...

I.ve caught bass on sand fleas in NJ in mid late june, kingfish too, tog as well!!! easy to get bait that is overlooked IMO

I have never seen them on LI. I thought that they were mainly down south. They have to have some usefullness as natural bait...I would think other species than stripers...but who knows? I'm going to look for 'em, thanks!

They're all over the shore along the Nissequoge River. Look for the telltale holes in the sand.

Little buggers are quick & hard to catch though...

This message was edited by wader on 1-30-02 @ 12:37 PM