I've read a lot of things about sandfleas and I have seen them frozen in a few places around town.  I have never heard of these.  I would like some more info if sandleas are worth while.

Good Luck

Fish On!!!

Here is a picture of one. Its front is on the left, you can see the little antenna on it. The sand flea actually moves by scooting backwards. you can see the little flippers it uses for this on the right side of the picture.

This is the bottom of the sand fleas. Again, its front is on the left side of this picture. This is a female as you can just see the orange eggs under the flap on the back.

A picture of the eggs on the female with the flap lifted up. These with the orange eggs are supposed to be primo pompano bait.

I went down to the Crystal beach area in Destin last week and got a bunch (>100) that i am freezing and going to use for bait next year.   This beach was restored last year, but there is no shortage of sand fleas here. I saw a bunch out toward the west jetty also, at the waters edge about 2 weeks ago. I am sure you have them in Pensacola too. They are hard to find in the winter as i have heard they bury themselves pretty deep. They start to show up again here in late March, early April.  Although they can be found by themselves, it is easier to find a "nest"of them,i have gotten over 25 in one scoop.  To find them, stand at the waters edge and look down the shore. You will see "bump", or bubbles, or little V shaped areas in the sand.In the top left side of this picture you can see some "colonies"of them. I have noticed they will stay buried or go deeper if anyone is walking near them. I have seen a big colony of them from maybe 10 feet away, walked over to them, and didnt see them again. So, You want to stay maybe 10-15 feet and watch for them when the waves recede. The waves will wash away the sand covering them  when the wave comes in and you can see them burying themselves or running out into the water when the wave recedes. This is what the pompano are looking for too as they come right up into where the surf breaks to find an uncovered sand flea.  Here is one trying to rebury itself. I have noticed they also leave bubbles when they bury themselves, so you need to be on the lookout for these bubbles too.  Here is one that is buried and waiting, with its antenna sticking up. It is these antenna that makes the distinctive v in the sand.

Here are some buried in the sand.

To catch them, I would get a sand flea rake ( walmart sells them). Wait at the surfs edge, until you see some, memorize where they are, wait for a wave to come in,  then when the waves start to recede, run over to where they were and rake the sand toward you as the water goes out, going down as deep as you can.

Keep the rake in the water and let the waves wash the sand away from the fleas in your rake.

To hook them, I just put the hook in from the bottom and run it out through the top of the shell.

There are several other ways to do it and maybe some of the experts here will chime in. This is probably more than you wanted to know, but its raining here and I am pretty bored.

Thanks for the information.

Charles  (Pensacola)

TN Freshwater Boy Likes the Saltwater

When He Gets a Chance

if you're looking for fleas and are in destin, they are everywhere!!! just get out early or in the middle of the night

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How in the hell did you get a pic of a sand flea getting away? That's like 2 mila seconds fast.

or I'm just getting old?

 Mark

 Pensacola,FL

Excellent post with explanation and photos.

Keep chuckin, they'll make a mistake.

ANother thing to add would be  where  can I get a good lasting rake,  The one  from wally  world sucks.  I  broke  two of them already..(I raked the %$#@* out of 'm  yes) ....but  come on!!...they should make them more durable and the  handle  sucks  by the way. Its  a job sometimes  getting fleas out there...  Someone here that fabricates/works with alumminum, titanum etc  should get in the biz of making long  good lasting  rakes....small diameter mesh on it too, to catch the small guys...I'd  buy a couple.

 

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Reel Fun

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Pcola, FL 32505

Heard the Discovery Channel was hiring!  Great post.

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I got a pretty durable one from GBBT...they have 2 kinds, one made of conduit and chicken wire and one welded like the one you desire for much more $$$. I bought the later and have been happy so for this year.

Also, best informative post I've read yet. Inspires me to head out to the beach with the new knowledge I now have thanks to such an awesome post. I normally just scoop random and eventually get lucky.

Jimmy