How To Use Sand Fleas As Bait

How To Use Sand Fleas As Bait

You’ve probably been fishing when you just got the itch for another fishin’ trip. It doesn’t matter where…What does matter is that you’re ignoring all of your responsibilities. Your wife doesn’t even mind WHY you’re going fishing, she knows it’s important to you and that’s why she supports your hobby. She would like the house cleaned once in a while, but it’s more important to get more rods and nets for your next trip. Sand fleas are amazing bait for catching sand bass, speckled perch, and flounder.

Using sand fleas as bait is an easy process. All it takes is a little patience and perseverance. It’s one of the cheapest bait styles you can use for fishing. The easiest way to make sand flea trap is to build a simple cage that will trap the sand fleas as they fall into it. Once you have your apparatus in place, you’re ready to start collecting sand fleas to use as bait.

How To Use Sand Fleas As Bait

Sand fleas are a great way to attract fish and other aquatic life. They can be used in many different ways, which we will cover in this guide.

Sand fleas are a unique and new product material that can be used in a variety of applications. They are also an excellent quality product, which makes them perfect for use as bait.

The first step to using sand fleas as bait is to simply attach them to your hook or line. The best way to do this is by using a small piece of string or twine, which can be secured around the hook by wrapping it around several times before tying off with a knot.

Next, you will want to find an area where there are plenty of fish swimming around so that you can easily catch one with your newly-made sand flea trap! You may also want to consider where you plan on fishing since many people prefer lakes over rivers due to their larger size and variety of species available throughout their waters.

Once you have located a suitable location for fishing (or if you plan on fishing close enough to shore), then all you have left to do is wait until something bites!

How To Use Sand Fleas As Bait

One of the great summer baits for all munchers and crunchers, is the lowly mole crab or sand fleas, a.k.a, Emerita talpoida. Although neither flea, nor related to the backyard subterranean ground mole, the sand flea or mole crab, as it is also known, is a wonderful bait. They are found along with the colorful coquina clams in the ocean surf “swash,” in an unending Sisyphian cycle of back and forth, up and down, on the rise and fall of each wave.

Their characteristic “Vs” in the retreating waves give them away. Mole crabs are readily gathered along the surf on the retreating wave, by hand or net, or by commercially available gathering scoops. They are without doubt the best bait after recently shedding their shells and are laden with orange egg masses on their undersides. But the hard shelled versions work great, too.

You can hook small ones one or two at a time, but some like to cut the big ones in half so you get bait and chum all in one. You can also freeze them for winter or early spring fishing.

Some freeze them as they are, and some par-boil them by dumping them in boiling water, then immediately draining them and washing them off with cold water.

One of the eternal questions is how do I find the illusive soft shell mole crabs? Here is one method, give it a try.

As a wave recedes from the sand, it leaves behind a glassy “sheen,” which in turn recedes to the ocean or perhaps sinks into the sand. As it recedes or sinks into the sand, look along the shiny edge (the ocean side) and try to find a round area about the size of a quarter – an area that dries out just before the edge of the sheen recedes around it.

Dig where that spot was and you will find a molted softie sand flea. The best time to catch softies is low tide. You can put the fleas into an open pail with damp, sand and most will stay alive overnight. They make a great bait for early morning surf fishing.

Fished on a Carolina Rig or standard two-hook bottom rig, with No. 2 or No. 4 long shank hooks, they are great bait for pompano, sea mullet, croakers, red drum, black drum, sheepshead, stripers, flounder and more. This time of year, it is indeed the favorite bait of big sea mullet.

The sea mullet bite this year has been good since the spring, and another fish that is having a great season is the sheepshead, which is named for prominent broad incisor teeth resembling a sheep’s teeth. These fish aren’t heavily targeted by local anglers because of their sometimes irritating finicky nature, and the finesse fishing technique required to catch them. But the payoff is good, these are good fighters and make great table fare with their sweet flaky white fillets.

Best baits of course include sand fleas, but also fiddler crabs, and sea urchins. By the way, the 6-pounder I caught was on a live shrimp. Locally, Dudley’s and Chasin’ Tails carry fiddlers and Chasin’ Tails now also has sea urchins. Of course you can catch your own sand fleas, fiddlers and spiny urchins if you wish.

List Of How To Use Sand Fleas As Bait