Catching Sand Fleas with My Sand Flea Rake. Thought this sand flea saga would get me in the right mood to go surf fishing. I love catching sand fleas for surf fishing bait. However, I go to catch fish so get all the fleas fast is my goal so I can concentrate on fishing. Once you get the technique the fun really begins. Search for areas of ruffled sand in the surf wash. As the wave recedes there may be areas that appear “rough” or “alive” compared to the surrounding smooth sand. These patches of sand seem to vibrate as the fleas dig into the sand to
hide as the water recedes. A colony of sand fleas may be 2 feet across and 10 feet long paralleling the beach. It is easiest to see a colony when looking into the sun so the refection of the rough ‘vibrating’ sand of the colony is easy to see. I have seen many colonies scattered along the beach at 10 to 20 yard intervals. In my experience, sand fleas often appear a couple of before and after high tide. The perfect time is when hide tide is around 8:00 am so if you get there at daylignt you have 4 hours of good flea hunting. They are harder to find at low tide. However, I have also seen them active all day. My experience is limited but those are the best of my observations to date. Notes are kept regarding the presence or absence of sand fleas during each fishing trip. Catch the sand fleas by noting the colony position. Stand on the dry sand above the colony and wait for a bigger wave to come and completely cover the colony. As the wave recedes run up and set the sand flea rake on the surf side of the colony. Just set the rake down and wait for the water to recede and carry the fleas into the rake. No need to dig the rake into the sand. I will dig my foot into the colony and drag it back and forth across the colony in front of the rake to help uproot the fleas that then wash into the rake with the receding wave. Sometimes I have caught 200 or more fleas in one dip. It is really great sport.
I made my own 24” wide sand flea rake (see photo below) is important to use a screen with holes large enough to let the sand and small shell particles pass through but hold the fleas. For me about 3/8” holes work are prerfectly for New Smyrna Beach where I fish. My rake was made of steel horse fence (4” square) that was bent into a backbone. To that, using plastic cable ties, I attached the screen. It is used in walls (forgot what it is called) but cost $5 for a 30” by 8 foot piece (cheap). It does not rust. I welded on a broken rake handle (free from a friend) and it was finished. Total cost about $10 and 2 hours of work. Frozen sand fleas cost about $2 for about 30-40 fleas around here. The steel part will rust if not cleaned and maintained.
I have made a new rake that has garden rake teeth on the bottom so it can dig into the sand. It really works well and can dig 4-6" easily. It is the one I use now. Maybe I can get a photo of it for tomorrow. Digging is important if it is cold or if it is low tide.
