[Bread Man 1]

Guys, I have always used a flea rake. I took an old colander my wife had in the kitchen this past Tuesday night. I don't know if that is the correct spelling. You know the thing you rinse vegetables out in. Take an old fold up Army shovel, or your hands and throw the sand in it, and rinse it out in the waves. Worked better than a rake for me. I had it half full of fleas in about 5 min. Leave some of the rocks and gravel in it that the fleas live in. Set it on top of ice in your cooler, and they will stay alive a couple of days.

 

[Topsail Angler]

Good Tip!

 

[LiveBait]

I am going to have to try that for sure.

 

[bankandsurf]

I use the folding shovel method, but took a plastic 3 gal bucket and drilled holes in the lower half of the bucket using a 1/2" drill bit (but you could use what ever size you want depending on what size flea you like) and it works great plus you can put more sand in it.

 

[Fire Shark]

Great method for sure, however the best way I have found is to bait with Ice Cream!
Tell the kids we are going to get ice cream as soon as the bucket is full.
Just my .02

 

[LiveBait]

I really like that method Fire Shark!

 

[sundrop]

Great method for sure, however the best way I have found is to bait with Ice Cream!
Tell the kids we are going to get ice cream as soon as the bucket is full.
Just my .02

Who's got kids that will come out of the house anymore?? LOL!!

 

[sinker man]

That is a good question Sundrop. When I was a kid and they told me we were going fishing I tried my best to get us enough bait that we wouldn't run out for a couple of days. LOL I didn't have to be told to....I WANTED TO. Fishing was Bribe enough and I knew that if we ran out of bait it would be because we were gonna have a big fish fry. That was plenty of incentive. I also knew that if I got too much bait we might be cleaning fish all night so that sort of kept my enthusiasim in check some what.
Now it is totally different. There are so many other people that you can't hardly find a decent place to get to the water. When you are out in a boat you have to worry about whether or not you are going to have a trailer or a battery when you get back. There isn't enough bait to go around much less fish so you have to be careful about what kind of impact you are having. Then there is the oil situation so you don't want to be wasting any of that. You also have the waterfowl lead ingestion problem to be concerned with. I could name a few more, but my point is... No small wonder that kids don't get as excited about going fishing.

 

[Dave B.]

Who's got kids that will come out of the house anymore?? LOL!!

I do!

 

[sundrop]

Dave, that's because you are a Father, not just a ______"donor" if you catch my drift... Be proud of the good examples you have set for your son. Parents love their children, but "good" parents teach there children..

 

[Guest]

ummm, what are sand fleas? sounds like something you wouldn't want..

 

[bankandsurf]

Sand Fleas are Mole Crabs they are little crabs about 1/2 to 1 1/2 long and look like bugs and Pompano and other fish love them.

 

[Topsail Angler]

ummm, what are sand fleas? sounds like something you wouldn't want..

If you are targeting pompano - you definitely want Sand Fleas (mole crabs)

 

[Guest]

oh cool, it's nothing i have to worry about getting. but something you want for pompanos.... which are ? saltwater fish.. good eating.. not very large?

 

[Topsail Angler]

oh cool, it's nothing i have to worry about getting. but something you want for pompanos.... which are ? saltwater fish.. good eating.. not very large?

Pompano - saltwater = yes. Good eating...... you don't want any of those - if you get any, just give them to me!

Actually they are one of the best tasting fish in the world! Average size is about 1 pound but in the fall you can catch some in the 2 pound range (citation size).

http://www.ncangler.com/forums/fishfacts.php?do=view&id=133

 

[Dave B.]

I know in SW Fla they use "Fla snow shovels".. small or large chicken wire type basket on a stick. Scoops up fleas pretty well without alot of stoopin over

 

[Topsail Angler]

They sell those here too. Tourist buy them a lot. They work but they charge a lot of money for them for what you get.

 

[sundrop]

They sell those here too. Tourist buy them a lot. They work but they charge a lot of money for them for what you get.

Hmm wire basket on a stick... I think Ive seen some file folder sized wire racks at Lowes... an old broom and !!!!!!!

 

[LiveBait]

I have been thinking about making one. Shouldn't be too hard. There is a nice looking one on this website that shouldn't be too hard to make. Reels on Wheels Fishing Carts by CPI Designs

 

[Lhowell]

Yep I just take a shovel and when the water runs out I scoop up a shovel full of sand and take it where the water cant get to and dump it in front of my son and he has a ball picking em all out... Once you get them away from the water they cant really dig down under the sand so they are easy to grab... Get anywhere from 10 to 20 in one scoop and my son is steadily asking me to go dig up some more after a while he quits asking and does it em self by hand but I always try and tell him to get nomore than we need and when we get to about a 100 I think that is way more than we need but he will sit there and play with them things all day long and enjoy every minute of it... Trying to teach him not to kill it unless your going to eat it or use it for bait.... Hes catching on pretty good and we cant wait till the next trip the 28th of this month.... Take care everyone!!!