# Questions on shrimp and sandfleas



## dachef1997 (Mar 4, 2012)

I have tried surf fishing for pompano every year for almost 7 years now and all I ever get are catfish. I have tried shrimp and sandfleas, frozen. I can keep the shrimp on the hook but the sand flea always flies off when I cast it. A local fisherman was nice enough to give me a live flea and it did the same. Two questions: What is the trick to getting the flea to stay on the hook? Also, where can one pick up some fresh never frozen sand fleas or shrimp? I have caught pompano off the pier and enjoy it very much but really want to catch them from the surf jsut sitting back and relaxing. The pier tends to get a little stressful, especially for a tourist like me, I never feel like I am wanted around by the people around me. Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

Thanks!


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## JoeZ (Sep 30, 2007)

Hook them behind the digger. The large fin like thing toward the front side of the flea. Most every tackle shop will be carrying live sand fleas here shortly, if not already.


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## Pier#r (Oct 2, 2007)

How much weight are you using?
Often the impact off 'too much' weight will rip the hook right thru most any soft bait.


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## Charlie2 (Oct 2, 2007)

*Sand Flea Hooking*

You hook them down through the swimmer then turn the hook around ,then up through the body leaving a little bit of the hook point exposed through the top of the shell. C2


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## DTFuqua (Jan 30, 2012)

Can you put up a video please on hooking sand fleas and any other thing like live shrimp. I have been a failure at fishing every time I tried and my baits always get lost if not nibbled to death.


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## dachef1997 (Mar 4, 2012)

Thanks for the info! I also intend to buy one of those filter shovel thingies to catch my own. Thanks!


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## johnf (Jan 20, 2012)

I'm a very new surf fisherman too. Only did it for the first time last summer. I live in Arkansas and will have my 2nd week of it in May. My best luck was with fresh dead shrimp bought at a local bait shop. This was in gulf shores, but my experience with those guys was great. I'm guessing that their and most spots is that if they give touristy guys like us good service and advice then we'll keep spending money there. I'm going to Pensacola this summer and will likely find the same type service there. I know next time I go to Gulf shores I'll be spending my money at the same shop. 

Back to the shrimp. I bought some frozen shrimp at walmart and they didn't work for crap. Like you said, pretty much every cast was just feeding fish. I got some fresh dead at a local shop and about 1/2 of them weren't even quite dead yet. That was cool. They hold together a lot better than frozen. I didn't know about sand fleas last year, but have read up on it a lot and watched a few videos. I did use a little net that I got for my 6 year old son and caught some minnows with it. I caught a pretty good sized stingray and what I think was probably a triple tail on them minnows. I caught a lot of whiting and catfish on the shrimp and something snapped my 20lb line like it was nothing. That was an exiting 1/2 second. I've heard that gulp shrimp work really well in the surf too and will be bringing some this summer. Good luck.


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## FishGolfDrink (Apr 19, 2011)

Damn, 7 years and only catfish? You have incredible persistence! 

Somebody help this man catch a pompano or redfish.. I would, but I don't know anything about surf fishing.


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## dachef1997 (Mar 4, 2012)

Yeah, I have not had any luck on the surf fishing. I have caught quite a few pompano off the pier along with hardtails, blues and spanish as well as a cobia but nothing but catfish off the beach. I really want to catch them in the surf, it is a goal I really intend to accomplish this year. Any advice would be very well recieved. Thanks for the help!


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## Magic Mike (Jun 30, 2009)

How are you rigging your gear? Are you using a double drop or something else? Are you positioning your bait in the cuts between sandbars? Are you looking for holes or blindly picking spots? If you're stuck with nothing but catfish in a certain spot... move down the beach a little. Find some darker waters to explore. Go up to Hot Spots in Gulf Breeze and pick their brains... those guys can put you on some fish or show you what you're doing wrong.

Definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result... over a 7 year period haha jk. Good luck!


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