All about sandeels and needlefish

[cowherder]

I read reports about a lot of sandeels and small bait around now. what would you guys recommend bringing out right now? What is the best artificial copy of a sandeel that bass will crash?
Where do they come from and why do they end up in the surf?

[dogfish]

Bucktails
bucktails
bucktails (at least by me, that's how we roll)

[bababooey]

Metal jig, like Point Jude or T-hex tins
Bucktail
diamond jig

[DarkSkies]

A lot of people have been talking about the sandeels. They are a great forage for predators. They will dig in at night, and early and end of season are a reliable bait you can count on. Bass love to slurp em, and they are not skittish like other baits. They will actually follow you around if you are out wading, and seem to me to be naturally curious.

They also seem to be drawn to lighted areas at night.

Another thing to consider is they are preyed on by needlefish, so this time of year you will see a mix of them as well. Needlefish are more skittish, and will swim away in a hurry.

The other night fishing in LI, Stripercoast1, Ed, was able to grab up a few in his hands after stalking those elusive needlefish. They have a strong scent, and I definitely believe the bass can smell em.

These baits are some of my favorites because of the consistency.

[clamchucker]

This is the time of the year when you want to fish teasers, folks. Don't be afraid to fish longer ones. Some of the sandeels out there are 9" long or more. In certain areas at night you will hear the bass plopping up to the surface to feast on these eels. You have to figure out where they are located.
Last year there was a significant amount 1/4 mile offshore, and less in the surf zone. This year so far it seems they are a lot closer. I do see the needlefish as well like Dark mentioned, but I try to concentrate on matching the profile of the sandeels.
The difficulty you will have is when they are balled up by the thousands. At that point you have to make your presentation stand out from the strongest concentrations. Of course it is easier to see this from a boat.
Try redgill or other similar teasers. 9" black or silver and black sluggos are a good night time presentation. I like to keep things simple so I always have a few redgills and sluggos in the bag this time of year.

[strikezone31]

also called Ammodytes Americanus or sand lance

Some scientific info-
http://www.climateandfish.eu/default...NT=S0T1O-1P192

facts from that paper- from the North atlantic and north sea, but you could probably make the same assumptions for our sandeels as they are at the southern portion of the area in discussion.

18.1.2 Spawning

Spawning in

A. marinus occurs in the North Sea between December and January (Bergstad et

al., 2001; Gauld and Hutcheon, 1990; Macer, 1966). The eggs are demersal and are spawned

at the demersal habitat of post-settled sandeels, where the eggs reside until hatching (Reay,

1970; Winslade, 1971).

18.1.3 The larval phase

When the larvae reach a length of 20 to 30 mm they become good swimmers, and congregate in the feeding areas of adult sandeels. These areas coincide with frontal areas.

Larvae congregate in the water layers with highest zooplankton

abundance during the day.

Larvae of all sizes are generally more homogeneously distributed in the water column during night than during day.

After metamorphosis, in May/June, the juvenile fish exhibit the burying behaviour of the adult sandeels.

18.1.4 Sandeel burying behaviour

Post-settled sandeels bury into the sediment when they are not feeding in the water column, i.e. when feeding is energetically inefficient in winter when sea temperatures are low (Winslade 1974c), when prey abundance is low (Winslade 1974a), and at night when low light intensity limits prey visibility: sandeels are visual feeders.

Sandeel burying behaviour has frequently been observed in response to predators foraging near the seabed (Girsa and Danilov, 1976; Pearson et al., 1984; Pinto et al., 1984) and can therefore also be seen as an anti-predator behaviour. Many predators are however capable of capturing buried sandeels (see e.g. Hobson, 1986).

18.1.5 Habitat and distribution pattern

The distribution of post-settled sandeels is highly patchy and primarily limited by the availability of suitable substrate (Macer, 1966). Sandeels avoid sediment where the weight fraction of the fine particles silt/clay and very fine sand (particles<0.09mm) is larger than 10% (Wright et al., 2000).

Sandeels appear to be tolerant to wide range of salinities.

18.1.7 Feeding biology

The food of sandeel larvae consists mainly of copepods. With increasing size the larval preference switches from copepod eggs and nauplii for larvae between 8 and 12 mm, to nauplii and copepodites for larvae between 12 and 20 mm, then to larger copepodites and

adult copepods for larger larvae and post larval and adult sandeel.

18.1.8 Growth

Growth rate of post-settled sandeels is highest during the main feeding season between March and July.

18.1.9 Ecosystem role and trophic interactions

Sandeel is a valuable food source for many marine predators due to their high abundance and

caloric value (Hislop et. al., 1991). They are preyed upon by a range of fish species.

[CharlieTuna]

Remember when these things are in thick, to try to keep in close contact with the sand. The bluefish will be on top, bass on the bottom.

[johnnysaxatilis]

in the flats on the cape, i know guys that will fish exclusively sand eels on high low rigs and hit some nice fish.

That aint real fishing tho, they just put the rod in the spike, drink beer and run like idiots when it starts doin somethin. try not to fall over when you're poop faced on the beach and ur rod is 200 yrds away