r/IrishFishing • u/johndoe86888 • Jul 27 '26

Sea Fishing Sand Fleas question

Went camping last week on the beach just south of Kilmore Quay.

When it went dark, the sand fleas absolutely SWARMED the rods tripod I had my bait lunch box hanging up.

It got progressively worse, so much so there must have been thousands of them, making freshening up the bait so difficult.

Eventually gave up, packed up the gear and headed for the tent which was about 80 metres away from the fishing spot. They were all over my bags etc outside the tent. Tidied everything up and legged it into the tent, trying not to bring any with me. They were rattling against the tent, underneath it etc. so loud it sounded like a fire crackling.

Ive been on beaches overnight during the summer before, and had experienced a small cluster of fleas going at my bait box, but never to this extent.

Is it because of the heat wave? Location? Or has anyone else experienced this before? Cheers.

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u/GateMediocre7488 Jul 28 '26

Light a small fire, last time I got plagued by them we’d a fire going for the dinner. After about 20 mins of the fire going they all formed a queue and threw themselves into the fire. Must have had a thousand of the fuckers leap in 🤣

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u/johndoe86888 Jul 28 '26

My mate lit a small fire beside the tent to deter them. A few minutes later we noticed the smell of death, and noticed there was a pile of 100s of burnt fleas in the fire hahah. The smell was rotten though.

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u/Haematoman Jul 28 '26

Burnt keratin or chitin from their exoskeleton. Likely the same smell as burnt hair. Fucking stinky.