This site is dedicated to the sea fishing bait live sandeel possibly on of the best baits around the british isles for a number of fish including:

Although hard to come by it is worth while hunting down due to the results it can give.

 

 

Catching live sandeel can prove difficult until you learn how, They obviously live in and around sand so finding a sandy beach or bank is the best place to start. They can be caught using a variety of methods and i have listed the most common below.

 

A beach seine net can be used to collect sandeels from the sure it usually involves a small boat taking one end of the net attached to a rope out from the shore roughly 10 metres and creating a half circle and then running it back to the shore line, Once its back both ends of the should be hauled in at the same time (you usually need two people for this!

The result is that all the sandeels are then caught in the cod end or end of the net.

A push net is probably the easiest to collect sandeels depending on your location, you simply push the net towards the shore along the sandy bottom, Walk out 2 metres and push the net back in along the seabed, be wary of weevers being collected in the net and always wear some foot protection! The push net can also get you live prawns, shoal bass, peeler crab to name a few. They can be constructed very easily using a square frame with a handle screwed on and an old keepnet.

 

 

Probably the hardest method and least popular i have never personally tried it but you apparently just dig it into the sand and walk with it until you feel it get harder to pull then apparently grab the sandeel.

 

These are most effective over slackwater on a bank when the sandeels tend to come out of hiding just drop to the sea bed and jig in the same way you would for mackerel.

 

Unless your boat is already set up for using a trawl I would not reccomend this method. It is however the most effective and on a good tow you can net over 500 sandeels a go, Again slackwater is the best time to use an otter trawl for sandeels.