While they will not rate a second glance or pin you to the rail during a fight, nonetheless sand dabs have other qualities that makes them worth going after. Besides being willing biters, and no limit to worry about, they’re a perfect dinner combination to add with freshly boiled Dungeness crab.
Deep fried and with the right mix of seasoning, sand dabs melt in your mouth like tasty potato chips, and just thinking about it gets my salivary glands all worked up. Angling for sand dabs fills in that void when nothing else is going on, and it’s a lot of fun, and it’s also a perfect way to coordinate a combo trip.
When conditions are ideal and the seas flat, we’ll drop our string of crab pots, and then go sand dabbing. And in practically all cases where you drop the pots the sand dabs will be there as well. You couldn’t ask for a more perfect setup.
Belonging to the family Bothidae or left-eyed flounders, sand dabs frequent a firm sand bottom and in this domain they are a terror on small crustaceans and fish. They reside all along our coast, and although they can be caught in shallower zones, generally when you explore deeper say greater than the 100 foot depth line the action gets better.
That of course provides for an unlimited amount of places to go. Pick a spot and work it, and don’t worry about getting bit. You’ll get action because it is extremely rare to find a section of ocean bottom without these fish.
In the past, I’ve had steady action hitting the stretch of water just inside S-Buoy, and all along this general line when working beyond 100 feet. It’s not a long run to get here, and if the wind picks up from the northwest, you have more or less a quartering ride home if you’ve departed from the Golden Gate Bridge.
Aggressive Biters
Sand dabs are aggressive biters once you drift a tasty morsel in front of their nose, and they seem to bite well on both sides of the tide. Gearing and baiting up for sand dabs is quite basic, and there’s nothing technical about this sport, which makes it great for novice anglers.
Tackle
For starters a 7-foot medium action rod with a sensitive tip and designed for a conventional reel will meet your sand dab needs. Basically this is meat and potato fishing but on a lighter scale so a good matching reel would be Penn’s 220LD.
I’m always harping about the braid lines, and in the case when probing greater depths their unique properties will score more hookups for you. Their thin diameter means less drag, hence, you can use lighter sinkers, and their minimal stretch means increased sensitivity and an immediate response on the hook set. That’s something you get considerably less of when you fish with monofilament the deeper you go. And the bottom line on that means missing bites, or not feeling them at all. For sand dabbing Izorline or P-Line Spectra in 50 to 60 lb test would be a good choice.
Leaders
Although you can legally use up to 12 hooks for sand dabs, I only use a third of that simply because its easier to setup and bait, and a shorter leader is just easier to manage.
My basic rig consists of a 5-foot leader of 50 lb test monofilament and at their respective ends a 1/0 barrel swivel and snap swivel are placed.
On the main leader I’ll form four 1-1/2 inch bait loops spaced roughly 11 to 12 inches apart. To each loop I’ll slide on a 1-1/2 inch Mini Plankton skirt and then loop on a # 2 hook. These small skirts glow in the dark and look like small squid, which adds to their appeal. To sweeten the presentation I’ll add a small strip or tentacle of squid to the hook. And that’s it.
Lead
Depths, wind and current speed will vary so bring sinkers from 6 to 16 ounces.
Controlling Drift
Its always better to fish when conditions are more benign, but when the wind and chop pick up a bit more creating a faster drift, you can slow things down by dropping a sea anchor off your bow.
Fishing Offensive
Long drifts are the rule when sand dabbing so once you’ve determined current direction just head up stream and drop the lines. If you have extra bodies on board to work the lines, to minimize tangles keep some lines closer to the boat with heavier sinkers, and the lines you want further out, rig with lighter weights.
During the actual fishing just maintain light contact with the bottom by having the sinker occasionally tick. If you’re using braid line you can easily feel that bottom contact.
Sand dabs bite with sharp pesty raps, and they’re never alone. The moment a bite is triggered I tend to hesitate giving the fish time to take the bait in better, and also allows time for the leader to load up with more company. As more weight comes onto the rod tip I strike once and then reel up.
Remember everything looks the same out on the open blue, so if you’re hitting a certain spot that’s producing steady action get GPS numbers. When you prepare for another drift run back to those numbers and drop.
Conclusion To A Great Day
Working the water with family or friends makes for an enjoyable day, and having that salt breeze in your face all day will certainly develop a healthy appetite. Having freshly boiled crabs is always a holiday treat, and you can add to the festivities with a plate of fried sand dab.
Here’s a very basic recipe my brother Angelo likes to use.
Ingredients:
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Sand dabs headed and gutted.
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All-purpose flour seasoned with salt and pepper.
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One beaten egg.
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Olive oil
Take cleaned sand dabs and dip them into the egg. Next dredge sand dabs in seasoned flour. Add just enough olive oil to cover bottom of pan and set at medium high heat. Put sand dabs into the pan and cook until golden brown on each side then serve.
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