Ohh, barra-barracuda, yeah …

Hooking a barracuda on the flats is like hooking into a just launched and angry torpedo.

A nice size ‘cuda can easily peel off a 100 plus yards of line before you can turn him and then the fight really begins.

Head shaking jumps. Long secondary and tertiary runs and then when you think he’s finally “tired” and by the boat, he can easily blast off another long and hard run.

Tackle & Tactics

Medium to medium heavy spinning gear, 20-30 pound braid and a wire leader attached to your artificial lure, plug or fly, if fly fishing with at least an 8wt outfit.

Most of the barracudas I’ve caught have been in the flats, near channels or holes and via sight casting. Long cast and reel in fast with some twitching and if the ‘cuda is around he’ll attack like a bat out of hell.

catch and release

Careful of the Barracuda’s Business end, use a grip and pliers to remove the hooks.

Besides being good practice to release fish, eating Barracudas especially larger ones can lead to Ciguatera poisoning. Eating ‘cudas more than about three feet long isn’t advised because they can accumulate a naturally occurring toxin called “ciguatera.” Basically, ‘cudas and other large predators eat smaller fish that graze algae off the reefs