Barracuda live up to their reputation: large teeth, lightning fast, big, stealthy and mean as hell. In South Florida, barracuda grow over 50 pounds making them one of the top shallow water predators. Even if barracuda have a bad reputation, they live close to shore, hunt the shallows, spook easily and feed by sight, making them a perfect target for paddle anglers.
How to Catch Barracuda Without Losing a Finger
Living at the top of the food chain, barracuda love hard bottom with sandy patches and coral heads where they can hide and blend in. They are in tune with their surroundings and visual eaters.
To find barracuda, work areas from eight inches deep to five feet. Focus on points and any unusual bottom structure. Crab pot buoys also attract barracuda.
The speed of the current is important. Barracuda swim facing into the moving water. On a receding tide, search the edge of the flats and along the shoreline. Barracuda often swim just below the surface, sometimes with their dorsal fin sticking out of the water.
Barracuda are available year-round, but winter is the best season. Post cold front temperature drops bring the barracuda onto the flats.
Barracuda Tackle
Two lures are vital for fooling barracuda. For huge blow-ups and aerial attacks, a large topwater like a Zara Spook or MirrOlure She Pup make a lot of commotion. Pink and chartreuse are hot colors. Replace the treble hooks with inline J-hooks to improve the chances of hooking a speeding barracuda.
The number one lure is a pink and green Cuda Tube. Barracuda are notorious for spooking at the slightest sound, so a long cast of 30 to 50 feet prevents the fish from detecting the angler.
To make a long cast, I use a seven-foot, six-inch medium-heavy rod paired with a 5000 spinning reel spooled with 15-pound braided line. A three-foot section of 50-pound leader keeps the fish from separating the lure from the line.
Cuda Catching Technique
Although barracuda are skittish, they turn on for an aggressively moving bait. Retrieve the lure as fast as possible; do it right and your arms will be tired.
Catching barracuda is fun and a little dangerous. I’ve had fish attack the lure at the side of the boat and jump over me with the lure in their mouth.
Retrieve the lure as fast as possible;
do it right and your arms will be tired.
Be careful handling barracuda—use a large net to land and control the fish. A lip gripper and long-nose pliers keep my fingers out of the danger zone.
You’re lying so low into the weeds; I bet you gonna ambush me; You’d have me down, down, down on my knees; Now wouldn’t you, barracuda? Oh —Heart | Feature photo: Alex Tejeda
