Barracuda
Barracuda are a long fish, that has a body that resembles a pike or pickerel, except they get much bigger then either. Barracuda are generally mostly silver to silver-white in color over the majority of their body area, with the upper area of their body being green to greenish-blue mottled.
Over the lower part of their body, including the stomach area, they tend to have dark brown to black spots, these shades and spots appear to help the Barracuda blend into the water as well as debris, and structure to help it camouflage it's self when foraging for food.
Barracuda can grow to become pretty large, in fact it's not uncommon to catch one that is longer then 4 feet, and weighing over 35 lbs. The most fearsome aspects of a Barracuda are it's teeth and it's aggressiveness. When you see a Barracuda's open mouth you will know what I mean, they have some huge and very nasty teeth, these teeth resembles fangs of different sizes, and they are strong and extremely sharp, and able to rip flesh easily and cut prey into pieces in seconds. Besides the monstrous teeth a Barracuda has, it also has an aggressive nature and the strength to match.
Barracuda are a great sports fish or game fish to catch, despite their dangerous nature, in fact it's their aggressive nature and fierce appearance that make them one of the most popular fish to catch.
Numerous anglers want to display a mount of one of these monsters on the wall of their den, sports bar, office and other rooms to display, it's been said that a Barracuda mount is as impressive or more so then a shark, or a Lion. Although some people eat the flesh of Barracuda's, most anglers do not like them, they are quite greasy and the meat is not very pleasant.
When fishing for Barracuda whether using bait or lures, the main thing to remember is their teeth, not only will these teeth easily cut and rip their prey such as other fish, they will also do the same thing to any fishing line, therefore you most certainly need to have your baited hook or lure at the end of a strong wire leader, or it will be like throwing your hooks and lures away.
Once hooked, they will turn into a fighter on steroids, often leaping out of the water, and trashing about violently, they will go into short runs one way, then turn or dive with bursts of great speed, and using every bit of their muscle and strength to break free.
Always remember, when you do manage to land a Barracuda, that you need a long and strong steel hook remover to free your hook or lure from the Barracuda's mouth, under no circumstance, ever reach near or into a live Barracuda's mouth with your fingers, as it would be as foolish and dangerous as placing them into a blender.
When fishing for Barracuda using bait, they will often strike at just about any bait fish, that are in the same area as they are foraging for food. The size of the bait fish can range from as small as 4 inches to as large as a foot or more, as a Barracuda will readily attack a fish as large as it's self when hungry.
Some popular bait fish for them are; jacks, herring, needlefish, sardines, mackerel. Most anglers will say that they do seem to prefer, live and moving fish much more then using cut bait.
When fishing for Barracuda using lures, the top favorites are shiny lures, things that are silvery and have bright flashy colors, seem to really attract Barracuda. You can use large artificial bait fish lures, but use ones that are silver colored or coated with glitter that makes them very flashy.
4-8 inch shiny jig's, plugs, spoons and even large shiny spinners all work well for catching Barracuda. Long artificial worms, artificial snakes and tube lures are very effective also, especially when rigged with larger, silver spinner blades to make them more flashy.
|
