great-barracuda
Species Facts

Science Name: Sphyraena barracuda
Other Names: cuda, sea pike, giant sea pike
Ideal Temp: Above 65
World Record: 85 lbs. Christmas Island
Environment: reef
Techniques: medium tackle
Description

A ferocious fighter and an excellent gamefish, the great barracuda is considered potentially dangerous because of its tendency to strike at flashing objects (which it mistakes for fish) and its ability to inflict serious harm, in or out of water, through its prodigious teeth. The great barracuda has been known to attack waders, swimmers, and divers, but such incidents are uncommon. It is also a dangerous fish to eat, because it leads a list of marine fishes that cause ciguatera when eaten, although small fish are apparently not poisonous. Not every barracuda causes ciguatera, but there is no safe or reliable way of recognizing toxic fish.

The great barracuda is long and slender with a large, pointed head, resembling a freshwater pike in body shape. It also has large eyes. The dorsal fins are widely separated, and the first dorsal fin has five spines, whereas the second has 10 soft rays. In a large underslung jaw, the great barracuda has large, pointed canine teeth. It also possesses a bluish gray or greenish gray body coloration above the lateral line and a silvery white belly. A few irregular black blotches are usually scattered on the sides of the body, especially toward the tail; it is the only species of barracuda that has these blotches. The young have a dark stripe down the side, which mutates to become the blotches as the fish grows. The great barracuda also occasionally has 18 to 22 diagonal dark bars above the lateral line. It grows much larger, in general, than its relative the Pacific barracuda.

Where to Find
Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico; the Barracuda mostly prefers warmer tropical waters.

Habitat
Barracudas can be found along rocky headlands, inshore reefs, wrecks, estuaries, creeks, beaches and jetty pylons with an attraction to weedbeds. They prefer areas such as large sandflats, shallow rock, shallow reef or dry sandbanks, with adjacent weedbed areas which they use to bottle up and concentrate baitfish populations.

Feeding Habits
Great Barracuda are piscivorous and feed on many species of fish. Favorite foods are jacks, needle fish, silversides, parrot fish, and filefish.

Tips for Fishing

If using live bait, stick with whole baitfish such as garfish, mullet, whiting, squid. If using artificial bait, use lures such as plastic squid jigs, feathered jigs, fish imitations, silver spoons, chrome slices and surface poppers.

Best fishing is a few hours either side of high tide where fish can be found feeding in the shallows. Try spinning whole baitfish or lures just under the surface casting as close to the rock or weed as possible. A fast lure retrieval combined with a smooth action works best. Fish have a hard mouth so use a very sharp hook. A smaller hook also seems to perform better. Be ready for the violent attack on your bait or lure, sometimes often taking several hits before being hooked on. Once the bait is taken the fish accelerate away. Do not attempt to remove a hook from a live fish, its teeth are very sharp and snap shut quickly. Fish are best returned to the water and NOT eaten due to cases of ciguatera poisoning especially in the larger fish and those from the east coast.