Where to fish for barracuda How to fish for barracuda

The Barracuda and its fishing make it a particularly emblematic species of carnivore in big game fishing. Its body and teeth make it a distinctive predatory fish, recognisable among the thousands that exist. It requires very special barracuda fishing equipment and is generally appreciated for its fishing and some even for cooking!

Its geographical location around the world is almost global. It can be found in many different countries, far apart from each other. This makes it very popular, as it can be caught just about anywhere, like tuna, skipper or swordfish. Our article Where to fish for tuna? How to fish for tuna? may also be of interest to you.

We'll take a look at the different fishing techniques that can be used to catch this species. You'll see that it can be different depending on how you see fishing.

Geographical representation

To understand where the Barracuda can live, we need to take a closer look at its biology. It belongs to the family of tropical or subtropical fish. This dictates the water temperatures in which it thrives best, regularly between the two tropics.

With dozens of different species listed under the Latin name Sphyraena, you'll be lucky to find them just about everywhere if you get the chance to visit one of these dream destinations.

But the barracuda or snapper is not limited to these areas, as we have a popular species found in French waters. For those interested in history, this fish initially joined the Esox family when it was discovered, the same family as the pike we know today in freshwater.

However, its presence in the northern Mediterranean is fairly recent and linked to global warming. Before the 1970s, it was only rarely recorded. It is now well established and is a fish that anglers like to seek out both from the shore with suitable equipment and from a boat.

Whether in mainland France, the Caribbean or even more exotic destinations, this barracuda fish can be found all around the planet, particularly along the coast, as it is a coastal fish, especially at night.

What techniques are used to catch barracuda?

Barracuda can be caught in a variety of ways. They are generally caught at fairly precise times. Our advice is to target the morning to sunrise period and the evening to sunset period. If you want to go for longer sessions, you can target two hours before and one hour after, and vice versa.

The first and most popular technique nowadays is to use hard bait or soft bait to make this marine carnivore react. But this fish tends to attack during the period when the animation of the lure is slowest. Despite their ability to move very quickly, they always prefer easy prey. The trolling will therefore be to exlure, limiting the uses of casting back, in 1 or 2 metres or even at the surface.

It will therefore be necessary to turn to suspending swimming fish. This will give you longer breaks and more time for the barracudas to attack. In fact, this is one of the main reasons why anglers tend to go for suspending lures.

When it comes to soft lures, it's essential to choose products capable of flapping their tail almost at a standstill. After that, it's all a question of technique and getting the lure to move gently into the desired water depth.

In all cases, it's best to opt for good-sized long lures. They will be much more in keeping with what the predator is likely to find in the water where it is fishing.

Including at work, the barracuda is a particularly interesting fish to catch. Present just about everywhere around the globe, in the Caribbean and Senegal, under different subspecies, it will respond to the same stimuli to come and punish your lure with a good bite and make your line tremble. Its presence in warm waters will make it interesting all year round with an adaptation of the lures used depending on the period.

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