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catching barracuda from the shore


skeetshoot

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Hi there

 

Need some help and advice

 

I am off to Menorca in May and have heard that I have the option to fish off some nearby rocks into reasonably deep water. I am keen to hook up with a Cuda when I am there and understand that they are in the area.

 

I mainly fly fish but will not be taking this kit with me.

 

Anyone with any knowledge of other species in the area would also be welcome - i know there are a lot of mullet /bream etc.

 

I need advice on methods to best get a hook up - I am probably going to take a 3lb test carp rod with me but in relation to the rest / tactics / I am unsure. Would poppers work on teh surface - how about deadbait under a float?

 

any help / experiences welcome.

 

Thanks in advance

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Hi there

 

Need some help and advice

 

I am off to Menorca in May and have heard that I have the option to fish off some nearby rocks into reasonably deep water. I am keen to hook up with a Cuda when I am there and understand that they are in the area.

 

I mainly fly fish but will not be taking this kit with me.

 

Anyone with any knowledge of other species in the area would also be welcome - i know there are a lot of mullet /bream etc.

 

I need advice on methods to best get a hook up - I am probably going to take a 3lb test carp rod with me but in relation to the rest / tactics / I am unsure. Would poppers work on teh surface - how about deadbait under a float?

 

any help / experiences welcome.

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

Skeetshoot, I`ve had a few cuda from boats when trolling but never from the shore. They are pretty voracious feeders at times and at other times will ignore alltogether. Silver spoons type lures retrieved fast may well do the trick but I`m guessing. Deadbait under a float will almost certainly attract shoals of small bream, mullet and others which in turn could well attract cuda. Having said that are you sure it`s cuda? Could well be wahoo. Poppers would ceratinly bring a few things to your immediate area which again could attract the larger predators. The 3lb rod will do the trick but you`ll need wire trace adn probably 20lb test min and a fair spool, they can strip line and if it does turn out to be wahoo they`re capable of emptying you. Forgot to mention piers, piles, other obstructions, long weed fronds etc will all attract cuda.

Edited by stan4massey
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Pretty much agree with stan4massey, 3lb rod, 250m of 20lb line, 12" of 60lb single strand wire and then spoon, plug or bait. I doubt you'd get wahoo in that close but if you do you should still be able to handle a smallish one on that gear. Best bet for bait would be a live small mullet about 6" long, will outfish others 9/10 times. Use a single semi circle 6/0 through the top lip and a small treble just nicked through the skin behind the dorsal. Fish it under a large float / balloon. If the wind is offshore then a balloon can carry it out a long way.

Conversation is the forerunner to conservation.

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I used to get them following lures from the shore in Cuba, but only managed to get them to hit trolling from a boat.

 

Looking back, I should have tried retrieving a *lot* faster.

 

That said, I'd have only stopped people from going swimming if they'd have seen what was lurking a few yards out :D

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Caught plenty in Cuba but generally from a boat in the mangroves. Poppers are very succesful over reefs or shallow water and you can not retrieve them too fast.

The Cuda in the Med are usually not that big so the gear mentioned in the other posts will be more than adequate, I would reckon a float fished fresh Sardine would be my approach as this will attract all of the predators as well as Cuda, with a big Palomida being a possibility as well.

Edited by Tony U

Tony

 

After a certain age, if you don't wake up aching in every joint, you are probably dead.

 

 

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I would agree with the last two posts...had a fair few whist in Gambia and the feeling of hooking into them was amazing. I always thought that the boat was going too fast but the guys over there know what they are doing and to see a few barras cutting up a shoal is a sight to see.. Greased lightening. I tried from the shore but never got into one. I think they just dont come in that close in my experience

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I guess anything can turn up in the Med, but I think it's unlikely that they're Wahoo. Whilst, at times, they're quite prolific off the Canaries and Madeira, and fish between 60 and 90lbs, I've certainly never heard of one venturing through the Straits.

 

Also as Tony mentioned the Barracuda aren't Great Barracuda, they're European Barracuda with a maximum weight of about 12lbs.

 

By all means take 20lb test if that's going to balance your Carp rod, but 12 would be more than adequate from the shore. They're not particularly strong fighters.

 

The ones I've caught off Madeira and the Azores have mostly come whilst I've been trolling for Bluefish with Rapalas. However once, whilst anchored over a reef again for Bluefish, I caught one on a small - and this is where the spelling's likely to go a rye - a Chicharo, a bream species. Any rate it's the same in Spanish as in Portugese and, I understand, they also catch them in the Med. You'd need to use very small, 'Christmas Tree' type feather to catch them - the ones with the small golden 10 freshwater sized hooks. And they seem to bite better whilst in shade - we used to wait until the sun cast a shadow under the cliffs and fish just inshore of that.

 

As with all Barracuda though - unless you're casting lures or, in particular, tube lures to imitate Needlefish at them and 'speed winding' - they do seem to be extremely cautious around tethered livebaits. Keep the wire as light as possible and the hook - a single, commenserate with the size of the livebait - small.

 

Why not take your fly rod though? They'd be great fun on that fishing with a small Needlefish imitation. You'd need to strip it quickly, and keep stripping fast. Often they'll just track a lure, even at speed, before deciding to nail it.

Dave

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Looking back, and I noticed Elton picked up on this to, you do, with artificials, need to wind quickly otherwise they'll just track it and lose interest.

 

Once when we were fly fishing for sharks - Lemons and Black Tips - off the Marquesas (29 miles out from Key West, Florida Keys) we used a butterfly-ed (filleted) Barracuda hung over the side to attract them. Sharks love Barracuda. Whilst we used Rapalas on spin gear the guide used to take the diving vanes off, they just created too much resistance for fast winding.

 

And, if you do use artificials, don't cast too close to them. There're effective predators, 20' away and start to wind immediately usually works.

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Couldn't resist posting this one Skeetshot. A Barracuda on a fly - from the Seychelles, caught by one of our members without the benefit of a wire trace. He was targeting Giant Trevally at the time.

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