The Barracuda of Florida 95 



ence, crayfish, shrimp, worms, conch, and other 

 baits in vogue on the reef for other fishes. 



This barracuda affords excellent sport in all 

 stages of its growth, the young, from one to two 

 feet long, being very gamy and remarkably cun- 

 ning. A favorite place for them was off the 

 shores of a key from which I could distinctly see 

 every object thirty or forty feet from shore. The 

 fishes could be seen lying motionless a few inches 

 from the bottom, so simulating it in color and 

 tint, that they often appeared the very ghost of 

 fishes or shadows, the latter, under the noonday 

 sun, being more conspicuous than the fish. In 

 this case I used live or dead bait and cast far 

 beyond them, then manipulating the line with the 

 greatest caution so that the bait could be dragged 

 within their line of vision. The moment a barra- 

 cuda noticed the dazzling silver of its sides, it 

 would move slowly toward it. For this sport my 

 rod was a nine or ten ounce bass rod slightly 

 shortened, so that it would not be too pliable, as 

 I found that a twenty-four-inch barracuda is the 

 superior of a much larger lake trout. On would 

 move the barracuda, as though propelled by some 

 mysterious force, until its pointed muzzle pene- 

 trated the very sand beneath the bait, which, if 



