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 
