THE BAEEACUDA 



water, three, four or five feet deep ; and the sport, to me, being 

 in the amount of skill required to lure the fish into taking my 

 bait. On the other hand, my old guides, a Seminole Indian and 

 a Conch, who had lived all their lives on the reef, took the largest 

 barracudas in a manner so simple as to be laughable ; yet it 

 became a delight to me. The men considered it a waste of time 

 to troll or fish for the big barracuda, because he was so curious 

 that they could easily ' grain ' him. The small fish, up to six 

 or eight pounds, were found in the shallows, where I took them 

 by wading out to them, and casting either with a live bait or a 

 dead one, chiefly the former, using a little shiny, silvery fish 

 known locally as a broad shad (Xystaema cinereum), but having 

 no particular relationship to the shad of ion vivants. 



This little bait fish had, at least to me, a strong individuality. 

 It was found in shallow waters, two, three or four feet deep, and 

 on white sandy bottoms where it literally dissolved into its 

 environment. It had a very pecuhar habit of swimming in a 

 straight line a foot or two, then stopping and poising, perfectly 

 still for a few moments, then moving ahead again, staring with 

 its big eyes, a very curious and comical little fish and a victim 

 to the cruel and rapacious wolf-Uke barracuda of five to eight 

 pounds, which lived in the same fish city on the sandy floor of 

 the reef. 



I cotild always take the shad with a pin hook and crayfish 

 bait, as it has a very small mouth, and when used as live bait 

 was a perfect lure to the barracudas. In angling, I would wade 

 along until I saw a fish twenty or thirty feet away, which was 

 always crouching close to the bottom and perfectly quiet like a 

 pickerel ; then cast my bait ten feet ahead and in front of it ; 

 gradually drawing the bait nearer and nearer until the barracuda 

 saw it. It then became a fascinating study to see this clever 

 mimic of the white sand take its prey. It was deliberation typified, 

 to the limit of patience and exasperation, moving slowly forward, 

 pushing the struggling bait with its pointed torpedo-like muzzle. 

 Then it would back, to move forward again, seemingly scrutiniz- 



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