THE GAME PISHES OF THE WOELD 



a sea pike. He has large knife-like teeth that suggest a shark ; 

 and if the tales one hears are true, the barracuda is a dangerous 

 fish. Jordan says : — ' It is as fierce as a shark, and is sometimes 

 very dangerous to bathers.' I know of but one instance of an 

 attack that I can credit. A Conch was nick-named ' Barracuda, 

 as he had been badly wounded by one of these fishes. For 

 several years, I and others, often three or four times a day, swam 

 in a deep channel that was known to be infested with barracudas 

 and sharks ; but we were never attacked. No one who has 

 landed a barracuda and seen its pugnacious jaw, its large tusks 

 and enormous mouth, but would hold it in respect. Among 

 the upper Florida keys, the fish is generally taken troUing from 

 a launch or row-boat, and is often found ia shallow water or 

 along the passes or the edge of a channel, where from a row-boat 

 it can be angled for with a live bait, mullet or some attractive 

 silvery fish. 



There are several species of these fishes. That of California 

 is very different in habit, running in schools often so thickly 

 packed that in looking down upon them only black eyes and 

 pointed noses are seen. The schools are of such vast size, that a 

 few years ago the great bay of Santa Monica was apparently 

 filled with them. At certain times the schools break up, and the 

 fish are found near the rocks at Santa CataUna, singularly enough 

 within a line cast of a large herd of sea-Uons. Here the barracuda 

 is trolled for from launches with a nine-ounce rod and a number- 

 nine line and sardine bait, or with a spoon. They rarely exceed 

 five feet ia length and fifteen pounds in weight, while the Bahamian 

 barracuda is six feet long and tips the scales at fifty or more 

 pounds. 



It is said that to be a perfect game fish, both fighting and 

 edible qualities are necessary. The barracudas meet both re- 

 quisites, and if the angler will eat his five or six-pound barracuda, 

 which he has taken at Long Key Camp with an eight-oimce fly 

 rod, broiled at once, he will find it among the best edible fishes 

 in Florida, The same is true of the CaUf omian fish. Few lovers 

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