Reef, rock and wrecks

Great barracuda

Sphyraena barracuda

The winter flats fish nobody plans for and everybody enjoys. Fast lure, wire leader.

What they like

  • 0.6–15 musual depth (they tolerate 0.3–60 m)
  • 22–30 °Cwater temperature they feed in
  • clear waterwater clarity
  • sloping edges, rough bottom, shallow flatsbottom they hunt, in order
  • any tidetide
  • daylightlight

Sunning on the flats in winter when bonefish are gone; around every wreck and channel marker all year.

Season by region

Peak months, shaded. Outside them the species may still be around, just less reliably.

Florida and the Gulf
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Caribbean and Bahamas
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Bait and technique

Methods: spinning / casting, fly.

Bait and lures: Tube lures, needlefish flies, fast-stripped poppers.

Technique: Cast past the fish and strip as fast as you can; they follow, then eat in a flash. Wire or heavy mono leader.

Rules

Florida: Florida: 2 per person and 6 per vessel in southeast Florida and the Keys, slot 15-36 in. Verify with FWC.

Seasons, sizes and bag limits change every year and differ by zone. Check the current regulations before you keep anything.

Depth maps where great barracuda live

Depth map preview of Bimini, Bahamas±0.67 m

Bahamas

Bimini, Bahamas

  • ±0.67 mtypical error
  • 1,990laser soundings checked
  • 74 km²of shallows

Updated 21 h ago

Preferences are expert estimates from the fisheries literature and angling practice, not measurements at your spot. The likelihoods on the maps are a planning aid, not a catch prediction.