Barracuda Fly

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

That's another trick we call the "bait and switch" that works really well on big fish over shallow wrecks.... You tease the fish with a very active baitfish and keep taking it away (snatching it out of the water) each time the fish tries to eat it. All the while the boat it drifting away from the wreck and (hopefully) the target fish are following.... When you're far enough from the wreck you let the fish grab the bait then snatch what's left out of the water as the angler slaps down a large bushy chicken feather fly in its place. The angler feeds a bit of slack out into the water so the "teaser fly" can drift naturally like what's left of the baitfish. With a little luck the target turns around and comes back after what's left. If you try to impart any movement to the fly it will mess up the shot, but if the fish takes you really have a better shot at winning if you're away from the wreck. It works well for a variety of wreck species, 'cudas, cobia, etc. These days many of the shallow wrecks have "landlords" the big resident goliath grouper (jewfish for us politically incorrect types..) that will steal any hooked fish if it's near a wreck. The flies we use for bait and switch are simple things... Take 8 to 12 large white saddle hackles and tie them around any stout hook that you can use with a fly rod, and here's the best part - use the entire feather, tying in only the butt end all around the hook so it looks like a feather duster, no flash or any thing extra. It's probably a good idea to use the heaviest fly rod you have and a bit of wire to attach the fly to the rest of the leader...

 

Tight Lines

 

Bob LeMay

[djgunter 0]

Well guys I have some news to report! First off, I made a rookie mistake...that's right, I didn't bother tying in a wire leader, and after a massive take from either a large garfish or barracuda the line was severed. I was fishing in shallow reef and flats type waters when the fish struck. My line was quite far out, maybe 25 feet out and I had just begun my retrieve when I felt a strong tug on my line and a sudden slack line that followed. I changed up right away and I'm only using wire leader from now on. The fly I was using was the blue barracuda chaser I tied specifically for this trip >> http://www.flytyingforum.com/pattern11325.html << although the color was a light brown with some red in it instead of blue. Lucky for me it was my first day out and I plan to have a few more and now I'm much wiser! I checked out the local fish market here and they filled with some beautiful saltwater fish including garfish, wahoo, barracuda, yellowfin tuna, skipjacks, albacore and much more - all were fresh being carried right off the trawlers. It was a really cool site to see.

 

- dan

[agn54 0]

That's a nice looking fly. For your next trip, I would probably bring along some heavy mono in addition to wire if the water is real clear. Sometimes fish can shy away from wire in clear water and still hit heavy mono (maybe a shock tippet up to 40lbs or more). You will still get broken off but it's better to get hits and broken off than to not get hit at all. With that said, I would still try the wire first. Good luck!

[FlyFishin'Jam 0]

Thanks for the update Dan, thats rather interesting to know how its going. I second some heavy mono, infact i prefer fluorocarbon as they say its a little more abrasion resistant but can be rather difficult to straighten once it gets in the 80lb mark so it can be a bit 'coily'.

 

Let us know how your other adventures turn out, beware of monkeys on your back cast Those little blighters are cheeky as hell!