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Barracuda Fishing Charters
Deep Sea Fishing in Port Orange
Offshore Port Orange
Deep Sea, Nearshore, Jetty in Key West
Key West Offshore - '27 CC
Inshore, Nearshore, Flats in Naples
4 Hour Naples Inshore/Nearshore
Inshore, Flats Fishing in Layton
Florida Keys Skinny Water
Offshore Fishing Jupiter
Inshore, Nearshore, Flats in Key West
The Florida Keys Inshore Experience
Everything to Know About Booking a barracuda fishing charter
What are the best barracuda fishing charters?
The best barracuda fishing charters are:
Why should I book a barracuda fishing charter with Captain Experiences?
Our Damn Good Guides currently offer 322 barracuda trips, and the most popular trips are Stock Island Flats and Backwater guided by Tyler, Key Largo Adventure guided by Andrew, and Bank and Bight Backcountry guided by Jon-Paul.
Our guides are rated a 4.92 out of 5 based on 4450 verified reviews on Captain Experiences.
All guides on Captain Experiences are vetted by our team. You can access their reviews, click through trip photos, read bios to get to know them, and preview trip details like species, techniques, group sizes, boat specs and more.
Looking for kid friendly barracuda guides / fishing lessons? Check out our beginner and family friendly barracuda guides.
What types of barracuda fishing charters are common?
Deep Sea fishing is the most popular type of fishing for barracuda as well as nearshore fishing, inshore fishing, and flats fishing.
The most common fishing techniques are bottom fishing, trolling, and light tackle fishing but live bait fishing and heavy tackle fishing are popular as well.
How much do barracuda fishing charters cost?
Prices for barracuda can range anywhere from about $700 to $3,300, but the average price for a half day trip for barracuda is $1,202. The average price for a full day trip for barracuda is $2,060.
Is booking a fishing guide worth the money?
Hiring a guide provides a number of benefits and many choose to book a fishing guide for a combination of experience, local knowledge, convenience, and cost-effectiveness.
Working with experienced fishing guides who know the best local spots and techniques can dramatically increase your odds of a great day. Having someone who is on the water every day and knows the area like the back of their hand is going to give you the best chances of success.
Booking a guide is also more cost effective, especially if you only get out a handful of times per year. When you consider all of the costs you would incur on your own such as the price of a boat, maintenance, insurance, gas, high-quality gear and tackle, repairs, and more, you’ll find that DIY is sometimes not worth the expense.
Even if you’ve got a great setup already in your home waters, booking a guide also provides a great opportunity to experience new techniques, new locations, or even a chance at a new target species to knock off the bucket list.
What month is best for barracuda fishing?
The most popular season for barracuda fishing is spring, and most anglers book their trips 10 days in advance.
Do I need a fishing license for barracuda and what are the bag limits for barracuda?
See here for more information on barracuda fishing licenses, barracuda bag limits, and fishing season regulations for barracuda. When in doubt, your fishing guide will always know the right barracuda rules and regulations.
What is a Barracuda?
The barracuda is one of the more recognizable fish out there and one of those fish that immediately brings a sparkle to a kid’s eye. They are known as one of the gnarliest most fearsome looking predator fish out there and their general attitude and demeanor only serve to reinforce these opinions.
A barracuda is a predatory, saltwater fish with ray fins, a pointed snout, and huge fangs usually sticking out of their underbite. While their long, tubular body can sometimes be confused with a mackerel or wahoo, a barracuda has much larger teeth, a different tail, ray fins (fins that are webbed held together by bony spikes), and if you look closely much larger scales. Barracuda are also known to exude a unique slime from their bodies that supposedly helps them glide through the water, but in reality just mucks up your boat.
There are a number of species of barracuda but the two main types of barracuda you will find in the US depend on where you’re fishing. The Pacific barracuda is the smaller of the two and as the name suggests will be caught frequently in Southern California or Baja. The great barracuda is the larger, meaner cousin of the two and is found on the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, and is a big ambush hunter. These Atlantic barracuda can actually be dangerous sometimes, as they will mistake any movement or shiny objects for prey and lunge at them teeth-first at 35 mph.
How big do Barracuda get?
Different barracuda species can vary greatly in size, but they have the potential to become quite large. The great barracuda can range up to 65 inches long and up to 100 pounds in extreme cases. Pacific barracuda meanwhile grow to a more reasonable 3 feet and 10 pounds. Males and females are generally around the same size and not easily distinguishable. Great barracuda can live up to 14 years in the wild, and because of their size and speed do not have many predators.
What's the biggest Barracuda ever caught?
The largest barracuda caught on record is a massive 102 pound and 4 ounce fish caught in Barra du Kwanza in Angola by Thomas Gibson. The fish was a Guinean barracuda. The current all-tackle record great barracuda is 87 pounds 3 oz, and the pacific barracuda record is 9 lb 8 oz.
Where is the best place to catch Barracuda?
Barracudas are primarily a pure saltwater fish, although they have been known to swim in brackish waters from time to time (including the great barracuda especially as juvenile fish). It is a warm-water and tropical fish found in oceans worldwide, although depending on the location you may catch one or another of a number of barracuda species.
Barracuda typically reside near the surface of the water near reefs or sea grasses, although they can be found in the open ocean as well. If you are working some other fish and there are barracuda nearby, they will often become the scourge of your day and trying to steal your catch.
Great barracuda can be found anywhere from Massachusetts to Brazil and everywhere in between. Pacific barracuda are most common off Southern California and Baja California.
When should I catch Barracuda?
Spring and summer are best for catching pacific barracuda, although they can be caught year-round as the season is always open. There is a 28 inch minimum in the US and a bag limit of 10. Great barracuda can be fished year-round as well and their season is generally best from September to October. South Florida will have the biggest fish around, and there is no size limit although there are bag limits depending on where you are.
How do I catch Barracuda?
Great barracuda are generally solitary hunters while pacific barracuda are known to school. This means that obviously your strategy will vary quite a bit, but generally you just need to keep in mind their sharp teeth and willingness to feed throughout the water column and to jump on feeding opportunities quickly.
Pacific barracuda can be found in massive schools an acre large chasing bait as a group. Once you get on them, it’s hard not to get a bite. You can fish surface jigs or throw anchovies or sardines; generally you wouldn’t throw anything plastic because it will get torn up form their teeth. When they are feeding, they won’t be picky.
Great barracuda require a slightly heavier tackle just based on the size difference of the fish, but they don’t really take much specialized tackle other than a wire leader - similar to pacific barracuda they will eat most things presented to them. They will usually come explore anything that comes in their territory so they will often find you. The best thing is generally a shiny lure retrieved somewhat erratically. Great barracuda prefer a faster retrieve than pacific.
Are Barracuda good to eat? What are the best Barracuda recipes?
Barracuda are not known as a species that is great to eat and they are caught for sport rather than dinner in many parts of the world. If you do plan to eat them, its advised to eat smaller fish and to eat them fairly fresh, as barracuda are known to sometimes have ciguatera.
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Other Fishing Species
- African Pompano
- Albacore Tuna
- Alligator Gar
- Almaco Jack
- Amberjack
- Atlantic Mackerel
- Bigeye Tuna
- Black Drum
- Black Grouper
- Black Marlin
- Black Seabass
- Blackbelly Rosefish
- Blackfin Tuna
- Blacktip Shark
- Blue Catfish
- Blue Marlin
- Blue Shark
- Bluefin Tuna
- Bluefish
- Bonefish
- Bonito
- Bonnethead Shark
- Bowfin
- Broomtail Grouper
- Bull Shark
- Bullhead Catfish
- Calico Bass
- California Corbina
- California Sheephead
- Cero Mackerel
- Cobia
- Cubera Snapper
- Dogtooth Tuna
- Dusky Shark
- False Albacore
- Florida Pompano
- Flounder
- Fluke
- Gag Grouper
- Giant Trevally
- Goliath Grouper
- Great White Shark
- Grunt
- Halibut
- Hammerhead Shark
- Hogfish
- Horse-eye Jack
- Jack Crevalle
- Kingfish
- Ladyfish
- Lane Snapper
- Largemouth Bass
- Lemon Shark
- Leopard Shark
- Lingcod
- Lionfish
- Lobster
- Longnose Gar
- Mahi Mahi
- Mako Shark
- Mangrove Snapper
- Mullet Snapper
- Mutton Snapper
- Needlefish
- Nurse Shark
- Perch
- Permit
- Pink Snapper
- Queen Snapper
- Rainbow Runner
- Ray
- Red Grouper
- Red Snapper
- Redfish
- Rockfish
- Roosterfish
- Sailfish
- Sandbar Shark
- Scamp Grouper
- School Shark
- Sculpin
- Sheepshead
- Skate
- Skipjack Tuna
- Snook
- Snowy Grouper
- Spadefish
- Spanish Mackerel
- Spearfish
- Speckled Trout
- Spotted Bass
- Stingray
- Strawberry Grouper
- Striped Marlin
- Swordfish
- Tarpon
- Tiger Shark
- Tigerfish
- Tilapia
- Tilefish
- Triggerfish
- Tripletail
- Vermillion Snapper
- Wahoo
- Warsaw Grouper
- Weakfish
- White Marlin
- White Seabass
- Yellowfin Tuna
- Yellowtail Amberjack
- Yellowtail Snapper
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What's biting?
View Barracuda Fishing Reports from our damn good guides.
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