Shark Fishing with Barracudas

Have you ever thought of Shark Fishing with Barracudas as bait? Why not? Fishing for large barracudas can be almost as fun as shark fishing. These wonderful fish will put up one hell of a fight when hooked, but why would I want to use them as shark bait you might ask.

Well, if you have ever handled a barracuda out of the water on a boat, then you will know why. They have a horrible stink about them. Plus they are very plentiful, bite pretty easily, and there aren’t any fishing regulations on them so you can catch as many as you want to for shark bait. Whenever I am out fishing and I land one of these I always keep it and stick it in my freezer for my next shark fishing trip. Even after being frozen, once these fish are thawed back out their stink will reappear.

Even though these fish aren’t bloody their stink more than makes up for it. Sharks can smell them a mile away. The other day I was fishing in water that was about five feet deep and the tide was going out. I made fillets on each side of the fish, but didn’t cut the pieces completely off the body. Then I hooked the cut up fish bodies on a hook and using a very very long steel leader I threw it off the back of the boat. This method allows them to bleed out and stink up the water. Then the wait begins. That always is the hardest part. Even though sharks are opportunistic feeders, sometimes you just have to be a little patient when shark fishing.

I waited for what seemed like an eternity. Even though it was probably only about twenty minutes for that first bite. Then the fun began! I yanked on pole as my drag started spooling out line, and set the hook. It felt like a monster! Of course they always do, but it was only about a six foot long nurse shark.
A nice fish to catch at the beginning of my shark fishing trip, but no where near a record fish.

So I baited up my line again the same way as I did earlier and cast it out. This time I didn’t have to wait long before what I thought was a big bull shark took my bait. I battled this monster for probably 15 minutes before my line broke and he got away. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. I caught about four more small bull sharks before the days ends. Even though I didn’t catch any record shattering sharks on this trip, it was still a heck of a lot of fun! So the next time that you go out shark fishing remember to bring along the barracuda for bait!