Posted on January 05 2010
Barracudas are some mean SOBs. They feed on other fish, including bonefish. They’re super fast and powerful, and they get really aggressive when they think they see prey. When presenting a fly to these guys, you want to key on this predatory response. Here’s one way to do just that!
Once you have found your ‘cuda, get close enough that you can make a cast with enough room behind you to make a quick backcast once the fly has hit the water. Throw the fly anywhere from 10 to 20 feet in front of the fish, immediately picking the fly up off the water after it lands with a quick back cast. This will cause the fly to skim across the surface of the water at a very high rate of speed (much faster than you can strip the fly). This will also water load the rod for the next cast back to the same spot as the first cast (unless the fish has moved). Make sure to place the fly at least 10′-20’ in front of the ‘cuda again and then start stripping fast.
This action of casting, then water loading and casting again can be done multiple times, but quite often once or twice is enough to garner the response you are looking for – which is the ‘cuda doing everything possible to kill the fly. When he eats, give a hard strip set and enjoy the ride!