How to Battle the Dreaded Barracouta Bite Offs - Tips and Tricks …

As we all know barracouta in whatever size bracket they come in (from 200mm to 1.2m ) are unaffectionatley known as the “razor gang“ and for very good reason - whether you troll for SBT or spin for sea trout these sharp toothed critters are masters at nipping off at times costly lures ….. here are a few tips to try and avoid this from happening:

1) Change all your terminal tackle to black …… swivels, hooks, split rings, snap clips, barrel swivels and trace …. even sinkers if need be …… use a texta or paint as a temporary measure.

2) For something a bit more permanant ….. change out existing terminal tackle with black coloured commercially available product.

“ Why is going to black good …… simple : couta dont mistake your tackle to be small shiny fish and attack on sight and in the process cut you off “.

3) Use a black wire trace instead of monofilament or florocarbon leader ….. wire is tougher and hopefully sharp teeth wont cut through this. In fact use any trace but black is best as stated above.

4) Wind or troll faster for your target specie and outrun couta. Tuna for instance will take a lure at 8-10 knots whereas couta probably wont chase feed much past 6 knots.

5) Change to a cheaper range of lure that still “matches the hatch” for your target specie and required action …. dump bin specials are great for this as you can lose a few and not break the bank …. this option is great if you cant go to a wire trace in fear of putting fish off.

6) try and find areas where barracouta don’t frequent as much try and avoid deep drop offs over structure and rocky points …. target salmon for instance at the entrance of coastal lagoons and river mouths that have strong outflows over sand that couta generally try find too exposed and try to avoid.

7) Keep fishing anyway as the target specie is generally feeding on the same prey item as the couta and leave when you have your requirement for the day lessening losses.

An assortment of terminal tackle as discussed above …..