FISHING FOR BARRACUDA

There is no question that the surgical tube lure is the bane of barracuda. Although it functions as an illusion in the water, it triggers a 'cuda to strike faster than anything else. The tubing imitates a needleflsh and appears to be snaking its way through the water, though it is in fact spinning.

Not everyone has the same view on how to work tube lures in the water. Captain John Eckard of Key West, Florida. has been making tubes for years and has developed a veritable fish-catching formula-which we'll share with you in a moment. He has always insisted that if you work the lure just beneath the surface of the water, it will attract more barracuda. Captain Harry Spear of Marathon disagrees. Harry is adamant about dancing the lure on the surface and never letting it dip beneath.

On two successive days, we fished with John and then with Harry, working waters in the backcountry of the Lower Keys that were only a couple of miles apart. We are pleased to report that both methods produced barracuda with equal effectiveness.

Almost all of the commercially available surgical tubes range from 10 to 12 inches in length. It is easy to make your own and we Feel that John Eckard's design is as good as anything we have seen. He uses tubes that are 15 to 18 inches in length with chartreuse the number one color, followed by fluorescent red, natural, and black.

A tube should be rigged with a belly hook and a 3/0 to 5/0 tail hook. Whether you use trebles or single hooks is a personal choice. You will need an egg sinker or slip sinker weighing between one-quarter and one-half ounce and stainless steel wire in # 6, 7, or 8. The tubing should always be kept coiled so that it retains its natural curvature, both before you make the rigs and after they are completed.

According to John, the belly hook must be above the center of the tubing. If you have a sixteen-inch tube? the belly hook should be less than eight inches From the head. You'll miss fewer fish with that positioning. Wire each hook separately, cutting a hole in the tube for the belly hook and pushing both wires through the front end of the tube. Slip the sinker over both wires and secure it with a twisted loop. You may use a swivel or a split ring in front of the sinker as a connector.

Standard tubing has a three-eighths-inch O.D. If you prefer using lighter lines such as four- six- or eight-pound-test. you must use thinner and shorter tubes. The diameter should be one-eighth to three-sixteenths inches, and the overall length about twelve inches. Hook sizes should be correspondingly smaller.