Bonefish Dreams | Stories From the World's Best Flats

For many fly anglers, the world of bonefish and the saltwater flats they inhabit feels exotic, even mythical. In Bonefish Dreams: Stories, Facts, and Tips from Travels to the World’s Best Destinations, Frank Foster brings that world within reach.

Lessons From a Lifetime of Flats Fishing

Drawing on nearly forty years of fly fishing, Foster blends practical know-how with memorable experiences on the water, sharing it all with a sharp sense of humor in a book that captures the rhythms and realities of flats fishing. Here’s a glimpse of what you can expect from Bonefish Dreams.

Flats Fishing for Barracuda: ‘CUDA, WUDA, SHUDA

I love catching large barracudas on the flats. But let me be more specific: I’m not wild about a popular technique of “meat-fishing” which is catching them on a tube lure casted by a spinning rod. Instead, I like the far less automatic but more sporting method of catching them on fly.

I call ‘cudas the “poor man’s tarpon”. It’s because they jump like crazy but, interestingly, they often jump in a greyhounding sort of way. By that I mean more horizontal than vertical like a tarpon. Another fascinating thing about ‘cudas is their swimming speed of 36 miles per hour. But their top end speed is only part of that fascination. That’s because ‘cudas tend to simply hang in the water column, motionless, until they sense nearby prey to attack. When that attack occurs, I maintain that the naked eye cannot discern when they have gone from motionless to that 36 mile per hour speed. It’s that quick. And, as an angler, it’s completely exhilarating to watch.

Barracuda Leaders

A barracuda has to be at least three feet long for me to cast to it and I use a nine weight rod with 20lb. test leader. But, as many of you know, a six to eight inch section of wire tippet must go between the leader and the fly as ‘cudas have teeth reminiscent of a horror movie monster. So, fishing with 20 lb. monofilament leader alone would mean losing both fish and fly. Rather than dealing with wire, I go with the much easier to rig “knottable wire tippet”. It’s like working with monofilament leader material—ties easily and gives you the break-off protection of wire. Mainly because it is wire underneath that material that makes it so easy to work with.

Barracuda Flies

The most popular fly for barracuda is a long, predominantly green-colored, streamer pattern. My pal Allen Wyatt of Andy Thornal & Co. in Winter Haven ties them for me with two hooks that are about three inches apart. Allen’s double hook fly is a big help because a barracuda take is the polar opposite of a large river trout lazily sipping a surface fly. Indeed, a ‘cuda will execute the aforementioned rapid acceleration from being stationary and approach its prey in a violent, slashing attack. While a ‘cuda’s aggressiveness is awesome, its accuracy is, well, not so much. This often means a swing and a miss if fishing with a single-hook fly but the angler’s odds nicely improve with Allen Wyatt’s double-hook fly. Now, all this said, I have also had good barracuda fishing with a red and silver top-water popping bug.

How to Fly Fish for Barracuda

So, how to fish barracuda on fly? The preferred method is to cast the fly at least fifteen feet away from the usually mostly stationary fish and another fifteen feet past him. This allows the angler to begin furiously stripping the fly in the ‘cuda’s field of vision in the hope he finds it appealing. But the stripping technique is of paramount importance as it must be fast, fast, fast! And when you think you’re stripping fast…strip faster! A good technique for achieving top stripping speed is to strip two-handed after jamming your fly rod under one armpit. This is the same way many anglers strip for tarpon except that, for tarpon, the objective is to make the fly swim smoothly while for barracuda its simply to make it swim at the speed of a major leaguer’s fast ball.

Barracuda Stripping Technique

On a recent trip to Cuba a guide there taught me a new and different stripping technique for ‘cuda that was immediately effective as it resulted in a hookup each time I tried it. I’ll try to describe it.

It’s a conventional single-handed strip but it’s accompanied by simultaneously and aggressively separating the rod hand from the stripping hand as you strip which results in substantially more action on the fly. That’s the best I can do at describing it with words but I can tell you that I never had seen it anywhere and, man, did it work!

Eating Barracuda

While fishing for bonefish in the Bahamas, barracuda shots always draw plenty of attention from the guide because they will always accept the invitation to keep your landed ‘cuda and, as big as they are, one fish can feed their family for multiple days.

So, are barracuda good to eat? Frankly, they are delicious but there is always the little matter of whether you will die from eating one. Many who read this will know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s a toxin called ciguatera. Death is actually rare but you can be very, very sick for a very long time.

Local Tips: How to Eat Barracuda Safely

Ciguatera is mostly found in various reef fish so Bahamians regularly eat barracuda taken from the flats in belief that flats ‘cudas are safe. But I have heard of exceptions to this along with one fascinating revelation by a Bahamian bonefish guide:

“Yeah, Mon, I always eat ‘cuda caught on the flats but I wait until the second day.”

“The second day?” I repeated.

“Yeah, Mon, the first day I give some to my cat. If he be alive the second day I figure I’m good.”

I rolled my eyes at that one and did not comment. I have no idea if he was pulling my leg or not. I will tell you that Patti and I did eat a barracuda we caught at Flamingo Cay Club once. It was delicious and we did not get sick.

One last thing about fighting a jumpy barracuda: Just like a tarpon, don’t forget to bow!

A Lot More Where That Came From

If you enjoyed this chapter, Bonefish Dreams has more than forty others just like it. This barracuda fishing story stood out to me as a great example of Foster’s writing style — informative, engaging, and laced with his easy humor.

Bonefish Dreams is scheduled for release in early 2026, and I'd highly recommend grabbing a copy.