Don't handle the shorts

The Pacific barracuda is a slimy fish. If handled, the slime gets on your hands and seems to adhere and you'll see a lot of guys washing their hands off in a baitwell or with their fishing towel after catching one. When I worked on a sportfishing boat, we were told not to handle the "shorts" (those under the 28" minimum size limit), as it would cause them harm when the slime comes off on your hand. We deckhands would relay this to the passengers when catching barracuda and would usually shake the shorts off by holding the hook with pliers and dropping the fish back in the water unhandled.

I always thought it was due to the slime protecting them from bacteria and, though that may be partially true, it also greatly reduces drag and turbulence due to the viscosity. Removing the slime can potentially slow the fish down and hamper its maneuverability allowing predators an easier prey to catch. Ask Nature says, "Rosen and Cornford investigated the effect of the mucous secretions of fish on turbulent friction drag in seawater and found that 5 percent of barracuda slime reduced the turbulent friction of seawater by 66 percent. The slime of halibut was found to have a similar effect. These results indicated that slime in the flow boundary layer of rapid swimmers can effectively subdue turbulence and thus prevent energy loss."

That's quite a bit of friction drag reduction. And halibut, too. So, don't handle the shorts and release them as gently as possible.

May 13 dock totals:

8 anglers aboard the Dolphin 1/2 day pm run caught 3 ocean whitefish, 1 sheephead, 9 sculpin and 58 rockfish.

It was a very successful 3/4 day run south to the Coronados for the 28 anglers aboard the Mission Belle as they boated 92 yellowtail and 1 bonito.

The New Seaforth 1/2 day morning run with 6 anglers at the rail reported 60 rockfish caught. Their afternoon 1/2 day run with 16 anglers aboard returned to the dock with 1 yellowtail, 2 rockfish and 24 calico bass in the gunnysacks. Another 120 calico bass were caught and released.

Another good 3/4 day run down south of the border produced 92 yellowtail for the 24 anglers aboard the San Diego.

The Alexis followed suit on their 3/4 day run and reported 12 yellowtail for the 5 anglers aboard.

13 anglers aboard the Pacific Voyager for a 2 day trip down the coast boated 18 yellowtail, 7 ocean whitefish, 5 sheephead, 10 rockfish and 65 calico bass.