They are long, skinny, have bluish or brownish backs, silvery sides and a mouth full of pointed teeth. They usually live from Kodiak Island to southern Baja California. But during warm water years they are more commonly found in central California. They are usually found close to the surface, but some have seen them as far down as 120 feet. Barracuda make annual northward migrations, moving from Baja California into southern California in late spring early summer, probably relating to the increasing sea temperatures.
Southward migrations are less ritualized and some fish winter over in southern California.
Fish larger than 35 inches are not seen very often. The average life span is close to eleven years old. Males are mature by age 2, and all females spawn by age 3. They eat mostly small fishes such as anchovies, sardines, young Pacific mackerels and jackmackerels, grunions and squids. They were once a very popular sport fish, but demands have dropped over the last 40 years and today the fishery is very small.