Trevor Callaway, a successful romance novelist and Ernest Hemmingway wannabe, is fishing off the coast of Chub Cay in the Bahamas when he hooks into a world-class marlin. After hours of fighting the fish, he is disappointed when the fish seems to die before he can boat and release it. Upon close inspection he discovers the fish has died because something has cleanly cut off its tail. Not wanting to waste the magnificent fish, Trevor and his boat crew, Richie and Dave, two ex street people that he rescued from a golf course in Key West, decide to haul it to Bimini to have it smoked. Little do they know that the fish responsible for the marlin's death is lurking close by and follows the bleeding marlin's blood trail. The fish, an ancient barracuda with failing eyesight, almost immediately begins to affect the lives of visitors and natives of the tropical paradise.