Does anyone else target these?

[flatsninja]

Hello, was in the water today throwing around a shrimp pattern and sight casted to this fella(below in pic) got me thinking, they seem very tricky to get one on the hook, they seem like a good target for catch and release casting worm or shrimp patterns on the flats assuming you have them in america lol i thought they are global fish, has anyone else ever targeted stingray?

i had to make alot of repeated casts to get it perfectly near its snout when it jumped over it but i struck to early and it got a little above its mouth, a tip for dehooking them would be to use barbless, reel the fly all the way to the front guide then just push the fly out with the rod so you dont get stung.

 

[woodrivertroutbum]

Is that a stingray or a skate? We have both here as well as cow nose rays a little further south but have never targeted them. I know some Jersey guys target the cow nose rays with surf gear and bait.

 

[trout trekker]

Hi Ninja,

Ah-yes, Skates & Rays - Some are real powerhouses.
What is your local name for that species?

Where I once lived, it was almost impossible to not hook Mud Marlin ( a.k.a Bat Rays ) if you spent much time on the flats with a fly rod.
See: California Department of Fish & Game, Marine Region, Marine Sportfish Identification: Rays

“Targeting” is a word that might get some hackles up in certain locales. Some don’t understand that these fish are not the Manta’s that they may have swam amongst.

The bigger ones would put a real bow in a nine weight as they headed for another zip code. Just need to keep away from the business end of their stinger while releasing them. Some folks would keep them for table-fare.

Amazingly diverse world we live in, isn’t it.
TT

 

[fichy]

I've caught numbers of skates on the east coast of the US and been towed in my float tube in San Diego Bay by the bat rays tt mentioned. The bats never got landed as I was using a 6 wt. and getting them up and unhooked was a bit, uh, unhealthy, for all involved. Not glamorous, but certainly fun.


Charlie

 

[flatsninja]

in aus thats just called a sand stingray which dont grow very big, i wasnt refering to catching anything big like the large mat sized ones but yere

 

[theboz]

Caught a bunch of diffrent rays and skates over the years . But never targeted them . They fight hard and the real big ones can really give you a battle! Even caught one on a popper on top on a flat fishing for cudas! That big ray gave me the fight of a lifetime. Funny the few times I ever purposely casted at them they wouldn't hit!

 

[stl_geoff]

I tell ya what, when Im in Florida in 2 weeks, Im going to target anything and everything swimming in that water.

 

[fishindave]

Geoff, Where ya headed to in FL?...Great place in the winter. Lots of opportunity.unk:

 

[ditz]

I did put a few casts at what I thought was a small ray that was patroling an area that I frequented last winter. I did not spend a lot of time at it but I could get no interest from it with the shrimp pattern that I was using.

 

[stl_geoff]

Geoff, Where ya headed to in FL?...Great place in the winter. Lots of opportunity.unk:

Sarasota. Gonna bother AJ for a couple of days!

 

[flatsninja]

I did put a few casts at what I thought was a small ray that was patroling an area that I frequented last winter. I did not spend a lot of time at it but I could get no interest from it with the shrimp pattern that I was using.

yer im sure the best way to tempt one would be to put it right infornt of its nose and very stowly twitch occasioanlly

 

[pete a]

No way, here on the gulf coast sting rays are a constant real hazard, far greater than a shark/snake/alligator/power boat attack. Even a very small one can penetrate the best Simms waders. Actually the smallers ones are worse.

We see them often when wadefish but learned at an early age to do the "schuffle' when wading. This is where you slide/schuffle your feet when wading. Muddies the water quite a bit but is shoo's them away. They eat the same food reds, flounder and spec's eat so are often thick in good fishing areas. Carefull when slipping out of a boat for a wade.

I've hooked and landed them with convential tackle but it is darn tricky to handle them without killing them. Most of the time we cut the line at the leader and say bye bye. I've not been spiked but have been when people in party were. It makes tough guys scream in pain and takes quite a while to heal.

No thanks.

Pete A.

 

[sandfly]

Bob Popivics and few of us on the jersey coast go after cow nosed rays in jersey.at least I did till I moved here. check this out : http://www.aswf.info/images/holeymoley.pdf