Killing the Cownose Ray

[Pinch]

We already played god and killed all the sharks. Now we have a ray problem.

[Mark]

I don't like losing lures to CNRs either. But I don't want to see them needlessly slaughtered to satisfy the egos of some people.

Actually I have new respect for CNRs after reading the article. I had no idea they travelled so far to breed in the Bay. That's an impressive migration.

[J.A. Veil]

I'm in agreement with Cowpokey. Regardless how annoying it may be to hook into one and lose a lure or worse, killing it and tossing it aside seems like a waste of a life. When we become the judge and jury of which creatures are "good" and which are "bad" we end up playing God with an ecosystem whose nuances we don't fully understand. I'm still convinced that the invasive species with the worst impact on the bay is us. Let Mother Nature balance things out.

Sorry about the rant

+1

[Cowpokey]

I'm in agreement with Cowpokey. Regardless how annoying it may be to hook into one and lose a lure or worse, killing it and tossing it aside seems like a waste of a life. When we become the judge and jury of which creatures are "good" and which are "bad" we end up playing God with an ecosystem whose nuances we don't fully understand. I'm still convinced that the invasive species with the worst impact on the bay is us. Let Mother Nature balance things out.

Sorry about the rant

I couldn't agree more.

I was going to post that it should be open season on humans; no limit, no restrictions. Mankind had done more damage to the eco system than Mother Nature could ever hope to keep up with repairing.

[jhoss]

I'm in agreement with Cowpokey. Regardless how annoying it may be to hook into one and lose a lure or worse, killing it and tossing it aside seems like a waste of a life. When we become the judge and jury of which creatures are "good" and which are "bad" we end up playing God with an ecosystem whose nuances we don't fully understand. I'm still convinced that the invasive species with the worst impact on the bay is us. Let Mother Nature balance things out.

Sorry about the rant

[Cowpokey]

I think this is a great idea. No limits? No problem! I snagged a few for kicks one day at CHSP when they were jumping around on top and the flounders weren't biting. They're probably devastating what remains of the striper forage species since their numbers have increased so wildly the past few years. I wouldn't be too keen on bringing a flailing cownose boatside in my hobie, though, without a better way to dispatch it. That usually ends in getting real wet, breaking your rod or both.

I doubt that, the bait was THICK everywhere I fished this past summer.

Both. LOL

[Romo]

I think this is a great idea. No limits? No problem! I snagged a few for kicks one day at CHSP when they were jumping around on top and the flounders weren't biting. They're probably devastating what remains of the striper forage species since their numbers have increased so wildly the past few years. I wouldn't be too keen on bringing a flailing cownose boatside in my hobie, though, without a better way to dispatch it. That usually ends in getting real wet, breaking your rod or both.

[Cowpokey]

The only Ray I hooked ended with a broken rod, I unhooked it and gladly watched it swim away. Killing for the sake of killing is wrong.

[DanMarino]

No bueno. I've had up close experience with the bow hunters and their generator boats at Mattawoman. Those guys are turds.

[buzz]

Of course most of us have had our run-ins with cownose rays. Fortunately for me, I went this whole season without a single hookup. Yet I know others have lost lures, line, and even whole rod & reel setups. Heck... sometimes those critters can totally ruin your day.

Apparently this has gotten the attention of some of the same folk that hunt down the dreaded snakehead... bow hunters.

I personally have not seen this, but the following article maintains that these boats look for rays feeding on top of the water and then rush up on them. Hunters standing on a platform at the stern of the boat take aim and shoot at the rays before they dive down. With the goal being to return with the largest ray, they kill one right after another until its time to go return. If a ray they just killed is smaller than the one they already have then its dumped overboard to become crab food. If its bigger than they keep it and dump the other one down to the crabs.

The cownose is not an invasive species yet recently their numbers have increased and according to the article these ray hunts are an effort to diminish the populations that is supported by the state of Virginia.

Maybe its time to set some limits.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2014...wnose-stingray