A week of kayak fishing in Florida: Stingray

[Ted H]

Hi folks,

in addition to my Hobie Outback for Maryland fishing I picked up a Sea Eagle 420x inflatable kayak to take on trips. At the end of February I headed down to the Everglades and the Keys to try it out. I’ve got some more videos coming but here’s the raw footage of me bringing in a Southern Stingray. BTW, I’m not a fan of that long thin tail. The inflatable is a capable kayak and let me get on the water when I otherwise wouldn’t have, But I sure missed my Hobie.

https://youtu.be/JU8qtjuiw1I


Ted

[Shoobs]

wow - not a pair of pliers long enough for me to do what you did! great job on the release.

[Ted H]

Thanks, I was probably stupid the way that tail was moving around. I learned later that these guys are actually pretty docile when they’re not hooked up. Some places even cut their toxic barbs off and let people pet them. This one had not been fixed and wasn’t happy. A little later I caught a shark but thankfully he eventually cut the leader before he got to the boat. Whole different world of fishing down there.

[john from md]

I got barbed in the foot when I was about 14 years old in New Jersey. I stepped on a stingray in the surf and I don't ever want to go through that again. Forget the lure, cut the line and stay alive.

[Slobber Bob]

Nope! I'm never doing that! That barb was way too close for comfort from a kayak. You would have been in a world of hurt had that barb caught your hand or thigh.

My wife got barbed in the ankle once and she said it was excruciating pain. Soaking the wound in the hottest water she could handle without burning herself seemed to be the only way she could relieve the pain from the barb. It required a trip to the hospital to remove part of the barb that got stuck in her ankle and the wound took several months to heal.

Stingray species like Southern, Roughtail, or Atlantic have their barbs mid tail or towards the tip. Even if they are docile, just the act of them swinging their tail makes the barb dangerous. Cownose rays on the other hand have their barb located at the base of the tail so they can't swing it around. Cownose rays I can usually unhook from the kayak, but the other species aren't worth the risk in my opinion.

[Ted H]

You guys are right, next time I will get it somewhat close and cut before that tail gets near me. I got lucky this time. All part of learning a completely new environment and fishery.