The rays are coming!!!

[camelbird]

[Mark]

Wow.

That's nasty.

At least our Bay variety rays only pull us around for a while and steal our $9 X-Raps. I'm glad they don't go airborne too.

[Goody]

That would freak me out if I saw these things flying like that next to my kayak or even landing in it.

Mobile

[RavensDfense]

I swear this is what the ESVA feels like sometimes. Can't troll for more than 5 feet w/o hooking up. And they do jump. Not quite like these, but last spring when paddling out of an oceanside inlet I heard this noise that sounded like the hull slap of a boat. When I looked around, I there were about 50 rays jumping out of the water about a 100 yards away.

[freshstripes]

Last year I hooked a four foot wide eagle Ray off of ocean city surf. One of the most epic battles ever. Jumped way out of the water after a long run towards the blue. I thought I had a thresher or spinner when it jumped. Definitely don't fight like a Normal Ray. They don't seem to suck to the bottom

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[john from md]

I had one jump next to me off of Hackett's one day while I was in the yak. Man am I glad that my 63 year old heart is in good shape or I would have been a goner. Here I am all laid back relaxed and paddling slowly along when - Whamm.

What's that guy's name who bow hunts them? I want to give him a donation.

John

[Billy Rocket]

looks like a painful belly flop

[jsnyd86]

So this brings up a question. These are Manta Rays, so no stinger. But has/would anyone try to land a sting ray? I sure wouldn't those tales scare the crap out of me.

[bignose]

What we have in the Bay are Cownosed Rays. They have a stinger, so land at your own risk.
I try to get them close and break off, or recover my lure with a retriever pole.
They will take you for quite a sleigh ride, unless they try to play man hole cover and stick to the bottom.
If they run under your boat, conceivably the bigger ones could pull you over.
I have broken several rods when they ran under the boat.

[eyedaddy]

I can't imagine a ray being hooked while in a Kayak. I have hooked a couple in my other boats and it was a struggle to get them to the boat. They come in and get a look at the boat and leave for 60-100 yard runs! They repeat the process a few times fun but ruin your mono line. Like Senior Yakfisher all i want is my lures back.

[RavensDfense]

They're a pain in a yak. If you have never caught anything with some size to it from your yak, I imagine the first one or two may be fun. Beyond that, they're wasted fishing time and tackle.

[john from md]

So this brings up a question. These are Manta Rays, so no stinger. But has/would anyone try to land a sting ray? I sure wouldn't those tales scare the crap out of me.

The large brown colored rays in the Bay are Cownose Rays, a subspecies of Eagle Ray. They have a stinger but it is close to the tail and not at the tip. The Atlantic Stingray is darker colored, less than half the size of a Cownose Ray and has a stinger at the tip of it's tail. The smaller rays come into the bay during the latter part of the summer and stay until they go out to deeper waters for the winter.

The safest thing to do with any Ray in a yak is to cut the line. You can tell if you have a Ray by the lack of action and heavy pull.

Just remember, if you turtle next to one, you could become the next Steve Irwin.

John

[Cowpokey]

The safest thing to do with any Ray in a yak is to cut the line. You can tell if you have a Ray by the lack of action and heavy pull.

Just remember, if you turtle next to one, you could become the next Steve Irwin.

John

Rays are a lot of work, I wouldn't want to catch on a kayak, but it could be done. If you get one, it won't "shake its head" like a normal fish, just a strong steady pull. Worst part is then you get it to the boat and think the work is over, then they decide to run back to the bottom.

They are potentially dangerous; becoming the next Steve Irwin is about as likely as getting stuck by lightning. We caught a lot (anything more than one is enough) of big skates up in Alaska while halibut fishing, those have a barb in their tail too, but not one time did I see one try to use it.

At any rate, if you not comfortable handling one, stay safe and cut the line, but do it as close to the hook as you can.