If I catch a cow nose ray...

[Yak Fish]

Does it have a stinger or can it otherwise hurt me?
...or is it best to just sacrifice the lure?

I think they'd be good cured and smoked like a jerky, but I'm not sure if you can harvest them. I didn't see anything about them in the guide book.

[buzz]

The cownose ray does indeed have a stinger. Its a spine, located at the base of the tail.
I have caught them before from a pier, but I would caution against pulling one up on a kayak. You don't have much room there and you could get cut.

The venom is supposedly weak... about the strength of a bee sting. But remember, it wasn't the venom that killed Steve Irwin.

[Yak Fish]

Thanks Buzz

[Snakehead Hunter]

I heard Ray wings are pretty good, but I'll be careful handling them.

[Yak Fish]

I heard Ray wings are pretty good, but I'll be careful handling them.

Wegmans was selling it last summer. It was more "steak like" than fish like. It wasn't bad, but at $18/lb I would have rather had something else. If I happen to get one, I'd be more than happy to eat it or try to smoke it. It sounds like they are out in numbers right now and people are accidentally snagging them.

[Pinch]

Kill them all.

[Frogsauce]

^ this. Dive knife.

[Snakehead Hunter]

Bring a sharp knife. Kill it, cut the wings off and feed the spot with the rest of the body.

[Cowpokey]

I heard most of the meat is in the back, not so much in the wings. I've never cut into one, so take that for what it's worth. Definitely interested in hearing about how they taste.

[Yak Fish]

I heard most of the meat is in the back, not so much in the wings. I've never cut into one, so take that for what it's worth. Definitely interested in hearing about how they taste.

The one that wegmans had tasted more like steak/pork chop than fish. We tried to trick one of the guys and told him it was steak and he believed it. It doesn't taste like a NY strip or anything but that's the kind of texture it had...with a hint of the sea. The grain structure was kind of interesting.

[Cowpokey]

The one that wegmans had tasted more like steak/pork chop than fish. We tried to trick one of the guys and told him it was steak and he believed it. It doesn't taste like a NY strip or anything but that's the kind of texture it had...with a hint of the sea. The grain structure was kind of interesting.

Interesting, like shark*? I've had shark before, not really a fan.

*Sharks and rays are related, IIRC.

[Yak Fish]

I've had blackened mako shark that was one of the best tasting things I've ever had. It did not taste like that. I'm sure sharks, like fish, taste different per the species.

[john from md]

Cow nose rays have dark red meat, skates have white meat and some sharks have white meat. The skate and shark meat to me is very close. I don't anticipate eating any cow nose ray 'cause I ain't bringing that dang thing in the yak.

John

[dsiekman]

^ this. Dive knife.

Or a 410

[Cowpokey]

Cow nose rays have dark red meat, skates have white meat and some sharks have white meat. The skate and shark meat to me is very close. I don't anticipate eating any cow nose ray 'cause I ain't bringing that dang thing in the yak.

John

Did not know that. I expected them to have white meat like a skate. I don't know (remember) what kind of shark I ate before, but it was white meat and my buddy cooked it on a grill.