First time on Severn, 40 min fight, thanks to you guys!

[Pc4sun]

This was a fun story to read. My heart was pumping! Thanks for a fun read.

[reel-em-in]

To be honest, catching a cnr sounds fun. I've never caught one and after an hour I may change my mind, ahaha.
Wegmans was selling the wings. They tasted good. I'd throw one in cooler for sure.
Do they have stingers? Can they hurt you?

They do have venom coated stingers close to the base of the tail. I don't think I'd want one in my kayak alive.


edit: lol I guess I'm slow at typing, a a few other beat me to it...

[Dimo]

Just a suggestion - you might consider lightening your drag a bit. Line should never be that tight unless you are fishing Tuna on heavy gear.

T.

Great suggestion, I toggled back and forth but I think you're right on. I just didn't want to lose any progress gained. Patient, slow and steady seems to be the game with these things specifically. The feel was very much from 0 to as if someone had locked a 45 pound lead anchor to the end of my line. There was absolutely no lateral action until I had reeled in around maybe 5 yards (about 30 minutes in). Then the line had progressive side to side movement with each crank. Only towards the end of the fight were there slight moments of rest where I could crank 4 times consecutively before the weight came back on. This was completely new experience for me from a yak, as I'm typically up river on the Potomac, but balancing where the fight was occurring against the waves / wake motion and watching out for larger watercraft was an awesome experience. The only thing left hooked at the end of the night was me!



If it was a ray, I'm sure I would have cut the line anyway, I would have NO clue what to do with the thing.

[Raptor]

Dimo
I innitialy set my drags rather light. Big fish can make an initial pull and just snap a line if the drag is even a bit heavy. As time goes on and the fish tires you can tighten a drag but you can't unbreak a line.

T.

[john from md]

My experience says it is a little to cool for CNR's to come up this fare especially with the low salt content in the water. My bet is it was a Black Drum. We have some giant black drum around the area and they are even caught well past the BB. My Black Drum catches have mostly been after dark.

FWIW,


John

[Dimo]

My experience says it is a little to cool for CNR's to come up this fare especially with the low salt content in the water. My bet is it was a Black Drum. We have some giant black drum around the area and they are even caught well past the BB. My Black Drum catches have mostly been after dark.

Could be, good to know! I was reading up on CNRs and their typical feeding habits seem to be along the ground. I definitely had the lure at around half-way in the water column against the current. Seems like a weird, randomly accurate striking habit of a ray to snag something that high above in volatile water.

[Cowpokey]

Could be, good to know! I was reading up on CNRs and their typical feeding habits seem to be along the ground. I definitely had the lure at around half-way in the water column against the current. Seems like a weird, randomly accurate striking habit of a ray to snag something that high above in volatile water.

I've seen them on the surface plenty of times, so they can be hooked anywhere in the water column.

[YakCapn]

To be honest, catching a cnr sounds fun. I've never caught one and after an hour I may change my mind, ahaha.
Wegmans was selling the wings. They tasted good. I'd throw one in cooler for sure.
Do they have stingers? Can they hurt you?

Yes, their tails are pretty vicious. A lot of fishing piers actually have rules that rays can't be brought up to the pier. The night I caught mine there were definitely people concerned I was reeling it in. There was debate for a while that it was a big rock fish, but others were convinced it was a ray. I had no idea I just wanted to bring it in to know for sure. I brought it all the way to the pier before I cut the line. When it was at the pier it actually slapped one of the pier pilings with its tail with a thump you could hear. I would not want to be close to one of those things. Other people like to harvest them for the wing meat. One guy was telling me how he had to have several stitches in his lip and cheek where a ray's tail got him.

[Raptor]

All,

So here is what we are talking about Ray1.jpg. This guy was about 3.5' wing tip to tip. As you can see they have a long whip like tail - which I think is harmless. If you look at the base of the tail you can just see the spine - which is not harmless. When you beach them they are quite manageable, kind of like a fish out of water. I have heard that they can crush oyster shells with their jaw plates, so I wouldn't stick my fingers in their mouth. A DNR biologist told me you can pick them up like a six pack by the holes in their nose. Sorry - but I'm not going to try that. If I were to bring one onto the yak I would incapacitate him first. I have never met anyone personally who has eaten one, but I understand by hearsay that they taste like beef organ meat. I know Bull Sharks love them. I'm inclined to agree with John it seems very early for CNRs in the bay, and I have heard several conversations lately on the radio of folks catching large black drum by the BB. Probably, you had a big drum on. I've never caught one of them, but I understand they are just like dead weight as you described. I know it is very hard to let a fish take line when you have been fighting him for forty minutes but you have to when he is stronger than your tackle.


T.

[john from md]

Yes, their tails are pretty vicious. A lot of fishing piers actually have rules that rays can't be brought up to the pier. The night I caught mine there were definitely people concerned I was reeling it in. There was debate for a while that it was a big rock fish, but others were convinced it was a ray. I had no idea I just wanted to bring it in to know for sure. I brought it all the way to the pier before I cut the line. When it was at the pier it actually slapped one of the pier pilings with its tail with a thump you could hear. I would not want to be close to one of those things. Other people like to harvest them for the wing meat. One guy was telling me how he had to have several stitches in his lip and cheek where a ray's tail got him.

I think you may be confusing these with the stinger spine in the end of the tail of a Sting ray. The CNR has a stinger but it is close to the body and nowhere near as venomous as a Sting Ray

[Yak Fish]

Here's the CNR, Wegman's article. It sounds just like the animal you're talking about. http://artvoice.com/issues/v10n31/dining/cownose_ray
In fact, I tried it while at the store as a sample. They were pan frying it up. It tasted like beef steak. We convinced one of our buddies to try it who doesn't like fish, but we told him it was steak. He didn't necessarily believe it because it does have a little fish taste to it. They did not sell it under the name "cow nose ray" It was something different to make it sound better. I think it was called "chesapeake ray"

[Mark]

CNRs are rarely solitary in my experience with them. I've seen them in schools so large at Goodhands Creek that I've pulled my line from the water to avoid hooking one. When I've caught one, catching another is usually a good bet. My first experience with them was hooking three in a row in my kayak at Downs Park in Pasadena. I left the water after number three, donating three crank baits to the cause.

I consider them a summertime nuisance. But this article about their migratory habits says they can arrive in the Chesapeake in May.

http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldgu...er/cownose_ray

I guess we should be honored that they travel so far to be with us. But I view them like ants at a picnic.

I've seen them in the Severn and even saw them in Weems Creek last summer.

I have no experience with a black drum. I'd sure like to meet its cousin the red drum.