I was fishing on the north end of folly on tuesday morning and caught some whiting on shrimp. I then chunked em up and fished at the point where the river meets the ocean. Landed a big stingray but the hook came out when it was half way up the beach. Tried to get a look at it but I got too close and it tail whipped my right hand. Now I have a swollen stitched up hand.
Anyway, it swam off before I could get a picture. It had a brown body and short tail. It looked like the tail was black underneath. It felt like 15-20lbs. on my 10ft. surf rod. It took some nice runs and then just dead weight. What kind of stingrays swim around here? Thanks for listening.
DNR Shows many here: http://www.saltwaterfishing.sc.gov/pdf/sharksofsc.pdf
Deep Sea Electric Ray
Lesser Electric Ray
Smalltooth Sawfish
Atlantic GuitarFish
Rosette Skate
Clearnose Skate
Southern Stingray (Most Common)
Roughtail Stingray (I believe the monster sized rays I catch on occasion)
Atlantic Stingray
Bluntnose Stingray
Spotted Eagle Ray
Cow-Nosed Ray
Atlantic Manta Ray
Giant Devil Ray
If the tail was wide it could have been a skate instead. Skates are also common and some of the local species have rows of razor sharp spines all over the tail that can open you up in a second.
Did you get a single puncture wound (stingrays typically have only a single large spine), or was your hand all cut up like you grabbed a handful of broken glass (skates can have hundreds of razor sharp spines all over the tail)?
I agree it sounds like a cownose ray. They have a narrow dark whip tail. I think the tail looks shorter than other rays, even though it probably isn’t. It has a nasty barb and is fairly common to catch around here.
I would say Southern Ray. They have a fold under the tail that is dark, to almost black. Alot of the rays I catch have “partial” tails. Some of the time missing almost to the spine. Hope your hand is ok. Got stuck once by a small one, some of the worst pain ever.
Thanks for the info. It certainly looked like a southern ray for sure. The tail was thick and hit my hand with a lot of force. When I was in the ambulance they put my hand in hot water and I got some relief. The barb did not break off so that was good. Just a big puncture wound. I have a picture of it but thought nobody wants to see a bloody hand. Thanks again
Wow glad it was just a hand. I dropped a juvenile on my foot a few years ago and the barb tore a tendon. Was out of the count for a good while. Glad to see you recovered pretty good.
