started out at breach inlet and very shortly after starting i got a baby sharpnose and then a 3 foot sharpnose. rods quit going off and when i was packing up to move 1 rod feels like im pulling in a big rock and up comes the biggest horseshoe crab (with a mate) ive ever seen. i got to folly right near sunup and bait rods keep getting hit and eventually i get a stingray. heavy rod with a whole live mullet finally goes off and i fight the thing for nearly half an hour but it sliced me on that nasty ledge near the beach. whatever it was it was big but didnt run off that fast at first. when i got it turned it felt more like a giant log than anything but of course peeled out plenty of line any time i got it close to the beach. anyone know what kind of shark acts like that and more importantly any advice how to beach a big shark at folly without losing it to that steep dropoff? i got to the point where i could see my 7 foot leader but didnt see the shark. SOOOO CLOSE!!!
That sounds like a big sting ray. What end of Folly were you fishing.
North Folly near the light house has that drop off, but it’s filled with debris right now. Avoiding that sport for a while… I’ve lost too many rigs over there
ive done battle with a giant ray before and didnt feel quite like that. not saying its impossible it was a giant ray but whenever id get it close and it peeled line it went much faster than any ray ive fought…it just didnt make an initial run as fast as my blacktip last year and i could definitely feel its head shaking and id think a shark would be more likely to eat a 12" live mullet than a ray. oh well got my morning workout in! btw yes it was in north folly.
I fought a HUGE ray at the jetties this weekend that ate a 10" live whiting. He ran 4-5 hard times and peeled off 50-75 yards each time. Never had a ray do that to me. Got it to the boat after prob 10 min and cut the line. Sure thought I had a nice shark until he sat one time on the bottom right under the boat.
It could have been a large cownose ray. I had a similar fight with one a few years ago at the D.I. Pier. It would make a run and then head for the bottom where it would feel like a big log. I fought it for about 30 min or so and cut it off at the pier. The thing had a wingspan of over three feet and was one heck of a fight. Much stronger than a black tip.
If two wrongs don’t make a right, try three.
one trick ive heard of with a (suspected) ray… he makes a run, fight is good then all of a sudden stops, and you cant move it… get the tension tight on the line and with your finger tip about 12 inches from the reel, “ping” the line. just give the line a “guiter type strum”. i have not tried it myself, but then again i avoid rays at all costs! “to the best of my ability” i guess the theory is that the vibration irritates them or drives them crazy and they will come off the bottom for the fight and to bring boatside to dehook or cut the leader off. but be very careful if you try to unhook one, they can move that tail with the precision of a samurai. i got a barb through my finger one time, he whipped that thing straight over his back and head straight into my finger.not a frantic crazy waving around of his tail, i mean like an expert knife thrower with perfect accuracy. HURT REALLY BAD and it bled like a stuck hog. every stingray ive caught since then has swam away with a hook hanging out of his mouth
liquor in the front, poker in the rear!
I would surely think that it was a big ray. If it was taking line and then stop and just feel like a log, couldn’t be a shark. Very few sharks can stop swimming. They have to stay in motion to breathe. A ray will just sit on the bottom and rest and then take off all of a sudden.
17.5 Searay
My first thought was a big ray also… how long of a leader are you using? I would think you’d see dorsal or tail on a big shark if you were close enough to see the leader.
I’m no expert but I’m thinking big cownose. Mainly because sharks can’t stop swimming… but ya never know
def didnt feel like a giant southern ray ive done battle with before but ive never hooked a big cownose and ive heard of others having long battles with them so that could be a possibility. i had about a 7 foot leader on at the time and the water was pretty muddy but once it got close it kept trying to pull deep rather than go over the ledge where i wanted it. all i ever saw was my swivel and mayb 6" of the leader. if i would have beached it i almost garuntee it would have been a giant ray for a couple reasons! #1 i had a video camera rolling hoping i could tape beaching a big shark. #2 a college friend in new jersey and i are having a never ending shark battle as an inside joke between us. she has a job on a tour boat/research vessel but tells me a big shark would rip up their nets so she usually puts up pics of smooth dogfish and giant flounder while i have heavy surf spinning gear that can handle something big to make up for her numbers. a 6-7 foot sand tiger, blacktip, lemon, … i was hoping for would have meant huge points for me so yup big cownose would suprise me 1 bit lol.