# Stingray Alert!



## surfguy

Warning: The material you are about to read is not for the faint of heart.

At 9am Sat, I was fishing surfside between the 4th and 5th access road. I was wading out to cast my line when suddenly I stepped in a 1ft deep hole apparently home to a big *** stingray. As my foot went down the posinous barb came up and puncured my calf all the way to the bone. 

I drove my self to the Lake Jackson emergency center in about 30min. By the time I got there, the blood loss had filled up my truck mat. By now the pain was getting unbearable. The med center put hot wet towels around the wound and gave me a vicadin to ease the pain. It had absolutely no effect. Another hour passed and they gave me a shot of morphine. Still no relief. Another hour passed and they gave an injection of dilaudin and an IV to replace the flulds I lost. Finally after 4 hours of excruciating pain, I was released. I had to call my neighbor in Houston to drive down and pick me up. 

The result was a 1in surface gash on my calf that went to the bone. Today, I am on antibiotics and pain killer but my leg is swollen to twice the normal size from my knee to my ankle. 

Online research told me there are only 1500 stingray bites every year. I was one of the victims yesterday. My advice is to be careful out there and shuffle your feet when you are walking out to the surf.


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## saltylady

Glad you made it to ER, had to have been a long druve.
Keep a close eye out for infection. Good luck.


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## uncle dave

The best of luck, been there.


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## scrambler

Hope you have a speedy recovery. Thanks for the reminder.


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## Spectaker

Sorry to hear that happened to ya and I hope you have a quick recovery. I kicked one a few weeks ago on Crystal and it scared the @$-$ out of me.


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## alvinslash

so that is the 2nd one this week not good


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## mtroemel

Sting Ray Guardz, manufactured by Crackshot Corporation, provide 12" high protection from stingray injuries to protected areas. Stingrays are in surfs more this season than usual. Fish/wade safely.


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## seabo

keep an eye on it for sure and i hope you heal fast! thats another thing the risks go up on in the dirty surf, sharkbite is one i worry the most about though.


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## justletmein

Hope you heal up really well. Tough to do the shuffle when you shuffle off into a hole. I've done it before and thank God there was no ray sitting in there. Scares the poo out of me when I kick them while shuffling too.


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## surfguy

Still swollen pretty bad today but the wound is starting to heal. I was wearing my rubber toed Tiva sandles at the time. I have some ankle high ray guards but I don't like wearing them because they fill up with water. I will probably find some ray guards that go up to my knee from now on since the wound was actually 14" above my foot. It must have been a big one. It happened so fast it felt like I came down on a railroad spike on the back of my calf. It still freaks me out! Thanks for all the concerns.


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## Bretticu$

I had the same thing happen to me on Jamaica Beach about a decade ago, mine hit me mid shin on the inside of my right leg. I guess we are now "Brothers of the Barb." lol < Gotta laugh to keep from crying. :cheers:


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## goodwood

hope you make a full recovery.


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## TOM WEBER

Fished with a guide in POC a few years back. He wore those hard plastic snake leggings over his wading boots. Had been hit thru the original ray guards. Made me go out and buy the new style with the hard plastic. He said he was within 10 feet of the boat. Said he did no think he would have made it back if much further. Think about all the time I spent as a kid barefoot surf fishing. Hope you mend quickly. TW


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## Fishdaze

Surfguy, I hope you make a full and speedy recovery. This is like the 3rd or 4th report of a stingray hit on a fisherman this week on 2cool. It makes you wonder how many non-fisherman have gotten hit in the surf.


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## That Robbie Guy

Wish you well - and if you wouldn't mind, post up a pic.


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## surfguy

It's not pretty but here's the pics 2 days after.


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## surfguy

Try again.


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## BATWING

GodSpeed SurfGuy! That gives me the willies...


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## rynochop

Dang i'm never worried about stingrays until i see all these threads. I stomp out into the surf like i'm in a marching band as well. Will change some habits, ha


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## Justin_Smithey

rynochop said:


> Dang i'm never worried about stingrays until i see all these threads. I stomp out into the surf like i'm in a marching band as well. Will change some habits, ha


X2!!

Hope for a speedy recover bud


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## mwatt007

rynochop said:


> Dang i'm never worried about stingrays until i see all these threads. I stomp out into the surf like i'm in a marching band as well. Will change some habits, ha


X3...same here

get well !


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## JFolm

Get well buddy


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## 535

ouch!

get well soon... 

unfortunately, I think its just the luck of the draw


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## willsoonbfishin

The wound looks clean with no infection. Keep on doing whatever you're doing for treatment. I had one about 15 years ago. Was in some soft mud and shuffling was not possible. Thanks for posting as we all need to be reminded from time to time about stingrays.


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## surfisher

:texasflagwound looks good hang in there surfguy where you got hit i fish that area might see ya out there sometime rawpower and i hit the surf alot. tight lines becareful.:fish:


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## Smackdaddy53

That must have been one big MOFO to do that. Ive got some barbs out in the shed from some that were 5-6' across from big shell, theyre about 6" long and 1/2" wide


-mac-


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## caddis

I wonder why all those zillions of kids in the surf almost never get hit? I've always worried about them in the bays more. It seems like they are swimming mostly in the surf...or so I thought!
I hope it keeps healing and stays clear of an infection.


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## TheAnt

I suggest not allowing kids to "swim" in the shallows on their bellys like Steve Irwin was doing (OK, more or less) when he was killed.

http://virtualfunzone.com/bizarre-deaths-in-history.html


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## surfguy

I believe the conditions had a lot to do with it. It was still overcast from the storm that just went thru, the water was murky almost chocolate brown and there was a lot of baitfish in the shallows. I just got ambushed!
The wound is healing pretty well but the swelling continues to be a problem. Feels like some internal muscle or nerve damage so it's gonna take awhile to get it completely healed.


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## txstguy

TOM WEBER said:


> Fished with a guide in POC a few years back. He wore those hard plastic snake leggings over his wading boots. Had been hit thru the original ray guards. Made me go out and buy the new style with the hard plastic. He said he was within 10 feet of the boat. Said he did no think he would have made it back if much further. Think about all the time I spent as a kid barefoot surf fishing. Hope you mend quickly. TW


Post a link please?

Or do you mean the ray-guard leggings?


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## Main Frame 8

http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_30275_-1?N=329204472


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## hunterjck

I live in Beaumont and could not find Crackshot Ray Guardz in stock anywhere. Called Marburgers in Seabrook about noon yesterday and had my Guardz at my door by priority mail today. Nice folks, great service. Thank you.


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## kev2126

Here are the Crackshots. When my Foreverlast Ray Guard Boots finally break down I'll be picking up a pair up these.

http://www.crackshotcorp.com/2011/Fang Busterz and Sting Ray Guardz.htm


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## Trouthappy

Anybody who wade fishes should keep a thermos of very hot water nearby. It cooks stingray venom and renders it harmless.


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## Just One More

*Ruined Fishing Trip*

I went to Surfside (access road 4) Friday morning at daybreak. Caught 10 trout in the first hour. 4 keepers to 17". I came in to drop off fish and get a drink, then on the way back out and BAM. Waves made hard to shuffle. I felt of my boot and didn't feel a tear or anything so I continued on to the second bar and fished for another 30 minutes or so. I thought maybe a crab got me. Then my foot started feeling hot and I thought I might be bleeding and didn't want to be shark bait. So, I went back to the truck and pulled off my boot. I could then see the puncture wound. I guess I've been lucky so far as I have been fishing the surf for 35 years, and when I was younger barefoot. I at least had on wading boots, but it went right through them. Thank goodness my wife went with me and was waiting at the truck (usually by myself). After that first 30-45 minutes passed it started hurting like a MF, and pain going all the up to my thigh. Once she got me to the ER in Lake Jackson and they got my foot in some hot water with betadine (sp) in it then the pain was bearable. Antibiotics and tetnus (sp) shot.


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## TAMUGfisher12

We caught this guy this morning in that same area. Maybe we got him for you.


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## Rawpower

Dang, Glad I didn’t step on that!!


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## surfguy

I thinj that's the SOB that put a 1' hole in my leg.


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## mwatt007

Are you serious Surfguy? How deep of water were you in? That thing would make the water move I think if in not too deep...

That's scary as hell....

Was this one released? Cut the barb?


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## Brine Jake

Trouthappy said:


> Anybody who wade fishes should keep a thermos of very hot water nearby. It cooks stingray venom and renders it harmless.


Good words. So simple, and so true. I hadn't even thought of it. I thought of running the motor and ginning up some warm discharge water, but this easy tip is K times better. A minute would seem like hours.

BTW It is definitely impossible to shuffle every step in a busting surf--granted-- but does anyone who has done much surf chunking really wear or even consider wearing ray guards in the surf? I can't imagine trying to get around out there with those things on. To each his zone, I guess.


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## surfguy

mwatt007,
Take a look at the story and pics I posted in the 1st page of this thread. It's 1 month later and I still have a 1" scar wound on my leg. The one that hit me was about 10yds off the sand in shin deep water. I did not have the capacity to catch it and cut off the barb since I was gushing blood all over. I did not want to be shark bait and all I could think about was packing up my fishing gear and getting to the nearest ER asap! The pain was unbearable for 4hrs. Since then I have purchased knee high rayguards but they are really heavy so I wear them only when the water is murky and I can't see to the bottom of where I'm walking. it's still risky but I figure it was one in a million that I got hit, so I'm playing the odds, so to speak. It definitely sheds a whole new light on surf fishing once you get hit by a big stingray. Since then, I have actually caught 2 stingrays on my baited lines. It's safe to say they did not make it back in the water to do any damage.:biggrin:


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## mwatt007

Surfguy.....in my earlier post earlier I didn't mean you caught it or had to cut the barb of....i meant the guys who did catch the one posted a bit earlier...

I feel for ya man...sorry it happened to you for sure.....i would hate for that to happen to anyone..

i was just thinking with one that big once it swam away i just thought someone may see the water move since the one in the earlier pic was so friggin big...not necessarily you at all....as i would panic after that myself.

Hope you are healing up well....

PS....that's why potlicking in the surf especially in Matagorda is fine with me....someone may need help or I may...nice to know someone is closeby if something happens..


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## jeff.w

I caught this one on artificial of all things, in the exact same area you got hit. This one was laying in the first gut in a foot of water!


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## jettycowboy47

surfguy said:


> Warning: The material you are about to read is not for the faint of heart.
> 
> At 9am Sat, I was fishing surfside between the 4th and 5th access road. I was wading out to cast my line when suddenly I stepped in a 1ft deep hole apparently home to a big *** stingray. As my foot went down the posinous barb came up and puncured my calf all the way to the bone.
> 
> I drove my self to the Lake Jackson emergency center in about 30min. By the time I got there, the blood loss had filled up my truck mat. By now the pain was getting unbearable. The med center put hot wet towels around the wound and gave me a vicadin to ease the pain. It had absolutely no effect. Another hour passed and they gave me a shot of morphine. Still no relief. Another hour passed and they gave an injection of dilaudin and an IV to replace the flulds I lost. Finally after 4 hours of excruciating pain, I was released. I had to call my neighbor in Houston to drive down and pick me up.
> 
> The result was a 1in surface gash on my calf that went to the bone. Today, I am on antibiotics and pain killer but my leg is swollen to twice the normal size from my knee to my ankle.
> 
> Online research told me there are only 1500 stingray bites every year. I was one of the victims yesterday. My advice is to be careful out there and shuffle your feet when you are walking out to the surf.


Gosh! this creeps me out... Just curious ,where is the 4th and 5th access roads? I am trying to get my bearings straight as to where the various locations are ie. Jamaica bay, Christmas Bay, Surfside,etc-Only point of reference I have is 64th street and the various jettys and piers on that beach front. I guess I need to get a good map and along with some quality ray guards (Jerry Labella?) My game is mostly fishing from the sand but i just know I will be wading out one of these days... Thanks for sharing and my best wishes for your continued recovery, Really scary ****.


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## surfguy

If you turn left off 288/332 onto Bluewater highway (heading east toward Galveston), you will run into access rd #1, 2..4,5, etc. Access rds #4 & 5 are about 4-5 miles down. The sign for #4 is still up but #5 seems to be missing recently. I don't know the beach names associated with the access rd #'s. 
Here's a few beach rules for anyone new to Surfside:
Access #1,2: Private, need $10 sticker, park anywhere, crowded
Access #3,4: Semi-private, need sticker, park at dunes only (sucks)
Access #4,5: Public, no sticker, park anywhere, less crowded

Surfside beach is one-way driving (east) all the way. I've seen many tickets handed out to offenders. You can buy a sticker for $10 at the entrance shacks or from the cop that checks you out!!! 

Most people fish #4,5 because it's less crowded with non-fishing people and no sticker needed and you can park anywhere up to the water's edge. I have a couple spots between #1 & 2 that always produce fish under most conditions, so I plan to fish those for awhile at least until the water clears up for good this year. Hope this helps.


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## Brine Jake

mwatt007;4208994
I feel for ya man...sorry it happened to you for sure.....i would hate for that to happen to anyone..
i was just thinking with one that big once it swam away i just thought someone may see the water move since the one in the earlier pic was so friggin big...not necessarily you at all....as i would panic after that myself.
Hope you are healing up well....
PS....that's why potlicking in the surf especially in Matagorda is fine with me....someone may need help or I may...nice to know someone is closeby if something happens..[/QUOTE said:


> Ditto all.
> 
> A big ray can make a big boil when it leaves bottom. The one laying chilly makes no sign on the surface, as far as I know. That is usually the one that sticks you, because you step on it, or so I've been told. I also know folks who were hit calf to thigh high standing still.
> 
> I stomped through the first few yards off the sand so many years that I thought there were no rays on the bottom in the surf. I'd seen cownose swimming, sometimes by the hundreds, now and then in 6 inches of water,
> and seen monsters landed by long rodders.
> 
> Everyone I know personally who was ever hit while fishing was hit in a bay. I know of several rec swimmers who have been hit.
> 
> I've just been very lucky. When I used to wade barefoot in nothing but cutoffs, I stepped on a few while bouncing with the waves and bouncing out to a bar--not many, but a few. I would feel a flat fish slip from under my foot, and just tell myself it's a flounder. (Sometimes in the gut in the dark when I get bumped pretty good about waist high by something real solid, I tell myself it's a turtle, or a bull red.)
> 
> I think the Access 5 sign has been gone since Ike.


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## histprof

It's funny how our perspectives change. I'm a BOI and spent countless days playing in the surf as a kid. I have also fished the beach off and on for 30 years. I never once saw, thought about or in any way had any sense of rays in the surf. Now, when I am fishing by myself, I think about every step I take into the surf. More importantly, I have 10, 6 & 3 year old kids and occasionally find myself overwhelmed by the fear that one of them might get hit.

One ray defense that I like to use, now that I do more long rod fishing, is the cast net. I start throwing from the sand and step where the net lands. I am assuming that by following my net out, I am chasing off the rays before I can step on them...

The access 5 sign was there last week. It just is not easy to see for some reason.


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## surfguy

I always surf fished in barefeet for 3 yrs until this year. I can remember stepping on slippery fish too but nothing ever happened. Any of you veterans out there have any idea why there is so many Rays this year and so close to shore?


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## Brine Jake

histprof said:


> It's funny how our perspectives change. I'm a BOI and spent countless days playing in the surf as a kid. I have also fished the beach off and on for 30 years. I never once saw, thought about or in any way had any sense of rays in the surf. Now, when I am fishing by myself, I think about every step I take into the surf. More importantly, I have 10, 6 & 3 year old kids and occasionally find myself overwhelmed by the fear that one of them might get hit.
> 
> One ray defense that I like to use, now that I do more long rod fishing, is the cast net. I start throwing from the sand and step where the net lands. I am assuming that by following my net out, I am chasing off the rays before I can step on them...
> 
> The access 5 sign was there last week. It just is not easy to see for some reason.


My mama was BOI and confirmed that she saw ray hits as a kid in the surf.

Some years are worse than others. I recall once back in the '80's or '90's hearing about a lot of swimmers getting it up high.

That cast net tactic makes plenty of sense. Why not? (or it might just stir up some bait and draw one in on ya...Never know...

Them stinging sea nettles are plenty bad on their own. Long pants!
I got down there one day thinking i had a pr of wade pants in the back--nope. I says, I gotta fish. Got stung just below my left cheek under the trunks. Felt like a knife blade for about 15 minutes.

Thanks for the tip on the 5 sign. Maybe it's 6 that I saw missing.


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## jettycowboy47

Since then I have purchased knee high rayguards but they are really heavy so I wear them only when the water is murky and I can't see to the bottom of where I'm walking. it's still risky but I figure it was one in a million that I got hit, so I'm playing the odds, so to speak. It definitely sheds a whole new light on surf fishing once you get hit by a big stingray. Since then, I have actually caught 2 stingrays on my baited lines. It's safe to say they did not make it back in the water to do any damage.:biggrin:[/QUOTE]

Surfguy, what brand ? Everlast?,Jerry labella? or Crackshot? Approximately how heavy are they? I wadefish a lot in freshwater and the only time I ever got in trouble was i stepped in a silt bed once. My legs got sucked up to my knees in silty mud. I had on waders and wade shoes which was kinda heavy. It was really hard getting out. I have read that there are certain silt beds/potholes in the bays and this is why I am asking about the guards. I would think they would give you peace of mind provided you did the shuffle.


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## mwatt007

Be careful wearing those boots in the bay around silted areas....

I heard a story recently of a man who died of hypothermia in SA Bay about 30-40 yrs ago because he got stuck in the mud while wading in the winter time......


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## jettycowboy47

mwatt007 said:


> Be careful wearing those boots in the bay around silted areas....
> 
> I heard a story recently of a man who died of hypothermia in SA Bay about 30-40 yrs ago because he got stuck in the mud while wading in the winter time......


What does "SA Bay" stand for? I am trying to familiarize my self with names and locations around Galveston.
On another note, are there particular areas that sb not wade fished due to sharks, rays pot holes etc??? I have heard elsewhere on this site that Christmas bay is ray mecca. Times of year may influence their presence plus water temps and rainfall (??) 
I am particularly more concerned about sinkholes/ silt beds than I am about sharks or rays.

One more reason to hook up with a Guide who can point out the basics of wading in these areas. That would be my reason for booking-catch fish yes but learn the location and pattrerns dos and donts etc more important. I am not rich so its out of the question now. Thankshwell:


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## justletmein

jettycowboy47 said:


> What does "SA Bay" stand for? I am trying to familiarize my self with names and locations around Galveston.
> On another note, are there particular areas that sb not wade fished due to sharks, rays pot holes etc??? I have heard elsewhere on this site that Christmas bay is ray mecca. Times of year may influence their presence plus water temps and rainfall (??)
> I am particularly more concerned about sinkholes/ silt beds than I am about sharks or rays.
> 
> One more reason to hook up with a Guide who can point out the basics of wading in these areas. That would be my reason for booking-catch fish yes but learn the location and pattrerns dos and donts etc more important. I am not rich so its out of the question now. Thankshwell:


San Antonio Bay?


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## lmgreeri

Yikes! This us why I hate wade fishing. People used to look at me like I was completely nuts back in the day before kayaks when we used to swim big shark baits out with just a life jacket and scuba fins. I would rather swim with sharks dragging a big, bloody bait any day over walking with stingrays...you guys can have it...I'll stick to offshore now. :biggrin:


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## mwatt007

Yes....San Antonio Bay


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## tpool

Bad deal on the stingray stick! I have gone to just wearing the "old-style" ray guard shields with wading boots (even in the surf). You can't even tell they are there... Only thing uncovered is my heel and toes (I'm a short guy, so they come up to within an inch of the back of my knee)...

Picture is of the newer style but same coverage...


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## Txbowhunter31

I kicked up 2 rays a couple of weeks ago out at big shell.
I always go out barefoot but I might look in to rayguards now.


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## jettycowboy47

tpool said:


> Bad deal on the stingray stick! I have gone to just wearing the "old-style" ray guard shields with wading boots (even in the surf). You can't even tell they are there... Only thing uncovered is my heel and toes (I'm a short guy, so they come up to within an inch of the back of my knee)...
> 
> Picture is of the newer style but same coverage...


Are those Crackshots?


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## fishhawkxxx

*rays*

I usually carry a walking stick and prod the bottom as i go.So far so good.


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## Sea-Slug

tpool said:


> Bad deal on the stingray stick! I have gone to just wearing the "old-style" ray guard shields with wading boots (even in the surf). You can't even tell they are there... Only thing uncovered is my heel and toes (I'm a short guy, so they come up to within an inch of the back of my knee)...
> 
> Picture is of the newer style but same coverage...


They usually get you in the heel, high up near the ankle, on the back of the leg it seems.


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## surfguy

I got hit in the back of my calf. It's over a month now and I'm still nursing the 1" hold in my leg. I've made 3 trips to the hospital and did everything they told me to do and still got a bacterial infection. After 2 rounds of antibiotics, the swelling is finally gone but I'm still trying to get the wound healed. Trust me, it's worth the trouble to do whatever you can to avoid stingrays.


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## fatrat82

Surfguy sorry to hear about that, I worry about it every time I go out and have been wade fishing for as long as my dad would bring me out 20+ years. More worried about it in the last 5 or so years probably due to all the Internet fishing forums. It's good your sharing the story. Are the doctors getting ahold of the infection now with the meds or is it still a work in progress? The pain of the hit and sting always worried me but the infection I think is far more dangerous as it seems.


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## jettycowboy47

surfguy said:


> I got hit in the back of my calf. It's over a month now and I'm still nursing the 1" hold in my leg. I've made 3 trips to the hospital and did everything they told me to do and still got a bacterial infection. After 2 rounds of antibiotics, the swelling is finally gone but I'm still trying to get the wound healed. Trust me, it's worth the trouble to do whatever you can to avoid stingrays.


Has this experience affected the way you fish now?? Sort of like a baseball player getting knocked down by a ******. You get up and blow it off quickly and take the next AB (if you not in the hospital) , if you let it bother you mentally later sometimes you never get your groove back. My guess is that you have Ray Guards & boots and really think about the shuffle big time. My prayers are with you for complete recovery.


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## surfguy

jettycowboy47 said:


> Has this experience affected the way you fish now?? Sort of like a baseball player getting knocked down by a ******. You get up and blow it off quickly and take the next AB (if you not in the hospital) , if you let it bother you mentally later sometimes you never get your groove back. My guess is that you have Ray Guards & boots and really think about the shuffle big time. My prayers are with you for complete recovery.


jc47, Appreciate the kind words, that's what I like about this cyber club we have here.. I played some ball in my prime years and it does totally relate to a '******' in Baseball. To tell the truth, it could relate to any event in your life where you were caught off guard and something physical happened to you such as slipping on ice and cracking your head open.

It's just such a shock when you feel how big the **** barb is when it goes in and you immediately kick in to survival mode when you see blood gushing into the water knowning there could be a good size shark in that close.

As far as going back into the water, I did not hesitate to go right back in two weeks later with the same confidence I had before but this time I was equipped to understand the conditions. Face it, there are only 1500 a year in the US.

The first time I stepped in a 'hole' I had a quick flashback and then it was done for good after I pulled my leg back up and nothing was wrong. That's my thoughts. Others may react different. Cheers !


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## BayouBonsaiMan

very informative post ! Good luck healing Surf Guy


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## surfguy

I just read the 2 articles on Stingrays in this month's Texas Saltwater Fishing mag. I have to admit, it was not easy reading and seeing the pics. Everything the author wrote actually happend to me including the intense pain, the infection, antibiotics, treatment and so on. He even mentions that he should wear ray boots but admits they are so heavy, he is willing to not wear them all the time, just like me. It was almost as if the author witnessed my event (or read this post) even though he claims to have never been hit. Read it if you get a chance and be careful out there.


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