# Rays



## txrednecktx (Oct 2, 2012)

What is the best bait to catch sting rays?


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## HuntinforTail (Mar 29, 2011)

Shrimp. I peel mine (probably doesn't make a difference) and fish them on a sabiki rig. Most people fish them on a double drop rig with small hooks.


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## HuntinforTail (Mar 29, 2011)

If you're fishing for the monsters (50 lbs+) a whole whiting is the best bait i've found. The big ones like mullet too. We caught 3 over 50 last year in a 3 week period all on whiting.


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## skooter2 (May 3, 2011)

They'll hit anything that a redfish likes. The wife and I landed 1 each 30 min apart a couple of weeks ago. Hers on finger mullet, mine on cut crab.

I'd rather save my rotator cuff for slot reds.


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## justletmein (Feb 11, 2006)

Usually when we catch them it's accidentally when then hit on a Redfish bait, cut mullet or hunk of whiting or skipjack, etc. I'd rather they just leave me alone.


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## troutless (Feb 17, 2006)

X3 on redfish bait, I caught one on a BA"5"Red Shad behind SLP. LOL.


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## Fishin' Soldier (Dec 25, 2007)

Yes any small cut bait or shrimp. I caught them on little fishies before slow rolling for flounder.


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## Bearwolf34 (Sep 8, 2005)

caught mine on a 8" whiting with the head off on a 12/0 J hook. But had folks next to me on the beach catching smaller ones with small shrimp and small hooks on a double drop rig fished on bottom.


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## hog_down (Jan 11, 2010)

Can I ask why you want to catch stingrays? Just curious...


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## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

WUnderwood said:


> Can I ask why you want to catch stingrays? Just curious...


Shark bait candy.


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## justletmein (Feb 11, 2006)

surfguy said:


> Shark bait candy.


I've never had a single nibble on ray for some reason. I've ran them out parallel to whiting, jack, even hardheads and had runs on everything else while the ray just soaked. I've tried them fresh, tried them baked in the sun for a couple hours, tried them whole with trimmed wings, tried chunks of ray meat, etc. Never caught squat!


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## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

All i seem to catch on rays is bulls...phil caught his hammer on a ray chunk. There good baits to have out as far as longevity goes.


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## justletmein (Feb 11, 2006)

JOHNNYREB said:


> All i seem to catch on rays is bulls...phil caught his hammer on a ray chunk. There good baits to have out as far as longevity goes.


That's true, if I have one on hand I'll always run it out at night when I don't feel like yakking anymore because I know it'll sit out there for a while.


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## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

justletmein said:


> That's true, if I have one on hand I'll always run it out at night when I don't feel like yakking anymore because I know it'll sit out there for a while.


Jacks are better sharkbait but we don't get many at Surfside, so we gotta use we can get. Whole whiting work well too.


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## Sharkhunter (May 22, 2004)

I like ray because the reds leave them alone. If the only bait I can get is mullet or whiting and the reds are thick I'll fish my baits 3ft under a float. I've had excellent results doing that. Sharks will swim up to them before the reds do most times. I did catch my biggest red on a floated bait though.


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## justinn (Apr 8, 2011)

justletmein said:


> I've never had a single nibble on ray for some reason. Never caught squat!


I use frozen rays all the time and fresh when I can get my hands on it. When we get them on the boat I'll put them inside the cooler and close the lid with part of the ray out, only exposing the hook to avoid getting hit by the barb. This way little blood is lost. Then once I'm about to run it I'll hack the tail off and run the hook through the back. Along with some slices through the wings to get a good blood trail going. I've had plenty of rays picked up before I can even finish paddling in.

Have you tried cownose ray's yet? Also cats actually can be a great bait, snip the spines then cut the tail and head off.


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## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

Cats do make great baits....but they will bite/claw the shat outta ya!:smile:


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## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

JOHNNYREB said:


> Cats do make great baits....but they will bite/claw the shat outta ya!:smile:


Cool! My neighbor has a bunch of them I would like to get rid of. Kinda hard to herd them up tho.


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## HuntinforTail (Mar 29, 2011)

Cats are way too good eating to use for bait!


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## justinn (Apr 8, 2011)

JOHNNYREB said:


> Cats do make great baits....but they will bite/claw the shat outta ya!:smile:


Yup, I keep threatening to take my gfs cat with me one day.

a couple of years back I had swapped out the braid on a trout rod and chucked it into the trash. I came home after work and found this trail of braid running through the house and come to find her attached to it. Come to find out she started chewing on it and it got stuck down here throat and in attempt to coughing it back up she just kept swallowing more. Ended up swallowing 75 yards of it. I then told the gf "see... she wants to go shark fishing". (I just knew it would be cheaper than the vet bill).

They also work great for marlin


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## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

justinn said:


> Yup, I keep threatening to take my gfs cat with me one day.
> 
> a couple of years back I had swapped out the braid on a trout rod and chucked it into the trash. I came home after work and found this trail of braid running through the house and come to find her attached to it. Come to find out she started chewing on it and it got stuck down here throat and in attempt to coughing it back up she just kept swallowing more. Ended up swallowing 75 yards of it. I then told the gf "see... she wants to go shark fishing". (I just knew it would be cheaper than the vet bill).
> 
> They also work great for marlin


Yikes! That's pretty sick. We were just kidding, you know.


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## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

.....Or were we?


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## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

Here's an ironic event that occurred this evening. I left my garage door open for a few minutes tonight. When I went out to close it, I found one of my neighbor's cats inside my garage sitting on my bait cooler. Weird, huh!


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## justinn (Apr 8, 2011)

surfguy said:


> Yikes! That's pretty sick. We were just kidding, you know.


just to make sure you know that is an badly faked video lol



surfguy said:


> Here's an ironic event that occurred this evening. I left my garage door open for a few minutes tonight. When I went out to close it, I found one of my neighbor's cats inside my garage sitting on my bait cooler. Weird, huh!


See, another cat just ready to go lol.


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## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

justinn said:


> just to make sure you know that is an badly faked video lol
> 
> I knew but why would anyone make such a sick video?
> 
> See, another cat just ready to go lol.


Until he saw me grab my rod.. LOL


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## txrednecktx (Oct 2, 2012)

thanks for all the input guys! ill keep a few just to test out!


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