Nice little eagle ray.

Do you keep them or let them go?

Looks like fun

Where did you catch it from

good to eat

got it at blackwall reach. we kept it and gonna cook it with sambal chilli tmr night for supper! =D

a big brown flappin......oh crap not again

any1 know how to release them (with out killing urself) Off rocks? and wat u gotta do to land them?

why do you wanna land a stingray, so you bring it up and look at it, to much risk, trouble and for something thats fights that hard, it should be released.

plus that isnt a "big" eagle ray.

die hard the only safe way to land these is to gaff them, but then its probably gonna die, make a decision cut the line when its beat and youve won the fight, let it go. or only keep it if youre gonna eat it, theres better things out there

what we do, is gaff em, flip em on ther backs, get a towel, stand on the tail with the towel under your shoe, use pliers to get the hooks out, then still attached to the gaff, get down onto lower rocks, ungaff him (inverting the gaff, so it slides out-- pretty easily) into the water and hey presto. never had a stingy die on me once ive released it. they are bloody hardy creatures and 9 out of 10 times, if there correctly gaffed, they will live. i always would like my rig back, so i try as hard as i can to get it. only ever once cut the line-- it was as close to the second snell as possible, and it was in a biggg wobbygong that iw asnt sticking my hands in. theres a picutre of it kicking around somewere on here.

Oh ok so you gaff him in the wing nearest to the end?

how long outta water can they live (incase of pics)

no way. gaff em in the mouth! try not to keep em out for too long, 2 minutes is more than enough for pictures

or just grab the leader and lift em up lay em on there back and pull hooks out n throw em in  - i spike em and eat the flaps they taste like chicken - rolled in flour mmmmm

gaff em in the wing if you wanna either eat it, or leave it with potential diseases. your choice.

the wound would heal in a few days

ive always gaffed my stingies in the mouth. never had one die on me. the mouth makes it easier to manage when its on the rocks. gaffing it in the wing can have the possibility of the gaff ripping through the stingray. have seen it happen. im sticking to mouth gaffing as its easier and safer. wich would you prefer- mouth gaff it, flip it onto its back and be done within 5 minutes rather than wing gaffing it, having a stingray flapping around flailing its tail and barb around to the risk of it barbing someone? what are you saying that could happen by gaffing them in the mouth?

once youve surfaced it, grab the gaff and slide it under its head, and the gaff barb will slot into the mouthand you yank it, to secure it. then you use uyour upper body strength to slide them up onto the rock on their back. you keep the gaff in its mouth as long as you can, makes for an easier release. what i do, is invert the gaff while the ray is still on thew rock, in wich it will flap, rekleasing the gaff and sliding back into the water. if it dosnt slide back, push it in with the gaff.

hmm... 1 question though. will it cause the ray any harm if we remove the barb and then release? trophy u noe.. especially the big rays

it shouldnt caus eit any harm, in fact it makes it safer for us anyway. just my opinion though

i would have thought gaffing the wing would cause much less harm than gaffing the mouth? Also just cuz it swims away doesnt mean it wont die. Little ones like that should be easy enough to handle anyway, especially with a couple of ppl.

i usually wing gaff or mouth gaff all rays i have caught,does no harm at all,exept a scar or wound ,that will heal in no time due to salt water,that is a natural antiseptic any way

Don't remove their barb if your releasing them...

It's their primary defence mechanism its just bloody cruel,
All you need to do is be wary of it when you do catch one...just totally unnecessary to debarb them