Stingrays

[HoBow]

I'm going to try and catch some stingrays (for bow handles and such) in the Gulf of Mexico in the next couple of days.  I've searched online and could not find any information on how to specifically catch stingrays (only how to avoid them).  Anyone know the best way to target them (bait, hook size, etc).  I use to catch them a lot, but not on purpose and it was never consistent.  Thanks for any help!

[Pat B]

Jeff, stingrays are bottom feeders and eat anything other fish eat. Trying to specifically target them might be difficult unless they are schooling. Night fishing might be your best bet. I remember seeing flocks of stingrays, almost a football field load, at Savannah Beach when I was a kid. We used flounder gigs with rope tied to them as spears.

[HoBow]

Thanks Pat.  I thought they were bottom feeders, but wasn't sure.  Hopefully, they'll be schooling now (or do you know if they travel south during colder weather?)

[Hillbilly]

Me and Cody have caught a ton of them just bottom fishing. They're easy to catch, and will bite almost anything. A 3/0 circle hook on the bottom with a chunk of finger mullet or squid on it will catch plenty of them. We catch more stingrays than almost anything else fishing like this.

[thomas h]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=&q=how+to+catch+stingrays&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGLL_enUS371US371&ie=UTF-8

[HoBow]

Thanks Steve, that is what I was looking for....do you ever keep them/eat them?

Thanks Thomas, but that information is what I came up with too....it was a little generalized. 

[jonathan creason]

Be prepared, some of those big cow nose rays can pull like a freight train. 

[Pat B]

Jeff, cut the wings off, skin them and they eat like shark! I soak in salt water to remove the amonia(they urinate through their skin) smell and cook them on a grill with BBQ sauce. Taste like BBQ pork chops.

[jonathan creason]

Soaking in buttermilk is supposed to help get rid of the ammonia taste really well too.

[jthompson1995]

That's one of the few fish we're allowed to bowfish for in MD. You might try that as well.

[jamie]

some of the best meat ive ever eaten. a buddy of mine bowfishes for em every year and we have a feast.

[mullet]

 I soak them in milk or butter milk. It is a real sweet tasting meat. And, it really doesn't taste like scallops. The skin is very similar to shark skin, very rough and stiff when dried.

[Cameroo]

I'd be interested in seeing the final product of dried skins, if you manage to get any.  I've used the skins sold by Tandy before, but would like to see what they look like before they are processed (or maybe a skin-along!)  Good luck!  The skins make a very durable leather.