Cow Nose Rays

[Fish on]

Today we were off North Beach and saw a giant school of Cow Nose Rays. My son caught one and what a fight, those things are all muscle. Only one keeper Fluke 18" and a bunch of Dogs and Robins. Till next time FISH ON.

[mike1010]

Surprised you boated it. No worries about the sting?

[Fish on]

Just was very careful, I did some research and the stinger only has a minor amount of venom.

[Skolmann]

I brought an estimated #65 cow nose to the boat using a medium action spinning set-up on NS out of Keyport this past Saturday. Took me around the boat 1.5 times.

[Chrisper4694]

Hooked one while weak fishing two years ago. Was very strong. They are roaming the bay in little schools and they stick their wings out of the water. Looks like dorsal fins of shark or small porpoise.

[Delawareriver]

Just was very careful, I did some research and the stinger only has a minor amount of venom.

Trust me you never wanna do that again. The barb itself has no venom, its the bacteria that grows on it is what does the damage. Back in June I had a friend boat a cownose while we were shooting them in the Chesapeake bay, after shooting hundreds over the last few years he kind of got complacent and went to gaff it and lift right into the barrel. As soon as it was lifted over the gunnel of the boat it managed to stick him in the thigh. Within 20 minutes he went into anaphylactic shock. Ems luckily was at the boat launch waiting, when they saw his condition they called for life flight and he was airlifted to the hospital. Lots of pain killers, antiseptics, plus they had to cut the puncture open several inches to clean, he was released the next day very sore. Trust me you don't wanna mess with a stingray barb

[tombanjo]

http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/12/16/east-coast-killing-contests-threaten-wipe-out-cownose-stingray

Maybe a dogfish hunt better?

[Fish on]

Wow, I had no idea, thanks for telling me that. We were not trying to catch one it was caught by accident. If it happens again i'll just cut the line.

[mondofish]

I've been spooled twice from the beach by them fishing ultralight lol.

[Mcgiiver]

Just was very careful, I did some research and the stinger only has a minor amount of venom.

I caught a 30lb cow nose off Keyport last week, what a fight. We netted it an brought it on board just long enough the remove the jig. I did not know I got stung until my calf started to itch, then burn, saw a little blood. The burning got worse and lasted about 10 hours. No analphylactic reaction, just headache, nausea and dropped my blood pressure about 20 points. Iced it down, the next day I was fine, just a little bump, like mosquito bite. After the first one I caught another about 25 lbs. They will empty a spool of line real quick, be ready to back down them with the boat.

[NJ219bands]

Great post. I learned a lot. I caught cownose rays in Manasquan Inlet two and three years ago and ate them. I am going to try to tag them in the future but will be very careful because of this post.

[Fishermancraig]

Never tried Cownose ray. How do they taste? Do you recommend it?

I have eaten sting ray before. Wasn't very good but given we had no other food source it was tolerable.

[Duffman]

Curious as to how you guys are getting stuck by the stinger? The cow nose stinger is at the base of the tail against the body. Not like a traditional stingray at the end of the tail and can be whipped around like a weapon.

So unless your handling them against your body how is this happening? Caught countless ones over the years. Keep ‘em in the net, unhooked then released. Never an issue. Have multiple barbs that broke off in the net which are now stuck in a cork board at home.

[NJ219bands]

Never tried Cownose ray. How do they taste? Do you recommend it?

I have eaten sting ray before. Wasn't very good but given we had no other food source it was tolerable.

Cownose ray tastes like sting ray. Not very good.