Jack. 10 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Never deliberately targeted eagle rays. But from experience they are a terrific sport fish IMO.While it can be heartbreaking hooking a smooth ray, I've quite enjoyed the drag destroying blistering runs from eaglies. pretty cool when they take to the sky too :woohoo:On the weekend I hooked a monster eagle ray and can honestly say, Nothing, not even a hammer or bronzie has given a faster, more powerful run on a big eggbeater than this thing. The reel spool was hot to touch after a 100m dash in full drag :ohmy:So can anyone give me a bit of info on these fish?Do they play all year round? Do they often take a live bait( cos that seems odd to me) ?And any cool tales ?Cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
protactic 0 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 The Flats on the eastern side of the port are riddled with them... More so over Summer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
samrota 1 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Gotta love it when they take to the air. Great fun. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smokeykebab 175 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 they take livies and dead baits and even baits under a balloon. awesome fighting fish only bad thing is when they sit on the floor and u cant budge them.400m of 80lb braid lost and a broken reel after fighting an eaglie the size of a car. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lewer 0 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 I agree they are terrific sport. On ki last summer me and some mates found the eagle ray honey hole and had a heap of fun catching one after the other. We were berleying up and catching gar, cubing them and using them as bait. A couple of them launched clean out of the water flapping away. Blistering runs. I was using a big egg beater, 50lb braid and 24kg rod. My mate had an overhead with i think 8kg mono. I preferred tight drag on my setup, easier and quicker to land. The first couple we brought on board but after that just used pliers to take hook out at side of boat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jack. 10 Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 The Flats on the eastern side of the port are riddled with them... More so over SummerHey protactic..."what does Marcellus Wallis look like???? Hahaha nice profile pick mate.And yeah, that eastern side of the port north of the nth arm is where I have hooked about half dozen this summer, there and the flats in front of swan alley I imagine they must be a pain in the ass if you guys hook one when targeting breambos @Smokey... That's frightening what they can do to a reel hey :ohmy: must a been crazy fun before the curtain came down on proceedings though lol. I had a little one on last year and it was leaping like a marlin when it snapped the 10lb line it looked like a stone skimming the water :woohoo: it just high tailing it up river getting loads of air. Much maligned, but very very cool fish great pic there LEWER, bloody awesome looking beasts IMO, and looks like a couple solid outfits your using too Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smokeykebab 175 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 this 1 i got off grange jetty. 1kg salmon under a balloon on wire. did not know it was a ray til i saw it, was convinced i had a shark on the whole time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ekul 0 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Hey mate,Caught heaps of these things, they are good fun. We fish pretty light on small overheads some times we pull out the bream gear for the most fun, be careful though if you hook a good one and you dont have the best drags they will fry them lol.Aim for shallow water with them not deep for best results they like to come up and bask on the flats in the sun you will find alot of them in knee deep water, i like to fish for them when the tides up and the flats have water on them, sometimes we will site cast for them sometimes anchor. If you anchor for them chuck some berley under the boat and cast within 10-20m of boat. if you site cast just watch out for dark patches they are easy to spot on a clear water day with sunnies on, when you see one try to watch its movement and cast 5-10m infront you can spook them and they will spin back around the other way if you spot one and chuck it out if its hungry it will come and eat even if they are not that hungry keep casting at it and they will pick it up eventually. Give it some time to eat the bait they crush it up into moosh and they swim off with it its pretty hard not to hook upto them, Also if you go to pull your rod up to check bait strike hard alot of times they are sitting on your baits when you go to bring your bait in.I like to use a heavy leader of about 100lb as they can tail you anything 6/0 upwards. They take anything, even if its been in the freezer for 5years. But fresh salmon trout are good bit of blood works well.Becareful to as they really try to go you sometimes with there tailHope that helps someone, there is a landbased spot a bit further down on torrens island side couldnt fit it in the spot.p.s they will take a livebait seen them smash the hell out of a small school of salmon trout, they can reach some speeds on those flats! Jack. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trihull 177 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Used to target them from the breakwall off granite island Victor, massive sand flats there, was a blast. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kelvin 2,200 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 they take livies and dead baits and even baits under a balloon. awesome fighting fish only bad thing is when they sit on the floor and u cant budge them.400m of 80lb braid lost and a broken reel after fighting an eaglie the size of a car.Must have been a god fight SmokeyAny problem with Okuma honouring the warranty for the reel? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
afishyfish 4 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Any problem with Okuma honouring the warranty for the reel?Maybe only if he told them how it happened statesquider 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rickster 0 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Yep they can be fun and they do take livies, i know this as when chasing the elusive silver ghost you do tend to come across them now and then. They do have a down fall though and can cost you as Smokey has learnt and so have i after snapping my favourite mullie rod on one of these. Happy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smokeykebab 175 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 nope not a problem. got it changed over the next day. the new one became my sharking reel (700m 30lb braid) and i caught the above eagle ray with it on a balloon bait. i believe it was inferior braid that caused the reel to break in the first place, braid was burning up and getting caught in the roller before explosion took place. never had a problem with okuma's warranty even my cousin burnt out his drag the drag was locked onto the reel would't come off after his encounter with a ray. even someone brang in a 2 year old okuma endurance at my work and we had to send it back to rapala for repairs. so they do honor there piece of paper that says lifetime warranty. Rickster 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smokeykebab 175 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Any problem with Okuma honouring the warranty for the reel?Maybe only if he told them how it happened my mate works in the shop i told him what happened lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trevally 3.9 0 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Chasing eagles is great fun. Good practice for when that big fish of a life time comes around i.e. mullies/kings. Lets you know that your knots and gear are up to scratch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
King Ralph 0 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Used to target them from the breakwall off granite island Victor' date=' massive sand flats there, was a blast.[/quote']Used to get plenty off the little jetty at Pt.Elliot as well........... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Barbz 0 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 little burley sand flats u shouldnt have to wait too long Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ranger 48 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 About all I can add, is when you are quietly paddling your kayak around in one foot of water and minding your own business.....BEWARE!The sudden appearance of a wing breaking the surface into the air on each side of the kayak, and the water all around you exploding can really scare the living bejeesus outta you me when not expecting it! Barbz 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Savagelip 4 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 out from st kilda had 1 spin our boat around like a spinning top as it pulled the crab net around in circles, that was an interesting experience :side: :S Quote Link to post Share on other sites
talbo 0 Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 I think I hooked one on Sunday on the GTR. Incredible, (arm aching) power! Unfortunately didn't get a look at it before the hook pulled. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waterman82 0 Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 6kg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waterman82 0 Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 And i dont think we put anymore in the boat after that one hey lewer, what a mess Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.