Mark and I were on the pier all afternoon trying to catch a few more fish. This evening, however, saw us catching nothing worth keeping. After pulling in several catfish, I started getting goofy little nips instead of the hit and run type bites that usually mean a decent fish. It was almost as if my bait was far too big for some tiny fish. After losing a good bit of the minnow to the nipping, I decided to cut the remaining bait down to an "edible size" for my supposedly mini fish. I tossed the line back out and waited. It was only a few moments before the nipping started once again. This time, the fish was not so very lucky. I caught him!
Instead of some wee, little catfish, I caught a stingray. Ugh! Unhooking a stingray is a pain! So....I let Mark have the honors! Before he set about unlodging my hook from the poor beast's mouth, I called his attention to how large the barb was on this fish's tail. For being a relatively small ray, its barb was nigh on three inches long. I guess the little guy needed big protection while swimming about in the Bay.
That barb is what gives the stingray a bad name. It is what does the damage to unlucky or unwary folks. A stingray does not intentionally go about trying to hurt people. Most "stings" are stab wounds caused by folks stepping on a stingray or by trying to unhook one. If you are not careful, that tail can whip around and stab you in a matter of seconds! This pointy, stabbing barb is covered with a protective sheath that becomes ruptured when the barb makes contact with a predator. The barb is covered with sharp spines that can cut through flesh with ease. Each of these flat spines has venom which can cause severe pain, muscle cramps and swelling immediately after puncturing the skin. In extreme cases, the barb can cause a major wound such as cutting an artery. Later, if not cared for properly, infection can cause problems. It pays to be extra careful when dealing with a stingray.
After Mark unhooked my catch, the fish was flipped back into the water to go on his merry way. At least, I found out just what was nibbling on my bait! From now on, I think I will just move my line to a different area and try to forego catching another ray.
Sometimes we just have to come to our senses and stop believing everything that we were told back when we were kids. For years and years, I had been fed the idea that stingrays can regenerate and that cutting off their tail does not hurt them. Thankfully, none of this nonsense came from family members but just hearsay from other "wise, old fishermen". Trust me when I say....the tails do not grow back like a lizard's tail. Trust me when I say that it does hurt to have the tail lopped. (While the barb has no feeling, the tail does. Think of it this way, if you get a hangnail, cutting the nail does not hurt but would you chop off your finger? Nope, didn't think so. It would hurt!) Trust me when I say....the stinger can regrow. Although, it takes weeks or even months for the stingray to regrow the stinger, it can and does. In the meantime, the critter is pretty much defenseless. Take off the whole tail and the critter is definitely completely defenseless and all the other sea critters know this.
I caught a small stingray the other evening that had been "de-tailed". Someone had chopped the poor thing's tail completely off and tossed it back into the water. I do know why folks do this and probably can somewhat understand their actions but it truly makes no sense. Yes, that barb can give you a nasty wound or even kill you since it is inside a venom-filled sheath but, if you are so scared of being stabbed, then release the fish unharmed! Just cut the line and let the critter swim free. I promise that it will be happier and just really wants to get away from you as fast as it can. What is the cost of a hook or lure compared to the risk you just took trying to de-tail the stingray? You just did the very thing that could, indeed, cause you to be wounded. Getting close enough to chop off the tail puts you in danger just like getting close enough to a snake to kill it with a shovel. In both cases, the best advice is just to leave the critter be and move away.
A stingray uses that barb as a defense mechanism. It does not search for you and chase you down just to stab you. If you step on it while wading, even that is your fault and not the critter's. When wading in waters where stingrays may be present, do the "Stingray Shuffle" (shuffle your feet along the bottom instead of taking high steps) and the stingray will scoot in the opposite direction. It really wants nothing to do with humans at all...we are scary! If you catch one on your line, merely cut the line. If you are using hooks that rust in a few days, the fish will be fine and can go on about its merry way. Makes sense. I have no problem unhooking the stingrays and releasing them even without the drastic measures that some folks take.
After taking the above photograph, I unhooked this fish, apologized for the actions of some non-thinking human and released the fish back into the water. Hopefully, the critter will not have too hard of a life and will be able to escape any imminent danger by just swimming fast! While I do not have a problem with folks who eat fish (I do!), I do not see doing pointless harm to any critter. If you catch a fish and wish to eat it, by all means do! Just do not harm critters because of your own fear which is what this basically is. Live and let live.
