What could it have been?

My buddy and I got up early friday morning and headed down to Galveston to do a little beachfront wadefishing. We had caught several trout on live shrimp under popping corks then the hardheads decided to come and take all of our live shrimp.So we decided to throw some artificials. I was throwing a red shad bass assasin on a jighead and hooked into something big! He took off on a run, didn't take too much line but was a good run nonetheless, then i would get him close and he would take another run and it went on like this. Well, I fought the thing for TWO hours finally got him close and he would just sit and not move. Then he broke me off.
I was using a 7' All Star medium rod and a Curado with 12 pound line and could not move that fish.

So my question is, What was it? I think it was a big stingray but buddy says he still thinks it was a bullred. Has anyone caught a stingray on an artificial? Will bullreds just sit and hover over one spot?

anxious to hear yall's thoughts.

Sounds like a ray, I have caught a couple rays on artificial baits usually a jerkbait. Sounds like it was a good one to have fought it so long but never able to see that bad boy.

Could have been a big bull red. A jack would have run and not stopped. The bulls will fight hard for a few good runs and then they just sit on the bottom and make you work to get them in. A 38 inch red would be very tough on 12lb test.

I second the ray..

Last year we snagged a few spotted rays on Mirro's in South Padre Island..


Sounds like a hell of a fight tho!



-Z-

i third the Ray
they will pull
then when they get tired they will just sit.
then pull again.

my cousin caught a 38 in black drum and it did the same exact thing...it pulled line n just stopped, he started pluckin the line cuz we thought it was a big ray...it pulled again, then he horsed it in after about hour of fighting...it was released with pics caught on a pflueger spinnin reel with 10lb big game line...fished weighed about 30lbs...i guess it will remain a mystery

I'm thinking "Ray" as well. Those thing can practically suction themselves to the bottom. Some guy once told me if you pluck the line like a guitar string it will irritate them into moving. Never tried it though.

Thanks for all the input guys! The more I thought about it the more I thought ray also. I did plucking the line and it made him move the first time then he didnt do anything after that. My buddy tried patting on the rod lightly to maybe vibrate the line enough to get him to move but that didn't work.

thanks again guys

If the ray sits on the bottom pluck that string like you are rocking out to Ted Nugent and it will come right on in. Caught many a 40+ lb rays on 10-12lb tackle. You just got to rock out a little.

Haha that's funny that you say that. My buddy and I listen to Ted on the way to the beach.

I was fishing the other day at Arroyo City and the exact same thing happened to me. After about 45 min. of fighting, my friend wanted to fight the thing. So, I let him try it and he got tired after 30min. After three hours the line finally popped. I was using an Ugly stick 7' medium with 30# Power Pro. The fight was very similar to what Whitebassguyjc89 described. I told a few of my friends and they told me it could have been a ray, bull red, big black drum, or a turtle. Most of them said it may have been a ray. Oh, another thing is when my friend was fighting the thing, it pulled him in the water. And he is not a little person he is 6'1 225lbs.

I was standing right next to my cousin when he caught a stingray off the same exact lure.

Last year, down at Bolivar, I hooked several mystery fish. All on mullet, was not using a treble hook. Somehow, each one was able to spit out the hook about 20 yds from shore. We tried "plucking" the string with one of these, and sure enough, it would swim a little, then just hunker down.
I never did see one, but I have always assumed they were stingray.

I'll be the 8th person to say a big ray. Especially if you didn't see it near the surface; those things will stay on bottom till there's only 3 ft of line left. A black drum will do similar, but, they will move really slow after they stop. You can also turn one really slowly once they have stopped, and a ray you can't. A ray will just stop, and try to suck into the floor.

It was a Japanese Sub !!!!!!!!!!!

Caught a ray on a white speck rig last summer. Also snagged a small blacktip in the tail on the same lure. We watched him jump for nearly two hours afterwards tryign to shake the hook out of his tail.

RAY !