Plus #1.

had a bad infection that killed most of the muscle and it had to be cut out.....now ive got a big danged indention in my leg whenever i move it.......btw...this happened 4 years ago yesterday

We caught this big stingray off the coast near Port O'Connor. It had a stinger over 8" long. We killed the stingray, took off the stinger before bringing it on board. We cut the wings off and put them in the ice chest. The meat on them is some of the best tasting fish meat you will ever eat. We love eating them. We never weighted this stingray. But, it was a biggun. And, I won't wade fish due to catching some of these bad boys. If they hit you, it's not gonna be good. With a stinger large enough to go through the OP's leg, my guess is he may have been hit by a stingray similar in size to this one.

Scary thought, HUH.

nothing good ever comes from getting hit by a Stingray. I too carry the scar/indention on the outside of my left leg just above the ankle from 10yrs ago Floundering incident with a Stingray.

My Cousin (35yrs old) still walks with a limp from getting hit in the ankle when she was 7.

The hit is bad enough, then you have to worry about any of 7-10 diff types of infection. My condolences for your bad luck. I never let a Stingray live that crosses my path since then.

youre right about that i'll have trouble with my leg the rest of my life........thats a big stingray Marty i never got to see the one that stabbed me as i was in chest deep water i imagine he was that size or larger

Are these an issue in the surf? Taking my young boys to Mustang Island and would hate for something like this to happen to one of them.

Definitely some in the surf. If the water is salty, there's a good chance they are close by. I've been fortunate to never have been hit, nor my family, but I think about it all the time when we are there on the beach. Always pray it doesn't happen. Note: when wading in the surf, I often see cow-nosed rays too. Seems like they are almost always in groups of 2-4. When I first saw them I about freaked out until I was able to identify them.

Wow! Glad he only got you in the leg! That's a scary though and honestly an eye opener for me. never really thought about it too much but thanks for sharing! I hope the best of luck to you in recovering, i know its been 4 years i think you said but im sure your still going through therapy. best of luck and stay safe anglers!

Happy Fishin!

Are these worse in recent history? I spent my entire childhood (15 years)in the surf of Florida almost everyday and was only hit once by a smaller one.

It seems like alot of people have a story, so i would assume its more common that most assume.

Thanks bro!

i grew up wading and floundering and you would always see a few here and there but thats changed in the last 15-20 years you cant go floundering without maybe seeing a couple dozen their population has exploded all down the coast

Brutal!

welp no wade fishing for me when i go to the coast next week :X
legs gonna stay firmly in the yak as well

Wow! You're definitely lucky it didn't get infected enough to lose your leg, or worse. I've been going to the Port A/Padre Island area for over 25 years and the only stingray injury we've had is my son getting hit one time. I primarily surf fish (mostly PINS) and I catch stingrays every year in the surf. They actually scare me much worse than sharks.