Clumsy fisherman

Thanks for the additional info. Since I release anything I catch (which has been nothing lately) I would rather miss a catch than kill a bass. Do you cut the hook itself or just the line?

It sounds like you do a good and careful job. I thought the same as you until I watched the above linked video. The problem is you just see them the instant they swim away, not days or weeks later. So there is no way to know about the long term survival rate. Here is something else I found: https://anglingunlimited.com/fishing/catch-release-properly/#:~:text=If a fish is gut,to them when they bite. I fish from banks and piers, so there is no way that I can follow the advice in the article, but I will be using octopus circle hooks from now on and reeling the fish in as soon as it bites. I may see if I can get a bucket of water to put the fish in when I land or net it or at least to dip my hands in before I touch the fish to dehook it.

I looked at the following video. Very interesting. Opinions?

Need more details.

I like your weight assessment. In all candor, to me, the most credible estimate, based on the above posts, is around 25-30 pounds, or perhaps a little under. Except for nuisance fish, e.g., carp, I will always release. Now, I don't know whether a sting ray, strictly speaking, is a fish, but it's not a carp. Does anyone ever catch anything around there or on Edisto Beach other than sharks and sting rays? I may fish on the beach next year, but I don't want to mess with sharks and sting rays.

Oops, thought you were laughing at the ray. ?

If you can't tell the difference between a sting ray and a skate, what credit should I give your opinion? ?

Anything helps. Well, except for posts continuing to shrink my catch. I rarely catch anything, anywhere. I mainly just wanted to relax and make a few casts, maybe catch a fish. You know, a fish, like a redfish, drum or flounder. Instead I had to hook the monster from the dark lagoon. 2 casts, my only 2 casts in salt water, ever. I did not want the guy that netted it to cut the tail off, but apparently that is what people do. The guy that netted it asked what I wanted to do with it. Put it back in the water for heaven's sake! What else? What am I going to do with it? Take it back to the vacation house we were renting in my wife's car? Hey honey, look what followed me home! I hope it survived. I am strictly catch and release.

So now my sting ray has been denigrated, weight reduced to only 20 lbs. Any more responses and it will weigh 10 or 15 lbs before the thread is finished. You guys are supposed to be my brothers, fellow fishermen. I could use some support here. Nobody willing to put more than 30 lbs on my catch? ?

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I agree that the nose is not pointed. So no outliers? No 40, 50 lbs, ever? Are you positive? ?

LOL, it felt like it weighed 40-60 lbs, but bear in mind that I had never fished in salt water before. I caught the ray from the pier at Bay Point Park in Edisto Island from Big Bay Creek, which flows into the South Edisto River right before reaching the ocean. That was on my second cast, ever, in salt water. I was using an Ugly Stik Inshore Select Medium power rod and a Daiwa BG 3500 reel with 15 lb braid and a 20 lb FC leader. It felt like a monster to me, but I have never caught anything else that weighed over 2 lbs. It tore off on a run when I first hooked it, but my drag wasn't tightened all the way down. I tightened the drag, maybe too much, but at times I thought I was losing ground. The reel was very strong, but at times the ray was so strong that I could barely turn the crank. The rod was bent completely double when I got the ray up to the pier. When I finally got it reeled up to the pier there were some boys with a bridge net, but the ray was too big to go in the net. Very luckily an alert, kind neighbor who had a boat dock and an attached floating dock right next to the public fishing pier came out with big net on a handle and I was able to get the ray into his net. He lifted it on to his floating dock, which is what you see in the picture. Sorry for the long description, but I was hoping that would give you a clue to the weight. I need to brag, can you guess 60 lbs?

Mods, please review this post. If it would fit "other species better, please move it. Thank you. Ok, I caught a sting ray that was about 31 and a half inches from nose to the base of its tail and about 33 inches or so wide, measured from wing tip to wing tip. Does anyone have an educated guess how much it weighed?

Thanks, I will try that.

I've had trouble with fish getting hooked in the throat using a wacky rig. Is there a hook that makes it harder for a fish to get hooked in the throat?

I just think fish are a lot smarter these days. They have learned how to get off the hooks.

I use FC line as a leader on braid. However, I read an article on the web a year or so ago about someone who had tested mono and FC and concluded that the difference in visibility between the two was minimal. Opinions? Anyone think it might be better to use mono as a leader instead of FC? Pros and cons of mono and FC as leaders?

Wow! i did not know fish could even live there! Have you fished in the middle of the lake near the shallow spots across from Peninsula Hospital? (Jones Bend) there ae people there all the time fishing in all kinds of weather.

Nice! Which lake?

Anyone catching anything there lately on soft plastics? If so, what lures, rigs, colors are working for you?

Especially if you are a good looking woman. You'll catch something, but it might not be a bass.

In other words there is no wrong rig. ML, M and MH rods all mentioned in this thread, anything from 6# hybrid to 20# braid, #2 hook up to 2/0. This is a great thread.

Thank you! That really helps!

Is there a remedy for this?