Breeding Rays and Their Mortal Enemies

These days, anglers all over the world can target, hook, fight and conquer many impressive species of fish. For over a century, people have been obsessed with conducting battles with aquatic beasts, using rods and reels as weapons. Some of the most famous and epic duels in angling history have been conducted in the deep waters of our seas.

The majestic black marlin of the Pacific and the behemoth bluefin tuna of the Atlantic, among other oceanic giants, have played memorable roles in some of these events. Our passion for the sport partly springs from our awareness of the exploits of some of angling's legendary figures. Zane Grey pursued the world's largest gamefish for decades and essentially defined the term sport fishing. Ernest Hemingway's imaginative mind created a world in which he encountered titanic opponents on the open ocean. More recently, here in Texas, a rejuvenated interest in land-based sharking has created a context for some truly noteworthy fishing battles.

Shark fishing is a way of life for many Texans, some of whom learned from earlier generations of sharkers in their families, others who are self-taught thrill seekers. Luckily, all of us who love to chase sharks in Texas can do so year-round. On any given day, sharks prowl the shallow waters fronting our long coastline. Our most common sharks, the blacktips and bulls, are medium-sized species that call our waters home throughout the year. Because the blacktips are so abundant here, Texas sometimes seems like the blacktip capitol of the world.

During the doldrums of summer, other more significant monsters make their way into the waters within reach of our beaches. They come in search of easy meals. The clear and calm waters often present mid-way through the year invite pregnant female southern and roughtail stingrays into our surf-zone, where they drop their pups. These giant rays remain inshore for a couple months; some become prey to their mortal enemies – massive, leathery-skinned, toothy predators.

Two primary shark species feed on southern and roughtail rays. The majestic tigers rank high among the oceanic world's apex predators, taking rays, turtles, birds and most any other creatures they can reach. They attack at night, when the big, pregnant rays are most vulnerable. Because they find them so tasty, the flesh of stingrays is the best bait one can deploy when targeting tigers; the vast majority of my catches of these brutes have been made using some part of some type of ray for bait.

The fresh, bloody wings of most any ray make a great choice, and whole cownose rays attract bites from these striped critters like some kind of irresistible candy. Cownose rays inhabit all kinds of salty waters, appearing everywhere from shallow, grassy bays to nearshore and offshore locations. Unlike other stingrays, they gather in massive schools in the middle parts of the water column, rather than staying on or near the bottom. Their flesh is soft and oily, making them delectable to the tigers and other sharks that feed on rays.

Hammerheads also prey on breeding rays. Here in the Lone Star State, three different species of hammerheads swim in our coastal waters, including the great hammerhead, the undisputed king of all sharks targeted from Texas beaches. No shark tests anglers' gear and mental capacities more thoroughly than huge hammers will. In terms of length, hammerheads are the largest sharks we can catch from the beach. Multiple specimens over 14 feet in length have been landed by Texas anglers, including my personal best, which stretched the tape to 14 feet 8 inches.

These impressive beasts display almost mythical levels of power and prowess. From the moment they pick up a bait, these agile creatures race off with seemingly unbridled speed, their wide heads helping them execute swift, sharp turns, confounding the efforts of anglers to control them. Eons of evolution have made these beasts into perfect fighting machines.

Just like tigers, mature hammers come into the Texas surf in summer looking for stingrays, their number one food source. It's not uncommon to encounter a big hammer with several stingray barbs impaled in its jaws and snout. While the tigers prefer to use stealth to ambush rays under the cover of darkness, the hammers will attack them in broad daylight.

Their physical design makes hammerheads a natural menace to all stingrays, allowing them to successfully kill such large prey during the day. Their improbably wide heads serve as their most effective tools, helping them chase rays down and pin them to the bottom, while they take massive bites of flesh. Depending on the size of the ray, a great hammerhead might devour it whole, or in several large chunks.

I run a variety of big baits when targeting great hammerheads. When using cownose rays, I either rig a half or whole ray on a Catch Sharks Viper 24/0 circle hook. When using a wing from a large southern or roughtail ray, I like to cut a giant strip and rig the 24/0 circle hook in one of its ends. Great hammers have the smallest mouths out of all our giant shark species, so when rigging baits for them, I try to keep everything as streamlined as possible. This helps ensure the shark finds the hook when it eats the bait.

No sensation in Texas sharking quite matches the feeling of a giant hammer picking up a bait and starting a fight. They rip line off the reel, which starts to scream, making the man in the strap feel helpless. This merciless fish defines the word combat in the angling world where man tests himself against monster.

Colossal hammerheads stress tackle more than any other species, capable of spooling the largest reels we use. Turning their wide heads requires applying tremendous drag pressure. I've personally fought mega hammers for over 2 hours in some cases, but I've also been involved in short fights, when the brute on the other end of the line bolted right into shore. Either way a battle plays out, all hammers display incredible power and speed.

All anglers lucky enough to land a great hammerhead should act quickly when releasing it. One sad and notorious aspect of these great fish is their willingness to fight to the death, so it's crucial to land them while they still have enough energy to allow them to recover. Smaller specimens survive pretty well after such fights, but great hammers measuring more than 10 feet prove difficult to revive and release after they're wrestled into the shallows.

Every second matters. A release accomplished in a timely manner increases the odds in favor of the shark's survival. Leaving the fish submerged in water and removing or cutting the hook out as fast as humanly possible are critical steps toward success. All anglers who succeed in catching and releasing great hammerheads measuring more than 12 feet will likely earn enough respect and admiration for the species to last a lifetime.