Yes, a 70 lb eagle ray jumped over the bow and landed in our boat. We where filming a segment on “how to catch a snook” when a the ray launched into our boat and scared the guide and myself half to death. Ten minutes later, we finally figured out how to get the big fish out of the boat and back in the water. The ray eventually swam off with quite a story to tell – as do we. One for the books. I’m not a lotto fan but maybe today I’ll give it a go.
Chad
You can see the local Ft. Myers news report from WINK NEWS also look for footage from this in our “how to do Sanibel” show which will begin airing in July.
Tags: eagle ray, fishing, how to do florida
I can relate to your stingray story. Mine involves kayaking about 100 yards offshore last year on a one man oceangoing sit-on boat.
The four-foot ray was jumping on the horizon, three feet up, seven inches over. It was awesome! Then to the far left it came up again. So pretty!! What wasn’t so pretty was about 20 seconds later when against the bow of the kayak was a large rush of water. You guessed it. Up three feet, over seven inches. Bam, onto the bow of the boat. With a very long tail just between my legs. I can’t exactly tell you how the next few seconds transpired. All I know is I think I screamed, perhaps the ray screamed and the next thing I knew I was in the water and the ray was gone. Crazy and very lucky.
This Canadian fished with Captain Sean this winter on five occassions. He is a wonderful host and a fine fisher person.
His enthusiasm for this sport and ensuring that his clients are “catching” rather than just fishing was unprecedented.
Booking him for an excellent day on the waters of Estero Bay will be a memory that shall not leave me anytime soon.
The Ray looks exciting. Perhaps Sean can make that happen next winter when I return to the Fort Myers area.
Rick Webster