We launched the boat early in the mourning, just as the sun was coming over the horizon. Little did I know this was going to be one of the most exciting days of my bowfishing career. My goal was not to shoot the flying silver carp or the common carp that i was used to; we were after stingrays. unlike the Illinois River or the Wisconsin backwaters i had familiarized myself with, this was new territory to me. My guide, Steve Young, had me in the Chesapeake Bay of Virginia, and our goal was to bag as many Southern and Cownose Rays as we could.

Thanks to Steve's knowledge about the art of bowfishing for stingrays, we motored to a spot where Steve knew the rays would be feeding.  Steve informed me that the reason there are so many rays in the area is because of the declining shark population. The number of sharks has been greatly reduced due to commercial fishing, and this results in fewer sharks preying on rays. Now the ray population has exploded, which has hurt the clamming and crabbing industries in the area. Since a ray can eat half it's body weight a day in clams and crabs, it isn't surprising that the local crab fisherman are extending their gratitude to anyone attempting to fix the stingray problem. In fact, on our trip, a crab fisherman guided his boat over to ours and personally thanked us for harvesting stingrays. He also gave us a great tip on where to find some stingrays. Steve informed me that this happens a lot and it is how he has found some of his best spots.

Once we got to the spot, Steve slowed the boat down to idle and had me stand on the bow of the boat. We started cruising the shallows when all of a sudden the water exploded in a cloud of mud and a ray appeared. When I drew back my bow,  it only came back to half draw and stopped. The ray was gone. We figured out the hoop reel we mounted on the bow was coming in contact with the cam on my Oneida Eagle bow, which stopped me from drawing the bow all the way back. Steve saved the day by pulling an AMS slotted Retriever bowfishing reel from his bag.

While Steve was getting the AMS Retriever ready, another ray swam by the boat about seven yards out. I drew my Oneida back as far as I could and released. It was an immediate hit. The ray peeled the line off the hoop and pulled the float from its holder. Steve fired up the motor and the chase was on. Finally, we came up to the float, which had stopped. My heart sank at the thought that the ray had pulled off. I grabbed the float and started pulling in the line. As soon as I did this, there was a tug, and the fight was back on. The ray hadn't pulled off after all. Once we got the ray close to the boat, Steve shot it again. Soon after, we had the ray in the boat and Steve preformed a little surgery with his fillet knife and removed the barb stinger from the ray's tail.

I held up my first bowfishing stingray, a nice thirty-two pound Southern Ray. After I had some high fives and performed a little celebration dance, Steve decided to fire up the motor again and we were back at it. It wasn't long before Steve spotted a ray gliding on the surface. He turned the boat and our second pursuit was underway. Soon, what seemed to be a huge stingray was coasting in front of the boat. I drew back and as soon as the arrow hit the water, the ray exploded with a burst of speed that a person would have to see in order to believe. Once we caught up to the float, Steve handed me his bow and we followed the line, which lead us to the second ray of the day. I pulled back and shot again, but missed the backup shot. After retrieving the line and having a few choice words, we went back to chasing the ray. Thankfully the next shot hit its mark and resulted in a very nice fifty pound Southern Ray.

This scene was played out nine more times as the day went on. We ended with a grand total of ten Southern Rays, the biggest weighing sixty-five pounds, and one Cownose Ray that weighed twenty-eight pounds. Thanks to Steve Young , I had a great time on the water and I am already making plans to go back with my two sons and shoot video footage of this exciting sport. Now that I have shooting stingrays under my belt, who knows where my love of bowfishing may take me next.                   
Articles - Bowfishing For Stingrays
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