# flying rays?



## woods-n-water (Jul 30, 2011)

So this past Sunday morning I decided to do a lil fishin at Johnson's beach,amongst the no fish and my disgust of the trash left on the beach I managed to catch a glimpse of something I've never seen before while watching a pod of dolphin breaching and jumping some hundred or so yards off shore I noticed something else flying out of the water much close to me at first I though mullet but of it were it was the biggest one I'd ever seen after watching for some time I saw it again and then another and to my amazement they were rays big ones at that.

Have any of you ever seen this before?


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## Redalert08 (May 30, 2011)

Yeah cow ray huge rays they spawn down here in the hundreds it's a pretty amazing sight!


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## Yaksquatch (Mar 23, 2009)

Spotted Eagle Rays do that too. Manta's can jump as well but they don't show up in the Gulf often and when they do its WAY offshore.

Alex


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## new wave archery (May 2, 2008)

we see tons of big cow nose rays jumping at night, just be carful a ldy was killed last year in south florida when a ray jumped into the boat when she was sun bathing and it apparently killed her when the barb hit her in the chest area..


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

woods-n-water said:


> So this past Sunday morning I decided to do a lil fishin at Johnson's beach,amongst the no fish and my disgust of the trash left on the beach I managed to catch a glimpse of something I've never seen before while watching a pod of dolphin breaching and jumping some hundred or so yards off shore I noticed something else flying out of the water much close to me at first I though mullet but of it were it was the biggest one I'd ever seen after watching for some time I saw it again and then another and to my amazement they were rays big ones at that.
> 
> Have any of you ever seen this before?


Yeah, it's quite a sight.


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## Wilbur (Jan 17, 2011)

Yaksquatch said:


> Spotted Eagle Rays do that too. Manta's can jump as well but they don't show up in the Gulf often and when they do its WAY offshore.
> 
> Alex


I saw a huge Manta ray INshore during the GCKFA tournament this year! I was fishing for reds between Ft McRae and Sand Island around sunrise, and the thing jumped out of the water about 50' in front of me. It was the coolest thing, and I about crapped my pants because it was about the size of a car and all black.


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## PAWGhunter (Feb 3, 2010)

Wilbur said:


> I saw a huge Manta ray INshore during the GCKFA tournament this year! I was fishing for reds between Ft McRae and Sand Island around sunrise, and the thing jumped out of the water about 50' in front of me. It was the coolest thing, and I about crapped my pants because it was about the size of a car and all black.


Same thing happened to me one time in Gulf Shores while I was out in my kayak...it landed only about 20 ft away though. I almost had a heart attack cause it would have killed me if it landed on me:thumbdown: Not a cool moment.


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## PaulBoydenCustoms (Dec 3, 2008)

Wilbur said:


> I saw a huge Manta ray INshore during the GCKFA tournament this year! I was fishing for reds between Ft McRae and Sand Island around sunrise, and the thing jumped out of the water about 50' in front of me. It was the coolest thing, and I about crapped my pants because it was about the size of a car and all black.


I swear I saw a Manta ray in the same place about 2 weeks ago between ft mcrae and the island. It jumped roughly 3-4' out of the water. There were other boats out there that saw it too. It had that weird looking mouth of a manta


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## circlehook69 (Apr 23, 2010)

*Here on Navarre beach, it is not uncommon at all to see manta rays, actually during the fall months there will be hundreds of smaller ones (2-3ft from wing tip to wing tip) swimming up and down the shore...literally feet from the beach.*


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## Magic Mike (Jun 30, 2009)

Yaksquatch said:


> Spotted Eagle Rays do that too. Manta's can jump as well but they don't show up in the Gulf often and when they do its WAY offshore.
> 
> Alex


I've seen one in the ICW... only reason I saw him was because he was bout 3' out of the water. One of the coolest things I've seen


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## Flounderpounder (Oct 3, 2007)

Well, I'm confused! I've seen many cow nosed rays (but probably not nearly as many as some of you), and never saw a jumper! On the other hand I've seen TONS of small (what I *think* are) mantas right on the beach, and they can jump like crazy. They are black on top, with white bellies, and that curved mouth like the big ones. Maybe they all jump? I saw a lot of CNR's in the spring, but only ones lately are the "Mantas". We were in the water at Langdon (Pickens) last Sunday, in about waist deep water (LOTS of little minnows...almost like a cloud...we could feel them brush our legs), when a small school of maybe a dozen mantas (?) joined us. I guess they were feeding on the minnows. They slowly circled us (could have touched 'em!), moved off, and came back several times. It was very cool....we were all grins! We DO live in Paradise!


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## johnsonbeachbum (Oct 1, 2007)

I was on JB Sunday morn too and saw the same thing.
I like the small ones about 18" wide patrolling the shore in "V" formation.
If you watch them, they will herd the minnows to shore as they gobble them up.
The rays just about beach themselves before turning back just in time.
When they do that they force some of those minnows to be left stranded on the sopping wet beach.

Those become free live bait for me to fish with.


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## woods-n-water (Jul 30, 2011)

I'm glad a lot of you have seen em to at least now I know it wasn't the whiskey from the night before lol.


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## Mudigger (Aug 5, 2011)

Jumping rays ... All the time.


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## jacks (Nov 11, 2010)

have never seen in in the gulf but have seen one fly through the boat in the Atlantic a couple of years ago. it did some damage


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## Kenton (Nov 16, 2007)

Saw a HUGE jumping Manta Ray 2 weeks ago in the Bay. Saw other Rays this weekend on the Gulf Side jumping.


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## traqem (Mar 10, 2009)

Years ago, I was on my wife's parents' boat spending the night out in the bay at PC and saw a massive Manta jump near the boat, then cruise right by the side of the boat just before dusk.

A couple years ago, I was fishing in from my yak offshore in a spot where current ran away from the beach and I ran into a big school of very small mantas and caught one before I knew they were there. They were everywhere, thousands of them, maybe 1.5, or 2 ft. wide.


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## bbarton13 (May 4, 2009)

Wirelessly posted (Iphone )

Saw a bunch of cow nose rays jumping off chickenbone/Pickens gulf area Saturday


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## devinsdad (Mar 31, 2010)

My brother is the Homicide Detective for the Monroe County Sheriff's Dept that investigated the death of the woman killed when a spotted eagle ray jumped out of the water and struck her while riding in a boat.

It wasn't the barb that caused any injury. In fact the barb never struck her. It was the impact of the ray and then blunt force trauma to the back of her head when she fell back. Really sad story because she was sitting with her sister and had other family on board.


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## SHunter (Jun 19, 2009)

I read about the woman hitting her head when the ray jumped on the boat. It was Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin that got the sting ray barb in the chest. 

Beautiful sight to see a manta come out of the water. Fun to dive around one also. My first dive trip we saw one and the dive boat captain got in the water and took a ride on his back.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

They are mantas jumping off the beach. And they do not have barbs on them. Like stated above, the lady was hit by a jumping spotted eagle ray. From what I remember, they were running and it broke her neck. Not exactly sure, but no barb. I've watched these mantas jumping off of Perdido for the past 5 years or so. They might have been doing it longer, but I probably wasn't paying attention.


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## Pier#r (Oct 2, 2007)

Been seeing more small manta rays this year @ the GSPPier than anything else.
Last few years the cownosed rays (brown) have been more plentiful, but not this year.


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