Peel Island

[reevesey]

Went to Peel on Wednesday and caught nothing except 2 manta rays, never heard of anyone catching manta rays.

[chanquetas]

I presume you put them back? Any pics?

[reevesey]

yeah mate, they went back in the drink with hook, line & sinker, i was going now where near that tail

[Scott15]

manta rays?? are you sure lol

[Zeeke]

whats wrong with the tail? manta rays dont have spines....

[reevesey]

we caught two of them while floating out some pillies in amongst a herd of birds that were going crazy. we never heard of anyone catching manta rays before but we got 2 of them. they were about 2 1/2ft wide and it felt like you were winding up a lump of concrete.

[bidkev]

Caught one Wednesday. There's plenty in the bay and they go *big*. Had one on for over an hour last year that was easy 2 metres across. I was trying to catch the cobes that were coming up with it, but everytime I got it to the side of the boat, it took off and the cobes went with it Had to cut it loose in the end as I couldn't break the 70lb mono and neither could the ray. Dropped down to 50lb since as I wasted too much fishing time

kev

[reevesey]

We thought at first they were Cobia because of the colour of them, i'm still sure there were some cobia there but i know there was definately tuna there.

[bidkev]

whats wrong with the tail? manta rays dont have spines....

You can still get a nasty whiplash though, even though the tail is horter than most rays.

kev

[greyfox]

I've never heard of manta's around Peel either. I obviously don't fish there enough, though ray's wouldn't be a preferred catch. A few mates were on the Banana Banks during the week and caught a good haul of sandies (old size, not the new one). They're out there now for a few days(camping on Straddie) but I think the weather might chase them home early.

[Duncs]

I was at Peel earlier this week chasing the Tunas and I saw the rays too. The way they were carving up the bait schools I thought they were big mackerel at first, but when a squadron of them went round the boat in formation I realised they were rays. The ones I saw were about 1-1.5m across and had the wide mouth and protruding flaps at the sides like a Manta. My book says mantas are plankton feeders, but these were tearing up the bait in tight formations of three or four. Pretty impressive to watch, just a shame the longtails weren't being as aggressive I felt like a sheep dog, no matter how slowly or quietly I approached, they would always turn and move away just out of range!

Cheers
Duncan

[bidkev]

Yeah, Duncan. You're right that the text books say that they're plankton feeders. They even describe the evolutionary manner in which the mouth flaps have evolved to increase the flow of water to the mouth thereby "guiiding" the plankton to the mouth.

Perhaps there is a time of the year when the plankton levels are low that they feed on other matter? I do know though that it isn't a rarity to have them fall to hook baits and there have been plenty caught on Sandgate pier.

kev

[sunny]

Bit early in the year and a bit small for manta's. #What you caught is probably the manta's little brother the mobula which we also call a devil ray. #Looks just like a manta but doesn't grow as big. #We often see them when we are diving and they come past in packs of 20 or 30. #They swim like a rocket so I'm guessing you had a good time landing it.

Real mantas are about 5ft across the wings when they are born and get MUCH bigger #
We see them around Straddie in Jan to March and it's not unusual to see one that is 3m across the wings. #Awesome animals.