SPOTTED EAGLE RAYS ON THE BEACH? WHY I BEEF UP TACKLE WHILE PERMIT FISHING

One of our favorite things to do while fishing on the beach is to target large permit that are near the shoreline in the spring and summer months in Southeast Florida. The bait of choice is a large calico "speckled" or spotted crab. We will freeze them and bring them permit fishing either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. While doing so, we have hooked into several monster fish that have dumped 300-400 yards of line on our reels and was unstoppable. It has plagued us wondering what this monster would be as we have left the beech disappointed a number of times after loosing a battle with one of these monsters. Until recently, we were uncertain what was doing this to us because we have never seen the fish. In this video, we finally turned one of these monsters and got it to the shoreline. It turned out to be a spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari).
The spotted eagle ray is a widespread and common chondricthian cartilaginous fish species that is found in tropical waters around the world. They feed on crustaceans and small fish and use their snout to dig in the sand for buried crabs. They are known for the acrobatic leaps into the air as they clear parasites or try to avoid sharks. They also have some very large sharp spines on the rear of the fish that are poisonous and can cause some serious damage if one were to be stabbed with them. Although they are not aggressive nor do they pose a threat to humans, these fish are massive and majestic and should be honored and respected. They can have a wingspan of up to 10 feet and can weigh over 500 pounds. They are very muscular and powerful swimmers making them very difficult to turn if hooked on a fishing pole.
We do not target fishing for them but wind up hooking them periodically as by-catch while permit fishing. This is why we have chosen to upgrade our line class to 40-50 pound test while permit fishing in order to be able to handle these monsters if they were to hit.
#spottedeagleray #ray #stingray #watchyourlip #beachfishing #bigfish

[@ericpurtic2181]

Great teaching video!

[@godheadofloveproject3112]

I CONCUR MI AMIGO💪🙌😎❤

[@watchyourlip3209]

Thanks bro

[@ericgawain1486]

You guys are the best!😂

[@godheadofloveproject3112]

DUDE! THAT IS A BIG FISH!!!! 🙌😁 LOVE IT😎❤💪
Keep it up WATCH YOUR LIP FAM alllll for the GLORY OF THE LORD AMEN!❤🙌🙏😎

[@watchyourlip3209]

Amen my brother!!

[@ericpurtic2181]

The Bear landed one last week. I’ll share the footage with u.

[@watchyourlip3209]

Send it along homie!!!

[@ericgawain1486]

Do we have "skates"in these waters? (I've hooked small ones up north). Flat fish are like a "suction cup" under water...

[@cameroonkendrick6312]

There are skates but they are pretty rare, the best place to find them is in north Florida, the keys, and west coast

[@watchyourlip3209]

Yep. Skates are in the same general family!

[@watchyourlip3209]

We catch them every now and then