The last time I caught a large Shovel nose ray was in 1977 off Bedok Jetty. I was using a hand-line in a sampan powered by a 4hp Evinrude. It was a 6 footer, very strong and even when I finally had it in the sampan, it thrashed about violently for a few minutes before I subdued it with a few whacks on the head with a large wooden oar. Of course I thought it looked like a funny shark when it was in fact a Ray.
Yesterday we caught 2 large ones off a wreck in the South China Sea north of Horsburgh in 40m deep water. The first was larger and it took us 3 anglers and all of 55 mins to eventually gaff it onboard. The second Ray was half of the weight and took only 20mins to land it. Here are the pics.
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| WF with the 2 Rays the next morning |
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| Thank God the crew knew how to gut and prepare the fish |
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| Victory after 55 long minutes. Good thing the 40lb braided line & gear held to the end |
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