Giant freshwater stingray in Thailand.

[RICKTHAILAND]

Same as our stingrays Davey it looks like the edges of the wings are quite thin with the main bulk being in the body.Skate I suppose wasnt such a good analagy as they are quite thick in the wings by comparrison. I thought you would be able to offer a far better guess than my self though as I could only say it was in treble figures and leave it at that! Its good though that with fish of this shape you get a better impression of thge actual size as the size isnt easily distortable by the camera or composition.

Budgie,I will be returning to the Ban Pakong shortly for another six day session in search of more 'living fossil's'. The sheer size of these prehistoric predators makes the weighing of such a fish almost impossible. Id be interested in any ideas from you and the chaps concerning possible weighing methods which would afford the anglers and the fish the maximum of protection. Although these Giant freshwater stingray are similar in appearance to Skate I believe the thickness of the wings to be much greater in the GFS.My pb which the lads keep telling me was a medium sized one was a chunky specimen and I would say it was about an inch in thickness at the edges of its wings.Getting a girth measurement from one of these monsters whilst in the water would be an extremely difficult task.

[Vagabond]

As Davy says, its difficult to estimate, because body shape and thickness is different to Common Skate.

 

The width of the bigger fish, 2.2 metres is nearly 86 inches.

 

The chart I have for female Common Skate suggests over 200 lb for a fish of only 72 inch wingtip to wingtip, thats as far as the chart goes, so your guess is as good as mine !

 

If you believe that weight is proportional to the cube of the length (only approximately true) then 200 divided by 72-cubed and multiplied by 85.5-cubed comes to 335 lb.

 

Having hooked (and lost) a couple of giant rays from the beach (one at Exmouth, West Australia and one at Flinders Island, Tasmania) I could well believe 300 lb plus.

 

Chevin has seen big stingrays whilst snorkelling at Exmouth and reckons they go to 700 lb (that's one of the Dasyatis rays - either Black stingray or Smooth stingray)

Edited March 19, 2008 by Vagabond

[Dick Dastardly]

I designed and built a sling very similar to the ones they move dolphins in for transporting and weighing big cats in.The design works great for Tarpon and AG as well.But I just dont think it would be any good for your monsters Rik due to their shape. Off the top of my head something similar to the nets used by the Saonne comercial fishermen would do the job.Cant remember the name somthing like Carole or Carousel but will try to dig out and post a photo.Only system I can think of to safely weigh a fish of that size and shape.

 

Obviously be much easier just to measure them though.Easier on you and the fish.Good to see you keep them in the water as Ive long believed that the extra pressure put on a big fishs internal organs when not supported by water must cause undue stress if not damage.

 

What sort of weight would you care to guesstimate Rik?

[Davy Holt]

Hiya,

 

they are quite simple to weight safely, simply get yourself a large square of trawler netting sit the fish on that then pull the four corners up and hang them on the scales. i've weighed Commons to over 200lb this way, it also gives you an easy way of moving the fish

[Dick Dastardly]

Much the same principle as the carole net I mentioned Dave just that its suspended from a crude hand winched "crane".

[RICKTHAILAND]

I designed and built a sling very similar to the ones they move dolphins in for transporting and weighing big cats in.The design works great for Tarpon and AG as well.But I just dont think it would be any good for your monsters Rik due to their shape. Off the top of my head something similar to the nets used by the Saonne comercial fishermen would do the job.Cant remember the name somthing like Carole or Carousel but will try to dig out and post a photo.Only system I can think of to safely weigh a fish of that size and shape.

 

Obviously be much easier just to measure them though.Easier on you and the fish.Good to see you keep them in the water as Ive long believed that the extra pressure put on a big fishs internal organs when not supported by water must cause undue stress if not damage.

 

What sort of weight would you care to guesstimate Rik?

I wasnt present for these latest captures.My Thai partner Boy estimated the 1.9m specimen to weigh in the region 130-140kg.The larger 2.2m specimen possibly 170-180kg.

[RICKTHAILAND]

Hiya,

 

Ok where do you start other than it's bloody big bigger than anything I've encountered. As for estimating a weight for it, it's difficult as I don't know what the body depth is for the fish, if it's got a shallow body then you could be looking at around 300lb. If it's got a deep set body then anything up to 400lb

Cheers for confirming our estimations Davy.Your idea about the weighing of these creatures is definitely food for thought.I will be up there again in a week or so and will keep you informed of the results.

[RICKTHAILAND]

I designed and built a sling very similar to the ones they move dolphins in for transporting and weighing big cats in.The design works great for Tarpon and AG as well.But I just dont think it would be any good for your monsters Rik due to their shape. Off the top of my head something similar to the nets used by the Saonne comercial fishermen would do the job.Cant remember the name somthing like Carole or Carousel but will try to dig out and post a photo.Only system I can think of to safely weigh a fish of that size and shape.

 

Obviously be much easier just to measure them though.Easier on you and the fish.Good to see you keep them in the water as Ive long believed that the extra pressure put on a big fishs internal organs when not supported by water must cause undue stress if not damage.

 

What sort of weight would you care to guesstimate Rik?

I would like to see the sling you designed it may be suitable for other species that we catch.Any photos of the carole net would be interesting.

[RICKTHAILAND]

Hiya,

 

they are quite simple to weight safely, simply get yourself a large square of trawler netting sit the fish on that then pull the four corners up and hang them on the scales. i've weighed Commons to over 200lb this way, it also gives you an easy way of moving the fish

This is food for thought mate! Got any suggestions on rods up for the job with Giant freshwater stingray? We snapped a Penn Tuna stick the other day.I think were talking 100-120lb class stand-ups fitted with roller guides.Short 5-6ft Sea Rods. What do you reckon mate?

[Dick Dastardly]

Do you bank or boat fishg for them Rik?

 

I think this article will show you the sort of gear I use for Wells and Ive also used the same rod/rell/line set up for Gar.

 

http://www.fishingmagic.com/news/article/mps/uan/339

 

Will try to scan and post a copy of the Carole photo this weekend.

 

I wouldnt get blinded and go straight for the sea tackle first though Rik.A lot of guys did/do this for the big cats and its just not the best set up for playing fish. But I dont know what the river conditions demand where you are.