Saw one hooked on the (now blown away) Mexico Beach pier. The fight lasted about 2 minutes before the humongous manta ray broke the line. He got on top of the water just like in the picture. It was very impressive. Just a note, it was hooked closer to the beach end of the pier in relatively shallow water.
I used to pier fish a lot in a previous life.
When anyone hooked a ray, if it had any size at all you had to just cut the line. They just don’t “reel in”. And no real fight, they just go sideways, or dig in the sand, and its like trying to pull in a rock. Yeah you can do it, but its not that fun IHMO.
Recently I have seen piers that have a “release rig” of sorts that the pier crew pulls when rays get hooked, but I’ve never seen it work.
Mexico Beach was my favorite beach...sigh