Anyone eat sharks caught from the surf?

[Geno67]

First post. Long time lurker.

Yes, I searched and I got too many hits to read through - lol.

Wife just started her doctoral work at FSU so I'll be down that way every few weeks or so. We have been in Tuscaloosa for 7 years or so and I still am.

So - sharks from the bank. Anyone eat them? Any good? If so, what species should I keep? Any and all help greatly appreciated.

[2true]

Yes. My buddy owned a restaurant and kept and ate them and sometimes made fish dip with them. Blacktips were a sought after catch.

Make sure you cut the sharks throats an bleed them well.....

[Apalachee Inshore]

Sharks from the bank eat the same as sharks caught from the boat.

Depends on how big of sharks you are targeting. I'm assuming the smaller variety so it'll probably be blacktips, bonnetheads and sharp noses. I'm not a big shark eater because I hate the way they smell but you can eat all those I listed.

[big bend gyrene]

Quite a few regs related to sharks... will want to be sure you stay on top of them...

http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/sharks/

I occasionally will keep a blacktip or bonnethead if not having luck with more preferred fish species. Proper prep goes a long way to making them taste best. In addition to bleeding them, be sure to cut out red line in meat when cleaning. If you still detect any ammonia smell after cleaning into desired cuts, soaking them in the refrigerator overnight in either milk, buttermilk, or vinegar based italian dressings will make a big difference.

One thing I like about shark is how well the tightly grained meat holds together on the grill... don't overcook it looking for it to flake as it doesn't flake like other fish.

[Juan]

I believe there are only a couple species of shark that don't expel urine (ammonia) through their skin and because of that most species aren't great table fare and have an ammonia smell and taste unless you know how to prepare the meat. Makos and maybe one or two others are the exception. I kept and tried shark one time. I won't keep another but I admittedly don't know how to properly prepare them and I don't think they make enough buttermilk to get that taste out.

[GaryDroze]

I don't target sharks, but make a habit of eating at least one of everything I catch. Have soaked blacktip fillets in milk for a few hours to neutralize the ammonia. They grilled up as well as anything else I have cooked. It all depends on how hungry and creative you are!

[xXLoneBowmanXx]

I would describe their taste as, "Good enough". I don't make a habit of keeping them because they stink. I've been told they make great civiche, but I don't eat that either so I don't know. I thinks it definitely worth trying. You may really like it. Now, if you catch a stingray, fry that puppy up! Good eating!

[Apalachee Inshore]

I would describe their taste as, "Good enough". I don't make a habit of keeping them because they stink. I've been told they make great civiche, but I don't eat that either so I don't know. I thinks it definitely worth trying. You may really like it. Now, if you catch a stingray, fry that puppy up! Good eating!

I want to thread hyjack a bit here. My buddy is a big bow fisher but in freshwater. He wants to go on the boat and stick some stingrays, but I'm not big on killing just to kill and not eat. I have another buddy that owns a restaurant and he said skate is becoming an increasingly popular menu item for high end restaurants. How similar to skate is a stingray table fare wise and any tips on preparing stingray? Which are better to eat larger or smaller ones? I've obviously never ate one but would like too. Any preparation tips?

[DixieReb]

Sharks have to be bled and gutted on the water, then kept on ice. Once filleted, I soak mine for a day in salt water, then change the water and soak it another day(2 days total). After that, you can fry it , grill it, or fix it any way you want to. One trick I learned in filleting them is to remove all the fins and cut out the belly section so that the fillet lays flat on the cleaning table. Much easier to remove the skin that way, you don't cut through the skin nearly as bad. I fillet the belly sections and cook them also. My kids love shark.

[big bend gyrene]

Don't think fellow board member Ontilttttt will mind me sharing a post he made on another forum a while back where he shared his cooking method... per the message, his GF at the time liked it and he said she was picky about seafood. Much like his GF, I don't tend to like "fishier" tasting fish (appreciating taste is a very subjective thing) and I found grilled shark not to be that fishy after soaking in milk overnight. His post also brings up a positive about shark... lacking typical bones, you can easily cube them. Anyway, Ontilttttt's pic sure looks good to me!

I soaked mine in milk/buttermilk for a few days then take 'em out and pat them dry. I then squeeze some Italian dressing in a bowl, drop in the "shark cubes" and let 'em sit in the fridge for 15 minutes. Shortly afterwards, I season with Creole seasoning and/or "Montreal Steak seasoning", place 5-6 cubes on a skewer and grill! The girlfriend loved it (and is usually picky about her seafood).

[xXLoneBowmanXx]

I would describe their taste as, "Good enough". I don't make a habit of keeping them because they stink. I've been told they make great civiche, but I don't eat that either so I don't know. I thinks it definitely worth trying. You may really like it. Now, if you catch a stingray, fry that puppy up! Good eating!

I want to thread hyjack a bit here. My buddy is a big bow fisher but in freshwater. He wants to go on the boat and stick some stingrays, but I'm not big on killing just to kill and not eat. I have another buddy that owns a restaurant and he said skate is becoming an increasingly popular menu item for high end restaurants. How similar to skate is a stingray table fare wise and any tips on preparing stingray? Which are better to eat larger or smaller ones? I've obviously never ate one but would like too. Any preparation tips?

I don't believe I've ever had skate, but I imagine they would be similar to stingrays. The smaller ones are best eating in my opinion, but the big ones are also very tasty. You don't get a lot of meat from the small ones, so if you have a bunch kids to feed, like I do, don't hesitate to boat a big one and send him down the Crisco river. I've always cut the meat into small chunks and fried them in Italian bread crumbs, but I bet they would be good sauteed or grilled. The taste is very similar to a scallop.

A few years ago my buddy and I were night fishing and caught a 65 pound southern Ray. We got her in the boat and she gave birth to 3 pups right on the spot. It was a pretty cool experience.

[bman]

Blacktip is great...I usually only keep ones under 3 feet long.

Cut off all the red meat. soak in Italian salad dressing for an hour. Or use olive oil and your favorite seasoning.
Grill over charcoal until firm. Excellent.

Or cube it up and fry it.

Delicious!

[onefishtwofish]

Blacktip? Bleed well, instantly get on ice. Like pack the body cavity in ice in the cooler. Cool them fast. Soak overnight in lemon juice and EVO. Pour that off and then use fresh lemon/EVO to baste as you grill them. Delicious. Clean like Dixie Reb said, there is a great video on YouTube of a guy cleaning a shark. Easy peasy.

Know the difference between a blacktip and a spinner before you go-blacktip you can keep one of any size. I have never caught a spinner up here, but do not target sharks much, I assume we have them.

Atlantic Sharpnose? My nephew loves them, I do not. I will never keep another one. Not a fan.

Stingrays? Go old schools and clean the meat, then use a cookie cutter to cut the meat in circular chunks. Broil, grill, saute or fry. Perfectly good meat. Rumors were years ago that was commonly substituted for scallops at restaurants. I was in a club in high school called "Survival Skills". We started the year with a camping trip with anything we could carry and progressed to our last trip that was two knives, one gallon of water and that was it. Lived on the land for a weekend. One of our trips was a simulated boat stranding. We got left on an Island off Arepieka. handline fishing line and a hook, plus water. We lived on Stingray as they were easy to catch at low tide with a pine sapling cut into a spear. Just cut them up and roasted over an open fire. Tasted quite good. Could you imagine letting today's kids do that? Just the release forms would be crazy.

[DixieReb]

We do bluefish much the same way, fillet and 2 day soak. A 3 lb. blue is choice eating on the grill!

[Geno67]

That is a boatload of good information! Thanks so much everyone.

I live in Tuscaloosa, AL and the wife is doing the last of her graduate studies at FSU. We have her in a cottage in Tally and she'll be there for most of the time for a while. I'm able to come down on some weekends and I'm interested in catching anything we can eat.

We're non-traditional students (older) so our outlook and place in life is a little different from most. I'll be looking to put a shark on the dinner table at some point as she likes them - I've never eaten one that I'm aware of. I have a 16 cc but the motor needs work so I'll be wading or maybe getting a yak to putter around in. I grew up in the Caribbean and she grew up in the pacific so we're both used to pretty clear water. These bays are a new thing for both of us. She's got grit though so she follows me around in even the grubbiest places , bless her heart.

Looking forward to coming down this evening and spending the weekend. If anyone would like to give an old, half-crippled dude some pointers or meet up for a bit, I would be grateful for the help and can supply whatever would help in the effort. Not really looking to see anyone's fishing spots or anything like that, more interested in learning to catch bait and figuring out what kind of rigging is needed for the different species, etc.

Thanks again Guys!