Tons of Sharks in the Shrewsbury River???

[Arbutis]

It was a VERY interesting morning! Left at 5:30 home by 8:30.* Me and one other guy.* We caught tons of fluke (mostly shorts), one beautiful weakfish!, scooped a bunch of big crabs that were just swimming on the surface and we had a very interesting encounter. . .
We swore that we were seeing small SHARKS all morning long.* Dorsal fins were popping up everywhere and occasionally we would see an attack and a huge splash! I thought I was going crazy. So we made an attempt to catch one by tossing a plug right in front of the fins. . .
No takes. Several close shots but no bites.* Later, on our way back in some guys crabbing asked us if we have been seeing sharks!* Then in the distance we saw the motherload.* In like 3 feet of water there were schools of them in the hundreds all over. Breaking water and finning.* I threw a big treble hook on my line and we headed over to have a look. . .
I tossed it in and immediately hooked up and line started peeling off the reel!* Others were breaking water and swirling and splashing all around us in the shallows. After** a 10 minute battle with a tiny rod and 10 pound test line, we landed our fish.* It wasn't a shark! But I think I solved the mystery of why there have been no blue crabs in the river this season. . . What's YOUR guess?

[Reel Class]

I'll bite.

COBIA

[joeya78]

that's crazy! awesome crazy.lol

[chrislars]

I'll bite.

COBIA


I was going to say Cobia too because what else fins??

But a crab eater?? DRUM!!

[Reel Class]

from what I know about cobia they do eat crabs -- I could be wrong about that :confused:

[bunker dunker]

Drums???

[jmurr711]

killer whales

[Skolmann]

Cow Nose Rays. You mistook the tips of their wings for the dorsal fin(s) of a shark.

[Jigman13]

Cow Nose Rays. You mistook the tips of their wings for the dorsal fin(s) of a shark.

Heavy off of Island Beach not too long ago...

[thefishermanmechanic]

Philly fat mouths?

[Reel Class]

Cow Nose Rays. You mistook the tips of their wings for the dorsal fin(s) of a shark.

we saw several pods of cownose's swimming around the boat yesterday a few miles off

[jmurr711]

Philly fat mouths?

I believe the term is Philly Overweight Mouths

[Riverbassfishing]

Yeah cow nose rays saw 2 big schools of them in the navesink yesterday on the way out to the hook.

[Arbutis]

You got it. An invasion of cownose rays! When they flap those wings at the surface it looks just like the dorsal fin of a small shark. Never saw them that far up in the rivers though. As if the crabbing wasn't tough enough this season, these rays are like vacuum cleaners.

Anyone eat these things? Any good?

[vinntastic]

Bunker;)

[1captainron]

Cow nose rays, they are everywhere!!!

[VinoGuy]

The ever-endangered dogfish?

[joeya78]

I have caught a single one here and there around the hook, always swimming in schools. I moved the boat to Manahawkin two years ago started fishing great bay ,little egg inlet is loaded this time of year every year, you could catch as many as you want some days. they are a fun fight but a pain nevertheless. When they are around the fluke bite is def slower...here they come

[rumster]

killer whales

Over 4,000 posts of which the majority make little sense. Sorry:(

[Denlon]

I grew up in that area of Little Silver between the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers and have fished the two rivers for most of my 70 years. I have spent many long hours fishing, crabbing, clamming, seining bait, duck hunting and even spearing eels through the ice at Red Bank in the winter. But once you get back past the bridges;i.e, the Sea Bright and Oceanic bridges I have never caught or seen sharks in these rivers, not even little sand sharks.

Denny

[ColdFoot]

Cow Nose Rays. You mistook the tips of their wings for the dorsal fin(s) of a shark.

He's 100% right, they are cownose rays we were catching them in the river in highlands last week. They are eating spot and croakers and their barb is poisonous so be careful!

[Dino]

sounds like cow nosed rays

[No Keepers]

Definitely rays. I was heading out on Sunday and when we went under the Branchport Creek Bridge my youngest said dolphins. I got a quick look at it and said thats no dolphin. We turned around to get another look and it was gone. However, some guy crabbing on top of the bridge said did you see that sting ray. Grew up on that creek all of my life and never seen rays before.

[jmurr711]

Over 4,000 posts of which the majority make little sense. Sorry:(
I agree wholeheartedly!

[Arbutis]

Isn't the barb of a Cow Nose Ray what killed the Crocodile Hunter - Steve Irwin? maybe just rumors.

Anyway - - - to repeat a previous question, Has anyone tried eating one of these things? It seemed quite beefy and muscular - I'm sure it's similar to shark in that it is mostly a cartilaginous skeleton. Some people say skate wings taste like scallops (crazy people that is). But who knows - maybe these invaders of the river have a tasty side to them which will make their invasion not SO bad.

[jmurr711]

Isn't the barb of a Cow Nose Ray what killed the Crocodile Hunter - Steve Irwin? maybe just rumors.

Anyway - - - to repeat a previous question, Has anyone tried eating one of these things? It seemed quite beefy and muscular - I'm sure it's similar to shark in that it is mostly a cartilaginous skeleton. Some people say skate wings taste like scallops (crazy people that is). But who knows - maybe these invaders of the river have a tasty side to them which will make their invasion not SO bad.
yep you can eat them, and skate is sold at some of the most expensive restaurants in manhattan
http://www.buffalostoryproject.com/2011/08/04/around-town-stingrays-for-dinner/
& it was a ray that killd the croc hunter but cownoses are normally very docille

[Bass_Appeal]

i was in the raritan 4th of july week by my self , heading to 11a off my port bow i seen fins also , thought it could be , but looked back in the wake and it was wide and short couldnt of been a shark , started thinking and remember what people said those rays looked like....

[torchee]

I caught a huge black ray - not cownose

last week off the beech from sandy hook

It had a long whiplike tail and must have been 75+ pounds

[gamblerkeith]

I caught a huge black ray - not cownose

last week off the beech from sandy hook

It had a long whiplike tail and must have been 75+ pounds
It was a whip tail ray watch out for the barbs on those things

[Arbutis]

Just downloaded the photo - Take a look at the area I circled in RED. Tell me that doesn't look exactly like a shark fin! It was SO WEIRD! Sometimes there would be just one wing sticking up and just gliding along - sometimes they would hold both wing tips up and cruise the surface. Looked like a pair of sharks swimming side by side. Never saw that before - I always pictured the rays being more of a bottom dweller due to their anatomy.

61610

I'll tell you one thing for certain - after seeing this photo my 10 year old daughter will NEVER swim, tube, water ski or jump into these waters again as long as she lives! Can you even imagine a little kid swimming in the river and looking over to see what looks like a pretty decent sized SHARK swimming nearby???? Holy crow - that would cure me too of ever swimming there. So I just tried telling her it wasn't a shark - it was a cownose ray. To which she replied, "Isn't that what KILLED the Crocodile Guy?" Great.:(

[Ryelof]

Over 4,000 posts of which the majority make little sense. Sorry:(
Just to further ruin your day, Joey's posts are some of the most entertaining
on here.

[sternline]

Cownose rays have been feeding on those pods of bunkers in Raritan Bay for a couple of weeks. Someone on the Sea Hawk about two weeks ago threw a snagger in a bunker pod and a cownose ray hit it and got caught.
Cownose rays do have a stinger in their tail but it's not deadly like that of the stingray that killed the Crocodile Hunter (who was very foolishly closing on it from above and behind). Stingrays hunt by listening for the heartbeat of their prey, which is why he got hit right in the heart.

Cownose rays are proliferating like mad because sharks are their main predator and the shark population is in trouble (we ain't talking about dogfish). Cownose rays can wipe out large concentrations of oysters and other shellfish. Their wings are definitely edible. Whether you like them depends on your taste.

[captmark]

Had to be Cow Nose Rays, its that time of year they are in the shallows

[broken bobber]

Crocodile Hunter Killer

[blynch]

The rays/sharks/killer whales/ Irwin murderers were thick in the MI today. I busted off a screamer that went for my bucktail and fought one that was maybe 15-20lbs to the rocks (although I really have no idea how to guess what these things weigh).

[jmurr711]

The rays/sharks/killer whales/ Irwin murderers were thick in the MI today. I busted off a screamer that went for my bucktail and fought one that was maybe 15-20lbs to the rocks (although I really have no idea how to guess what these things weigh).

they are a blast to catch we used to catch alot in the surf just be careful when releasing em def fight there butts off

[squan63]

was fluking on monday in deal and saw school after school of these things heading north just below the surface

[Honger]

Can u eat them?

[jmurr711]

Can u eat them?

yep i posted a link earlier in this thread clean em like a skate

[shresearchdude]

Cownose Rays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


everyone is mistaking them for sharks? Wait until you see a BIG fin coming out of the water-that would be a shark!

This is an excellent site for information-and a video!
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldguide/critter/cownose_ray

...and if you find one that looks like it's wings were bitten off by a shark? look closer and notice that the cut was made by a knife and was not the result of a shark.

[hudsonfisherman]

I've eaten cow nose rays but didn't care for the taste or texture. It's not the same as skate. I enjoy eating skate and often wonder why people throw them back. Not sure what the regs are regarding them but we hooked into a cow nose ray a few years ago around Chincoteague Va. Of course it was hooked up on a fluke pole with 12lb test on it, isn't it always the way. So after about 45 minutes of backing down on it and having a stupid good time we did manage to boat it. I was in my 18ft runabout "Biff 2" with my sons so it was all fun. Was about 4ft wingspan. Wacked it with the shark hammer and brought it home. The meat on the wings has definite fibrous structure running the length of the wings. We cooked it real careful so as to really give it an honest try. We didn't like it, kinda chewy with a strong taste. Not really a "fishy" taste but a strong taste. And that's what I know about eating cow nose rays. Give em a try, maybe you'll like em. and they are going to wipe out some other species....

[Dino]

I caught a huge black ray - not cownose

last week off the beech from sandy hook

It had a long whiplike tail and must have been 75+ pounds

yup couple species of big True stingray's off NJ (not cow nosed),.. not terribly common but they are big! I saw one at the mud buoy in a chum slick as a kid that was monstrous, and another at 17 fathoms, and another that tried to eat a tuna jig first bounce off the bottom on the lump near the atlantic princess wreck..and one last summer on the flats on the north side of fire island inlet... they were all HUGE, all a very dark blackish color.. someone told me roughtail stingray

[Richieclip]

I saw a small shark off the red church on monday!! I saw plenty of rays as well, but this definitely was no ray ...It had the color of a cobia , but looked way too long

[Ahab123]

Cow nosed Rays, they're everywhere now that the water warmed up..
saw some big ones on Sunday off Deal...

[Arbutis]

These rays are still in the river and slowly migrating way way up. It's pretty crazy. I see them when I am driving my truck over the bridges. Just the sheer numbers of them are going to wipe out a lot of stuff! No good.

Is there really no use for these fish? You know how they are trying to control the Lionfish population in Florida and the Gulf??? Maybe these rays are going to be our Lionfish.

[WIDOWER]

Cow Nose Rays. You mistook the tips of their wings for the dorsal fin(s) of a shark.
Yup....Cow Nosed Rays...watch 'em from my balcony everyday...all day....they eat the clams up like peanuts...clammers should be worried! Big problem south of us...especially Cheasepeake Bay...they're trying a few things to get rid of 'em!

[jmurr711]

eat em! anythings good fried