Shovel Nose Sharks - Eating

[bogan]

Can't find a great deal of detail in the threads for possibly one of the most common species caught in brizzy river, so new post it is.

Shovel Nose Sharks-----> Eating Them.

I've seen a few stories online, but mainly from the USA, thought i'd ask u blokes instead.

Correct/Incorrect // T/F:

1. Cut of the head + tail as soon as you catch them to stop the ammonia?

2. Scallop size in butter, or whole on a BBQ?

3. Best place to catch - fisherman island boatramp, go right, u can catch them all day long here (where the signs say "shoals less than 0.50metres)?

4. Legal Size? Any sort of bag limits to be aware of?

Anything else I would need to know for my virgin eating experience ?

[pcsolutionman]

they have a strong but nice taste IMO, I Fillet them skin them then cut them into small peices and make battered or crumbed fish peices there not bad at all

Lee

[ellicat]

There are two main types caught. One has spots, the other doesn't.

I think the one with spots is the tasty one. Could be wrong there, but jeff f knows.

Don't eat them myself - they're a bit like catties to me....can provide a bit of fun on an otherwise dull night;) :laugh:

[Angus]

ellicat wrote:

There are two main types caught. One has spots, the other doesn't.

I think the one with spots is the tasty one. Could be wrong there, but jeff f knows.

Don't eat them myself - they're a bit like catties to me....can provide a bit of fun on an otherwise dull night;) :laugh:

Thats pretty much the same as me. I have heard they can be tasty but have never bothered myself. I guess id just fillet them like a flathead if i was going to try it.

The only difference is i heard it the other way around, that the non spotted (and usually smaller ones) are the pick to eat.

Angus

[kriso]

i think viperon used to eat them and had a nice sounding recipe for them.

[buggar work]

on the bbq in kebab mode "BEAUTIFUL";)

[rotciv]

tried one the other day, battered. It was nice and soft (maybe a little too soft), didnt smell or anything.

in regards to the spots and no spots, I've only ever heard of it in sting ray terms. The medium sized blue spotted stingrays are apparently nicer to eat than the non-spotted ones.

[polyphonic]

Mate from Vic loves them so I gave them a go one time done in beer batter, not bad at all, had flathead also on the day and it was not as good as flathead but still a nice eating fish. You will have to skin them as the skin is like sand paper, sorry I cant remeber if we bleed them straight away but I know we didn't take the heads till we were filleting back at the ramp.

Shovel nose = shark = flake = $4.00 a pice at the fish shop.

[bogan]

Sweet

I'll have to give it a go, curiosity has gotton the better of me.

Is it nessecary to chop off the tail to stop the ammonia?

[kriso]

well they say you should bleed sharks so i guess it cant hurt put it this way if you bleed it, it wont wreck the taste, if ya dont it might.

[Aaron H]

Bleed and freeze the fillets first was what my grandfather used to do to Gummy and School sharks down south to ease the ammonia taste on them

[ellicat]

I'm pretty sure shovellys don't suffer the same problems as real sharks like river bullies etc. Shovellys are really a type of ray I think.

Anyway I've never had a shovelly that smelled anything like a toothy:unsure:

[benno573]

shovelies are technically a ray. i have only eaten two of them, both about 5-6ft long. always bleed them straight away, i generally gut them and remove the head and gills, leving just the tail section in the esky. cooking wise, crumbed/battered and deep fried are good, they make an AWESOME "shark" curry as well. i never keep any little ones or crazy big ones (like the 7 and 8ft models from the shipping channel along moreton). the recovery off them relatively speaking is crap. about 25% on a good day. not worth keeping the little blokes.

[jeff f]

only eat the grey ones with the white spots

the browny grey ones taste shithouse

[rayke1938]

I have eaten a couple of them but as said they taste ok but hardly worth the effort for the little ammount of meat you get off them.

When the prawns are on off shorncliffe the viets keep the little herring they get in the cast net and then go and fish for shovelies when the prawns go off.They get heaps of them. I couldnt be bothered they really knock your knives around skinning them.

Cheers

Ray

[bogan]

thanks again, was hoping some people would pop in and confirm that they are actually from the "ray" family which is what i thought.

rayke - even if it does take a little effort, i'm gonna have to try it at least once, i've probably bought it as "fish n chips" from the viet run fish shop down the road anyway

jeff f - grey ones with white spots - point taken, u confirm ellicat's post.

benno - was only thinkin of keeping one maybe about 4ft, i would never keep a huge or little fish of any species, this is what lets people catch them another time.

aaron - the elders always know best of course.

i'll most likely gut/clean immediately upon landing it, and i'll cut off the tail section, as this is what most of the northern hemisphere websites say to do (along with jamie oliver).

Going out with the old man this weekend, i'll let u know whether i thought it was sh*t or gold :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly:

[uglyfish]

not to bad to eat if ya get bugger all else..i cut all fins off drop the cuts out and take off the head..crumb em up and have a beer with it..mmmmm