An evening bowfishing rays on the Northwest Florida flats

[Chris Surtees]

We (dad, Justin, and myself) decided to take a short trip out the flats yesterday evening to see what was going on.

Turns out we had a pretty productive evening shooting rays and shooting at Mullet, and Sheepshead. Also came across some Flounder but with them having to be 12" or greater they were just to close to the size limit to take shots at.

It is amazing just how many fish and other critters come into the flats at night. There was always something to either look or take a shot at.

This was our maiden voyage bowfishing our local waters but most certainly will not be our last.

We did not get any action pictures as I did not even think to bring my camera so here are a couple of the final take.

   

   

[Froggy]

Looks like a ball of fun Chris..... nice setup as well !!  

[Mitch-In-NJ]

Man that looks like fun.  I just saw a post on the trade-a-hunt section from by a guy in NJ who takes folks out for stingrays.  Going to hook up with him next year as he's shutting down for the year now.

Is it just me or is hunting frogs, small game, etc and bowfishing the most fun you can have with a bow?

I guess a guy whose only big game experience is whitetails should try hogs, elk, etc before making such a claim, but I sure love the smaller critters.

[JEFF B]

hey Bro do ya eat the rays?

[Larry Surtees]

Mitch,

With all the action, bowfishing is great.  

We started seeing the Rays a little later in the evening.  But there was never a want for a shot as the Mullet were in abundance and feeding good.  But trying to hit them darn Mullet is not easy.

Jeff,

Yes, they are good to eat -- you get a nice fillet from each wing.

Larry

[bowhunterfrompast]

Congrats    on a great hunt.

[Ray Hammond]

Jeff 70% of the "scallops" served around the world are made from ray wings

[Friends call me Pac]

I went home to NC this summer and went gigging for flounder with my brother.  I threw my bow in the boat to try to get some rays and mullet.  I know what you mean about how hard the mullet are to hit.  I don't know how many I shot at but only got one.  I got 2 rays so I know you had fun with those.  Hope I can make another trip back home for another ray trip.  

Good job and get one for us landlocked folks.

[rastaman]

   

[Chris Surtees]

Good thing about Mullet here in Northwest Florida is they are very good to eat. In a lot of areas they are used only as bait.

Randy,

Heard you may be coming down for a trip here shortly          

[rastaman]

Gonna try my best Chris!  We used to eat fresh mullet as soon as we caught them and fried them up!  Not so good if they were a day or so old..i've heard smoked mullet is good but have never tried it!  Good looking boat!

[Ray_G]

It's true, Randy!  When living on the Central East Coast of FL, I would smoke mullet in my smoker.  Just butterfly the whole fish open and smoke em tasty.  Good with saltines and a cold drink.

Congrats Chris and crew - sure must have been fun and the eatin will be the prize.

[Chris Surtees]

Randy and Ray,

I do not think there is any other way to eat Mullet other than when it is fresh...seems to get mushy if get frozen and then cooked.

Hopefully next weekend we will get enough for a meal instead of a snack:)

[Guru]

How cool Chris, really like that boat of yours.

Two questions: 1. Is it normal for the bigger rays to be darker?  2. is the ray in the middle on the bottom a different kind?  It looks to be shaped different.

Congrats on some fine shooting    

[IndianaBowman]

Awesome Chris!  Looks like a lot of fun.

Curt, you Cade and I gotta give this a try.

[Chris Surtees]

Curt,

My dad did most of the shooting this night. I took a few follow up shots on the bigger ones but mostly concentrated on driving since we were working the shallow pretty hard and it would go from two feet to a couple inches in a hurry.

Not real sure on the colors of the stingrays but we did shoot these in a different type of flat so that may have something to do with it. We found the big ones in areas with much more sand than grass.

The darkest ray is a cow nose. These guys can get rather big but they are normally found on the gulf side.

[toppredator]

Looks like a great night of bowfishing.

[Whip]

Looks like a great time!  Love the boat set up  

[Guru]

Thanx Chris and congrats Larry      

[FerretWYO]

Congrats to both of you sounds like a great trip.