Pa. man hauls in possible world-record stingray in the Delaware Bay

The wind was blowing and the bay was murky, but the boat’s lights illuminated the area just enough for Jeremy Gipe to see a flash of white in the water off to his side.

“It’s a butterfly,” he yelled out to the boat’s captains.

And by butterfly, he meant a veritable sea monster.

It was June 30 and Gipe, 40, had traveled to the Delaware Bay from his home in Camp Hill, near Harrisburg, to go bowfishing with friends Corey Brossman and Aaron Brossman. Corey and Aaron, who aren’t sure if they’re related, run a bowfishing charter boat out of Dagsboro, Sussex County, spending nearly every night of the summer on the water .

The record, if affirmed, would be among the 20 record catches that occurred on the boat.

Bowfishing is a combination of fishing and bowhunting. The hunter uses a bow to shoot a harpoon-like arrow, attached by the bow with a line, at a fish. The Brossmans target big stingrays and on this night, the little flash of white Gipe spottted turned out to be a butterfly ray, one of the biggest any of them had ever seen.

“Put an arrow in it,” one of the Brossmans yelled out to Gipe.

Gipe shot, striking the fish in the head and it jumped from the water. One arrow, Gipe said, is not enough to bring in a butterfly ray--they are as large as an area rug--so the other men, who are both disabled veterans, shot arrows too. The fish peeled line from their spools.

“The fight was on,” he said.

When Gipe first saw the stingray up close, he estimated to be close to 150 pounds. Corey Brossman, 43, knew it was bigger. At 222.54 pounds, the fish is bigger then the Bowfishing Association of America’s standing world record of 222.1 pounds. Gipe and the Brossmans are just waiting for the paperwork to be processed to confirm the record.

“We have all the certified scales and took a video of it,’ Brossman said.

“I haven’t shot a whole lot of them, but this was a real thrill.”

The record, if affirmed, would be among the 20 record catches that occurred on the boat. Corey Brossman’s daughter, Cameron, and son, Brody, have both held world records before in a variety of species. Brossman said the charter focuses on cownose rays, bullnose rays, and butterfly rays, which taste the best, he said.

Stingrays are abundant in the Delaware Bay, Brossman said, and he believes targeting them eases stress on popular gamefish such as striped bass and red drum. (Some groups have suggested the population of spiny butterfly rays, the species Gipe harvested, is declining.)

The fish is prized for its meat. Brossman said they filleted approximately 70 pounds of meat from the fish and Gipe said even the scraps are preserved for crab bait.

“They travel up and down the east coast, but there’s not a whole lot known about this fish,” Brossman said. “On a good night, we’ll see 1,000 stingrays and shoot about 10 or 12.”

Gipe said the stingray is far and away the largest fish he’s ever taken.

“I haven’t shot a whole lot of them,” he said, “but this was a real thrill.”