A southeastern Pennsylvania bow fisherman is now a world record-holder.
Jeremy Gipe, 40, of Camp Hill now holds the title for catching the largest butterfly ray with his bowfishing setup.
He was fishing June 30 off Indian River Bay in Delaware when he encountered the massive fish with friends Corey Brossman and Aaron Brossman of Brossman Boys Bowfishing guide service.
The ray measured 7 feet 4⅛ inches long and weighed 222.54 pounds. It edged out the Bowfishing Association of America world record of 222.1 pounds caught by Nick Sampson on Aug. 8, 2021, in Maryland.
Pete Gregoire, record keeper for the Bowfishing Association of America, confirmed on July 15 that Gripe’s ray has been certified as the Delaware and world bowfishing record.
“The record has been broken numerous times over the past four or five years,” he said about a growing interest from anglers in bowfishing in saltwater. “More man-hours are contributing to more opportunities for the anglers.”
Gregoire said his organization has been certifying records for 20 years. “Every year there is an increase in the amount of interest and the amount of opportunities for shooting records across the United States. It’s great to see anglers on the East Coast, especially in saltwater, having success and being able to bring in fish like Jeremy’s.”
Gipe is a seasoned angler with a previous best butteryfly ray of 153 pounds. “I’ve been bowfishing since I was a teenager,” he said about going a few times a year for carp in Pennsylvania streams. He spends his summer at the beach in Delaware and became friends with the Brossmans, who are based in Dagsboro, Sussex County.
“We’ve been out a couple times,” he said, including the time Corey Brossman set the world record at 204 pounds just more than a year ago. That record was then broken again in 2021.
The water was wavy and windy when fishing started June 30. Gipe said they saw some bluefish, and their boat was out from shore where they normally don’t see butterfly ray. “I thought it was bluefish,” he said about seeing a flash in the water ― and then the triangle shape that signaled a large ray.
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When the fish turned from the boat, Gipe released his arrow and made a clean shot, striking the fish in the head. The ray sprung out of the water, allowing two other bow anglers also on the boat and Corey Brossman to each make a followup shot before it swam back out about 50 yards. The heavy creature then swam back to the boat where the group was able to pull it up on deck with a harpoon and gaffs. Bowfishing arrows are attached to cords to allow the anglers to reel in the fish.
“It doesn’t get much easier than that, as far as the end result,” he said about the ray swimming directly toward their vessel.
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They were impressed with the size of the fish, and Corey Brossman, who recently hauled in a 180-pound class ray, said they needed to weigh this one as it was much larger yet.
“We just beat the world record,” Gipe said when he looked at the final measurements.
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The catch ended up making about 80 pounds of meat. “I absolutely love them,” Gipe said about eating rays. He said It tastes similar to crab and can be prepared in many ways, like pulled pork. He said they also fry it and make chili, spinach dip and stuffed mushrooms. It’s also a good ingredient on loaded French fries and nachos.
Parts of the skin were frozen and used as bait for crab fishing. “Pretty much whatever we can cut off it, we’re using,” Gipe said.
Rays are a popular sport fish in Delaware. Butterfly rays are always in season and the state doesn’t have a creel limit.
Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on your website’s homepage under your login name. Follow him on social media @whipkeyoutdoors.
