CAMP HILL, Pa. — A Cumberland County man recently hauled in what could be a world record-setting stingray while bowfishing in the Delaware Bay.
Jeremy Gipe, 40, of Camp Hill, was on a charter boat fishing trip on June 30 when he caught a massive, 222.54-pound butterfly stingray.
The fish is believed to be a record-breaker, according to Brossman Boys Bowfishing, the boat Gipe chartered for the trip. The current record holder weighs in at 222.1 pounds, according to Brossman Boys Bowfishing.
The record will become official once the paperwork Brossman Boys Bowfishing submitted is processed.
In an account of his catch provided to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Gipe said he was the first to strike the fish with an arrow, but it takes more than one arrow to land such a massive fish.
So Corey and Aaron Brossman, the charter owners and friends of Gipe's, also shot arrows into the ray.
After a long fight, he said, they finally landed it.
Bowfishing is a combination of fishing and bowhunting where the hunter uses a harpoon-like arrow attached to the bow with a fishing line to spear and catch a fish.
Stingrays are plentiful in the Delaware Bay, and hunting them eases the strain on other gamefish, like striped bass and red drum.
Butterfly rays are prized for their meat. The Brossmans told the Inquirer that they turned Gipe's catch into about 70 pounds of fillets and preserved the rest for crab bait.
Gipe told the Inquirer 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.”
