Leopard Shark

I launched off McNears Beach today and the only thing I caught was a leopard shark.  Having never seen one up close I was very cautious with Mr Teeth and let him go since I wasnt sure how to handle. 

I don't see anything that prohibits taking them in DFG regs, and I wondered if they were good to eat?  if so, how would you clean one?

What do you do when you catch a good sized monster like that?  Whack him on the head?  (perhaps I should carry a small bat for times like this)

ps. it was a hell of a ride, yahooo!

I believe the DFG regs are that the leopard shark must be 36"+ not sure about bag limit though

Blead out asap.  Wrap in bacon & grill.  Yummy!

Searchable free .pdf copy of the regs.  You can download it to your computer and to your smart phone if you have one.

https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=77722&inline=true

I really like leopard shark, but they can be a chore to prepare.  First thing you want to do is bleed the guy out ASAP.  Slice his gills and put a notch through the spinal cord near the tail, and try to hang the shark somehow so the blood flows out with the help of gravity.  Gut the shark once you think the blood's pumped out.

Then you have to skin the shark.  If you've skinned a catfish, you pretty much use the same method on a shark.  Needle-nose pliers help a lot.  Cut off all the fins before you skin the shark to make things a little easier.  Leaving the head on the shark will give you something to grab onto as you peel the skin off the shark.  Once you've skinned the shark, you can chop off the head and tail and you'll have a "meat log".  Trim off as much of the red meat along the sides of the "meat log" as you can, as this is fat and can both give the shark an off taste and harbor toxins such as mercury.

After you have a "meat log" that's mostly trimmed of dark red flesh, you can either cut it into steaks or fillets.  Then I will often put the steaks/fillets into a bowl, fill the bowl with whole milk to cover the meat, then put the bowl in the fridge overnight.  The milk will pull out any remaining blood and urea (sharks pee through their skin  ).  After the overnight soak, pat the steaks/fillets dry with a paper towel and you're good to go.  I've had leopard shark baked and grilled, and both methods produce some great meals.  Even people who say they don't like fish might enjoy this, as the flavor is unlike any bony fish they've likely tasted.

And ditto the 36" minimum size.  Bag limit of three.  But always check the regulations.  And before you think about keeping three, try keeping just one and see if the work is worth it.

You can take 'em, but there's size limit. I think it's 48" and up, ok. Better check tho. The meat can be fantastic if you bleed them out immediately and get 'em on ice asap. There are some 'dark' meat sections that should be trimmed when filleting.

But there really beautiful, and I don't like to keep 'em for that reason. Also inside the bay they are on the wrong side of the advisory sign. They sure are fun to catch tho.

Many thanks guys!

They are OK table fair but not great. I let them go, regardless of size.
http://oehha.ca.gov/fish/nor_cal/2011SFbay.html

Clayman's post is right on.

I don't eat them any more, they're more fun to catch than to clean and eat, also in some areas they are really high in mercury and other toxins.

If you do eat them, the meat may smell really strong of urea, and the milk soak will take care of that.

they are fun for the ride for sure!! I don't keep them either... there's a karma issue  with sharks I struggle with - if I don't eat them... 

You think one fish ever declined to eat another fish because it smelled like fish?
Honest question.

As to the shark, the bioaccumulation issue is enough to ward me off. I havent tried leopord but i friggin love greek style mako and thresher. Those are pretty too altho a lot meaner so i wldnt hav any problem eatin the grumpy bastards