Hi, I have caught lots of brown smoothhound shark while fishing for perch from the surf. I have heard that these fish are good eating. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is this true? If so how does one go about cleaning them? Do they need to be bled first, and how is this down? Id really appretiate any info....thanks,
Fishing Philosopher

I have never dined on one and can't really say that I would be too interested in doing so but that is just my opinion.

I have heard that the tails of Shovelnose Sharks are pretty good. Some say they taste a bit like Lobster. Maybe thats because their basic diet consists of crustatians. As far as cleaning them I would do so right away because I beleive that their livers contain a high degree of urea which can taint the meat much like the blue shark.

If it was me, I would release them and buy farmed fish or cold water fish from your local grocer.

Tight lines and born to swing! :7

cut fish in half and throw both pieces over. Try opening it up...it stinks.

if you guys ever go to ensenada for fish tacos, politely ask the lady behind the grill what is the meat in the taco your munching on, there is a good chance she'll tell you shark, if not its either she is lying or she just happened to get cheap fish. it all boils down to economics, shark meat is cheap compared to other fish and if processed properly it is firm, white and quite tasty, so to make a few bucks they comonly use them little swiming sandpaper blocks. I've personally done ceviche and fish tacos out of shovelnose, pinbacks leopards.... all with good results.

one downside though, they are a pain to clean.
to clean them:
chop the head off, then the tail and fins (could save them for soup but its a whole different ballgame there) to skin them with a paring knife peel enough of the tail skin so you have a good firm grip, once you do yanke it with even pressure till youre done. once naked slice the meat in half twice, along both sides of the spine and remove it. rinse it thoroughly and youre done.
I might have ommited a few things since its been a good while since I've done this but in a nutshell thats the story.

good luck, again bleeding, cleaning and icing the meat as fast asa possible is imperative to get good results.

it goes without saying that if you wouldnt eat the fish from the area you target them in, well I wouldnt even consider the sharks.

but from the surf, if caught incidentally while seeking perch, try this next time. take a big rig with you along with your usual. fish for perch, once you catch a small one pin it on a sliding sinker rig and toss it live as far back as you can, set your clicker and put it on a rod holder. keep fishing if youre lucky and leopards are in the area that is a good way to nab one of the fat ones. they are a blast from the surf.

I kept a 25 pound shovelnose I caught from shore last year. Wasnt sure how to clean it (Kings Fish House) was nice enough to clean it for me. The steaks off the tail were actually very good! I always let go the smoothounds, but some people say they are decent to eat if cleaned immediately after catching.