Catching a new species - an electric ray 7/2/05

Yes, it was definitely "electric." I've been handling and identifying fish, both professionally as a biologist for the first 20 years of my working life and as a fisherman since the age of 5, and it's always a big deal to catch or see a new species. However, after 30-plus years of playing and working on the ocean, I thought I'd seen and caught about everything there is to catch around these parts, until last Tuesday. I was on a fluke-fishing trip with my friend, Mario Tyrone, the guy who makes Mario's Squid Strips, jigs and fluke strips and friends of his, Jean and Bill Fick, from the new Cabela's Store in Hamburg, Pa The objective was to show Bill how well Mario's fluke rigs work. That day, Mario and I both verified one of my longtime beliefs; "Never promise anyone a good fishing trip." The fish always seem to find out and mess you up for being cocky.
Tuesday was very foggy, so the trip to fluking grounds off Misquamicut Beach was like being with Captain Wrong Way Peach Fuzz and took three times longer than expected. To make things worse, the tide and winds were at odds so we never had a good tide or drift the entire afternoon. In about four hours, all we managed to catch was 11 short fluke, three skate, two "cocktail bluefish" and something new, at least to me, an electric ray (Torpedo nobiliana).
I hooked the fish in about 55 feet of water. When it hit, the line stopped dead, like being hooked to a rock or ghost lobster pot. After a few minutes of boat maneuvering to free the line, a large, disc-shaped fish emerge from the depths.
Initially I thought it was a "barn door" skate, a large species of skate that grows to 3- or 4-feet and more than 20 pounds. But this baby was definitely not a skate of any sort. It was big, 36- to 40-inches in length and at least 25 pounds, smooth skinned, very soft and pudgy in appearance, with chocolate/ purplish coloration on top and a vertical, fish-like tail with two dorsal fins, not the whip-like, spiky tail of a skate. Mario and I both guessed correctly that it might be an electric ray, so it was not brought into the boat. The big fish was barely hooked along the edge of its snout, so we decided to cut the hook out. Mario held the line while I reached down with a long-bladed knife to slice the hook free.

I didn't get the kind of numbing, painful shock the literature says these critters can generate, but where the tip of my pointer finger touched the metal of the blade, I received a slight, tingling sensation, enough to make me immediately shift my grip. A couple of shallow snips and the big ray swam back to the depths. Also called numbfish or crampfish, electric rays average between 2- and 5-feet in length and are heavy for their size, with big ones weighing in at 100 pounds or more. Mine was evidently middle-sized to small. Their electric organs, which look like water filled sacs or bulges under the skin, are located forward on either side of the body. One fish kept in a live well was recorded with a voltage of 170 to 220 volts -- a definite shock if you're not expecting it.

The round shape, chocolate color, fleshy, soft body and fish-like tail are characteristics to look for should you catch an odd looking ray or skate this summer. If you do, DO NOT TOUCH!