THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9503160186
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 19 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Ford Reid
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Your first early spring surf fishing trip could produce a big bluefish, a giant red drum or a cooler full of gray trout.
Hey, stranger things have happened.
But if you rush the season, and who among us can resist that temptation, then experience says that the first thing wiggling on your line in 1995 will probably be a skate or a dog fish shark.
You will spend hours and hours on a cold and windy beach, your hands nearly numb from trying to cast, your face red and burning from exposure, your mind questioning why you are doing this.
And your reward will be a skate or a dog fish.
It doesn't take a lot of skill to hook and land either of those species. Put a piece of bait - the stinkier the better - on a hook, toss it out and wait. Sooner or later, one of those creatures will swallow your bait.
Swallow is the operative word here. No need to set the hook. The problem will be getting the hook out of the skate or dog fish.
The French, I am told, consider sting rays and skates delicacies. Of course, they also eat snails.
For as long as I can remember, there have been periodic rumors that some of what is advertised in restaurants and seafood shops as scallops is really sting ray. I don't know about that. It is, as I said, only a rumor.
I have never knowingly eaten sting ray or skate. I wouldn't mind trying it if it were cooked by a skillful and knowledgeable hand. But then, I am easy to please.
From fresh blue fin tuna to smoked eel, I have never tasted anything from the water that I did not like.
It's just that I've never had a good chance to eat sting ray or skate.
I have, however, eaten dog fish shark.
They taste much, much better than they look.
The secret with any shark is to clean it as soon as you get it on the beach. Sharks secrete waste through their skin. That, in part, is why dog fish thoughtlessly left to rot on the beach begin to smell so bad so fast.
Remember, too, that after you clean your dog fish, you must take the trash with you. It is the law on the National Seashore beaches and the right thing to do everywhere else.
Dog fish or skates that you are not going to eat ought to be released alive.
I have seen grown men attacking two-pound dog fish with clubs, beating them as if these harmless creatures presented an immediate threat to their families. It is a pitiful spectacle for all concerned. You'd think these guys had just captured ``Jaws.''
This time of year, the angler ought to be happy to have anything wiggling on the end of his line. It's only a dog fish, but in March, I'll take it and be grateful. by CNB