Articles by Dennis Doyle

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 10/21/10

A Twitch in Time Nets Dinner

Saved by an old bait sporting a new name

It was extremely frustrating. There were rockfish working the rip in front of me, but they wouldn’t hit my lures. I could see their occasional feeding boils marking the surface, and it was obvious that they were eating — and at least a few of the feeders were good sized. Fish Are Biting When the weather cooperates, the fishing for stripers is excellent. Shallow water plugging is anywhere from decent to fantastic just about everywhere along both sides of the Bay....

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 10/14/10

Perseverance Pays

If you’re on the water, the fish may come to you

The sun was getting low in an overcast sky, night was rapidly falling — and still there were no fish. Conditions were perfect off the shallow-water point, the tide was up, there was good current, a chilly wind was lying down nicely — and only one other boat was present. But no fish. Fish Are Biting Better weather and cooler water temperatures have jumped the fall bite into the red zone. Nice rockfish are schooling at the mouths of all of the major tributaries and are...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 10/7/10

Two's a Party

Vertical jigging snares many a pair

Three weeks of big wind and steady rain got me thinking about a trip this time of month last year. Back then, it was calm and lovely, and we were drifting a bit south of one of the Bay Bridge rock piles in 30 feet of water. I had just lowered my rod tip to let the flashing lure at the end of my line flutter back down to the bottom. Fish Are Biting The relentless wind and rainstorms have pretty much killed the fall bite. Besides muddying the water and scattering the...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 9/30/10

The Key to Catching

If at first you don’t succeed … try something different

Sundown was only a half-hour away as I steered my skiff toward another deserted shoreline. Well out, I switched over to my electric trolling motor and eased into casting range. My target was a rip forming over the nearest of a number of mostly submerged stone jetties jutting sharply out from the shoreline. Fish Are Biting Rockfish remain the stars of the fall bite. Live-lining, chumming and trolling are the preeminent methods of securing a limit as the water temperatures have...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 9/23/10

A Sweetwater Slam

Despite heavy winds, I landed a largemouth bass, a bluegill and a pickerel

Most folks know that a grand slam is baseball’s term for a home run with the bases loaded. Angling has its own slam. A Chesapeake Bay slam is landing a rockfish, bluefish and Spanish mackerel on the same day. The freshwater version is typically a largemouth bass, a pickerel and a bluegill. Fish Are Biting When winds permit, there is great fishing on the Chesapeake. Trollers are starting to do well pulling small spoons, fast and on top for Spanish mackerel and blues, slow and low...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 9/16/10

Catching the Fall Bite

In the shift to shallow water, tackle makes the difference

Live-lining small Norfolk spot remains the surest bet for a limit of striped bass on the Chesapeake. But light-tackle lure fishing grows more exciting as our waters cools with September’s chillier weather, when striped bass behavior changes. Fish Are Biting The shallow-water rockfish bite is growing more reliable after the warmer-than-usual water temperatures. So live-lining Norfolk spot around the Bay Bridge pilings, off of Podickery Point, Hackett’s and around Thomas Point...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 9/2/10

The Bay at Its Best

Top-water fishing’s all about how you play the lure

The quiet waterscape flowing around us was only dimly illuminated by the first blush of a calm and breaking day as my son and I made our casts. Drifting slowly in our skiff on the fresh start of a gentle ebb, we were moving about 100 feet out and parallel to a long, weathered bulkhead, footed by heavy, barnacled stone piled along its base. Fish Are Biting Rockfish, Spanish mackerel and bluefish are making life interesting for anglers enjoying our nearly perfect weather the past week or so....

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 8/26/10

The Sporting Dog

All our canine companions evolved from the hunter

Watching my German shorthair pointer, Sophie, enter an autumn game field never fails to send a quiver of anticipation through my being. She operates with certainty in an arena where I can only guess at what is about to transpire. A hunting dog is grace, speed, focus and intensity. Humans are acolytes when we accompany a dog into the wild. Pausing as we enter a cover, she will lift her head and taste the air. Instantly she knows the history that has recently transpired unseen before us. The game...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 8/19/10

Rockfish Own the Night

To play with them, you need to know the rules

The Chesapeake had at last become quiet. The Bay’s summertime revelers — with their boats, jet skis and water toys — had fled home hours ago. Even the gulls were finally mute, settling into their roosts for the evening. But as deep darkness descended, my fishing partner, Christian, and I sat motionless at anchor in my small skiff positioned about 100 feet from a heavy rock jetty. Fish Are Biting The rockfish live-lining bite remains incredible this summer. It is as sure a...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 8/12/10

The Fisherman’s Holiday

That’s when the fisherwomen bring home the fish

As we entered the Atlantic and the big ocean swells effortlessly lifted our 85-foot head boat, Thelma Dale IV, I recalled the words of one of my favorite authors, Tom McGuane: “I fish all the time when I’m at home, so when I go on vacation, I make sure to get in plenty of fishing.” That has always been my guiding philosophy. Our annual family vacation at Bethany Beach had been for many years, at my insistence, a time for a lot of oceanside and Assawoman Bay angling and...