Articles by Dennis Doyle

The Sporting Life Afield

For pheasant, there’s no better place than South Dakota

The South Dakota countryside exudes a kind of magic this time of year. It’s generated by a particularly celebrated game bird, the ringneck pheasant. Fish Are Biting The big cold-weather stripers are stalled just to our south but within range of determined anglers. Fish to 40 inches are being encountered below Poplar Island on the Eastern side and near Chesapeake Beach on the Western. Rock in six- and seven-pound sizes are being taken in the mid-Bay, trolling small to mid-sized...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 11/18/10

Sporting Recipes for a Chesapeake Thanksgiving

If you’re thinking of giving a Chesapeake flavor to your Thanksgiving Feast this year, consider two of my favorite outdoor dishes with a Tidewater twist. Fish Are Biting Anglers continue to get their rockfish limits live-lining spot — when they can be found; most of these baitfish have left the Bay for saltier waters by now. Chumming and fishing cut bait (fresh menhaden) is evolving as the method of choice for many anglers seeking legal stripers. Drifting live eels is...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 11/11/10

The Skunk and the Ghost Fish

Encounters under the full moon

An angler’s skunk may stink only metaphorically, but it can be every bit as unpleasant as an encounter with the actual Pepe Le Pew. I’m talking about a day spent fishing without catching a fish. Fish Are Biting Drifting eels is producing really nice-sized rockfish, with 36-inchers being boated on occasion. Chumming and fishing cut bait is working now as well. If you don’t have a favorite honey hole, try the mouth of any of the Bay’s tributaries for some...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 11/4/10

Veterans Invited to Go Fishing

Recreational Outreach Project gives a day on the Bay to those who serve

Veterans and their families are invited to go fishing with Maryland Department of Natural Resources on 35 fall fishing charters now thru Dec. 15, when rockfish season closes. “We are very pleased to give something back to our veterans, who so courageously serve on our behalf — in this case, a day of fishing on our beautiful Chesapeake Bay,” said Gov. Martin O’Malley of the new Recreational Outreach Project for Veterans. Wounded vets and those recently returned from...

Article - News; by Dennis Doyle; 11/4/10

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; 10/21/10

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; 10/14/10

Get Ready to Catch Crabs

Here’s how

This year will be the best season in over a decade for Chesapeake Bay crabbers. The Department of Natural Resources estimates that the blue crab population is up 60 percent, the highest number since 1997. If you want to get a share of this delicious Chesapeake bounty, now is the time to start preparations and acquire the necessary gear. Assuming that you have even the most modest of boats (even a canoe or kayak will do), the best method to employ, especially if you’re just starting...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 5/6/10

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; 10/7/10

The Bay's Other Great Filter

Scooping up suspended plant matter and algae, a typical menhaden filters seven gallons of water a minute, dwarfing even the oyster

Also called pogy, mossbunker, fatback, bugmouth and about 25 other names, they are all the same creature, menhaden, and the most important fish that swims in our Chesapeake. The fish with many names is also an essential resident along the Atlantic seaboard because it is a main ecological building block for our entire marine food web. A schooling, silvery fish about 15 inches long with an enormous mouth and weighing a pound or so, it is bony, smelly and poor tasting. But everything...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 5/20/10

A Box Full of Rocks

So I was wrong about the Jonah

The Bay was calm, the sun was shining and we were relaxed. It was early afternoon and Mike E. and I, anchored in 35 feet of water, had six light-tackle rods rigged with cut, fresh menhaden and set out in rod holders. The closest fishing boat to us was about a mile away. The slick from a block of ground menhaden, submerged in a net bag astern, had spread out well behind us, and Mike was occasionally adding to it a few chunks of fresh menhaden as he prepared additional baits. Usually...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 5/27/10