Articles by Dennis Doyle

Rabbits and Hounds

February is the grand finale of the rabbit hunter’s year

Charles Rodney was poised precariously atop a low pile of downed tree toppings, matted with honeysuckle and woven through by sharp briars. The bright orange of his hunting shirt and hat made him visible through the thick undergrowth. He held his shotgun safely off to the side, and stomped the brush pile, first with one foot, then the other. “Come on Slim, find ’em. Copper! Here Copper, get over here. Jack, get back in here. Come on Lou, hunt ’em up. Ya, ya...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 2/16/12

DNR vs. Outlaw Watermen

After 143 years, it’s time to win this battle

At long last, Maryland’s commercial oyster industry is about to come under control of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Comprehensive recommendations like these are the only way to save that great public natural resource. That 143-year-old report to the General Assembly of Maryland by Hunter Davidson, commissioner of the State Oyster Police, recommended “enactment of a law restraining and regulating the present thoughtless and improvident industry...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 2/9/12

First Sign of the Coming Spring

Yellow perch are here

Daylight hours have been getting longer, yet most days, temperatures keep us in winter. But the yellow perch know that their springtime is here. Moving now into the deeper water of the tributaries, they are forming large schools and staging. Yellow perch are the earliest fish to spawn in the Tidewater, and their run is the first trumpet sounding the Bay’s piscatorial spring. Called yellow neds, ring perch or just plain neds, they are one of the most...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 2/2/12

Antidotes for the Anglers’ Blues

Eat, drink, see movies and strengthen your skills

Ye gads it’s been a difficult winter! Today it’s bitter cold and windy, and the long-range forecast looks like a lot more of the same, except for the charming likelihood of a few days of freezing rain. With two of my offspring still in college, there is no fiscal possibility of escaping to the tropics. I’ve got to face up to the inevitable, the imminent approach of the most agonizing month of the year, February....

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 1/19/12

January on the Magothy

Who can resist the water on a mild day?

January’s first Saturday afternoon was a beautiful time to be on the water. It was near 70 degrees, sunny, calm and the incoming tide was making up nicely. Drifting in my small skiff over a shell bottom at the mouth of the Magothy, I threaded a piece of worm on a size-two hook. The upper hook on my top and bottom rig already sported a small, wriggling bull minnow. Fishfinder Up in the tributaries is the place to fish in the mid-Bay, with lots of...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 1/12/12

Rockfish in Review

It was a mostly great year

The rockfish season this year was, on the whole, great. It didn’t start until June because spring was a three-month mix of heavy rains, high winds, muddy water and low temperatures. While that early scenario was disappointing for anglers, it was fantastic for the fish, because just about every species that reproduces in the Chesapeake had a very successful spawn. In spite of the spring weather, the June bite started out hot. Live-lining took the limelight right from...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 12/22/11

The Last Rockfish

The season ended December 15. No more keepers until April.

Tic, tic, tic: I could feel my two-ounce bucktail jig bouncing lightly across the remnants of the centuries-old oyster bed some 70 feet below. On this windy, mid-December day, even with gloves my hands were aching cold and my fingers growing numb. Then, finally, something below felt different, and I slammed my rod back hard. The tip arced over, hesitated, and my whole rod was pulled down, almost to the gunnel. The drag started to hiss. Fish on! Fishfinder ...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 12/15/11

Gotta be Good to be Lucky

Bringing home the fish on a captain’s holiday

With winter approaching and their businesses winding down, Chesapeake fishing guides Frank Tuma and Tom Hughes finally had a few days off. Of course they decided to go fishing, and they invited me and my friend Maurice Klein to join them. Cruising down from the Magothy in Frank’s 29-foot C Hawk Downtime, we reached the Bay Bridge at 11am. It was fantastic weather for early December, light winds, 60 degrees, bright and sunny with a nice running, outgoing tide. ...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 12/8/11

The Last Hurrah

It’s time for the big guys

They started to arrive late last week. First you saw a few 38- and 40-inch rockfish in angler’s boat boxes. Then the really big guys appeared, up to 47 inches so far. The ocean-run migratory fish have reached the mid-Bay, and they are awesome. Falling mainly to anglers trolling big lures deep, at 40 to 60 feet, the monsters are providing lots of thrills after we’ve been struggling the last several weeks to get fish over 18 inches. It’s a welcome change....

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 12/1/11

Holding Back Winter

Even this time of year, you might find a rockfish. Or two.

The temperatures were actually mild the other day. Rain and wind were forecast as an all-day certainty, but I kept a close eye on the weather. Late that afternoon, sure enough, the stiff breeze lay down. With no looming sign of rain from the heavy cloud cover, I hooked up my trailered skiff and headed for the Bay. My heart was set on a fresh rockfish dinner. Splashing the boat barely an hour before sunset, I headed full throttle over a glassy calm for my favorite rocky cove...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 11/24/11