Articles by Dennis Doyle

Of Hares and Hounds

A few Marylanders still follow the hounds that follow the hares

Danny’s 12-gauge pump boomed out twice off to my left as a streaking gray rabbit cut in and out of a long, narrow copse of briars parallel to us. Raising my 20-gauge and trying to track the tricky rabbit as it neared my position, I fired twice as well, also to no effect. Then the cottontail melted into cover. He was gone. Dejected, I opened my over-under to reload when out of the corner of my eye I caught a small motion. The rascal had cut back out of the briars and...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 2/21/13

Lessons to Remember

I wasn’t just fishing last season; I was learning from experience

Cold and rain have had me housebound and dreaming of last fishing season. Along with great memories, I learned a couple of new lessons. My fishing partners and I experimented with different types of fishing lines during an extended chumming and live-lining rockfish bite in the mid-Bay. We fished often, up to four times per week, trying braid, monofilament and fluorocarbon lines. Long ago I discovered that fluorocarbon leaders produced a better bite. Last...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 2/14/13

Ambitious Plans Would Bring Us to the Water

But without ready money, plans are just plans

In a bold, all-encompassing and optimistic plan, the National Park Service (NPS) has finally brought together all of the players that enjoy the waters creating our great Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Public Access Plan includes Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, New York and the District of Columbia. No prior federal planning efforts for the Chesapeake have attempted anything of this geographical scope. Fishfinder Yellow perch runs are showing...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 2/7/13

Chore Time

Use the off-season to get your gear ready for the fish

If you’re like me, you tried to fish all the way to the end of the season. So your tackle was never put up properly. Now that there’s little angling left, outside of possibly a little pickerel action, it’s time to care for your tackle. The chore is necessary if you expect to hit the ground running in the spring. Get a sponge, some good dishwashing detergent and thoroughly clean each of your fishing rods, hitting the guides with an old...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 1/24/13

Take Me to the Water

Anne Arundel Recreation and Parks promises new effort

Anne Arundel County has the longest Bay shoreline in Maryland at 534 miles, embracing five major rivers and countless creeks and streams. It is home to 40,000 registered boaters. Yet unless you own waterfront property or live in a water-privileged community, you have virtually no access to the Chesapeake or its tributaries. Last week the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks presented a draft of a new Land Preservation, Parks and Recreation Plan. A number of...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 1/17/13

The World’s Best Saltwater Fly

And a few tips on tying it

Look up the word ubiquitous in any saltwater fly-fishing dictionary and you’ll see a picture of a Clouser Deep Minnow streamer fly. Look up the word quintessential and pictured will be that fly in a chartreuse-over-white pattern. The Clouser is the world’s most popular saltwater fly. It has caught every species of saltwater fish that can be caught on a fly and arguably does it better than any streamer ever invented. The chartreuse-over-white pattern is its most...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 1/10/13

Looking Ahead to 2013 Fishing

You don’t have to wait until summer for the fun to start

The coming year will be filled with many outdoor opportunities on the Tidewater, particularly if you’re an angler. The best part is your adventures could start very soon, mid-January, in fact. Yellow perch continue their remarkable comeback around the Chesapeake. The bite traditionally begins this month on the Susquehanna Flats at a large staging area near the mouth of the Elk River. Lots of big neds school there from surrounding waters and hold in...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 1/3/13

A Victory for the Bay

Menhaden gain recognition and protection

Friday, December 14, 2012, is a day that makes a difference. On that day, menhaden — a fish virtually inedible to humans and once numerous but now endangered — gained recognition and protection as a vital component of our complex marine ecosystem. Meeting in Baltimore, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission declared its intent to protect Atlantic menhaden from continued commercial over-fishing, which has reduced the species to eight percent of its...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 12/20/12

Angling through the Months

The Bay offers good action nearly year-round

Yesterday a cold rain fell for hours. Wind followed. Today came with heavy fog and a chill that banished any thoughts of getting out on the Bay for one last fling at the rockfish. As Jim Morrison phrased it, “This is the end, my friend.” But it has been a good, even a very good, season. The 2011 winter of no winter segued nicely into an equally mild early 2012 season. It was a bit windy, but lack of rain and warm temperatures made early season fishing comfortable...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 12/13/12

The Year’s Last Rockfish Hoorah

Rockfish are biting, and you’ve got until December 15 to catch them

As December opened, we’d dropped anchor off the Hackett’s can in 35 feet of water. I set up the chum bag off our stern and had cut some pieces of fresh alewife, when suddenly everything started going right — and wrong — at the same time. My friend Mo had already baited and set out one rod and was casting his second when his first outfit got hit hard. He had neglected to set his bait running clicker. When the fish took off against the free spool, it...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 12/6/12