Fishing

Remembering the Rockfish Ban

Middle-schooler’s project reminds us that we owe today’s big stripers to ’80s moratorium

Kathy Knotts

Eighth-grader Brian Zagalsky has been fishing since he was three years old. Now his love of reeling in big fish is paying double dividends. The Annapolis Middle Schooler’s class project for National History Day grew into a prize-winning exploration of Maryland’s five-year rockfish moratorium launched in 1985.

article – Fishing

History & Lore

News

People

– by Kathy Knotts – 4/27/17

My First Trophy of the Year

Catching this rockfish was one great feeling

Dennis Doyle

I hadn’t been set up long. Fishing big chunks of cut fresh alewife on the bottom in 40 feet of water, I saw the rod in its starboard holder quiver, then dip. I reached over and slid the reel’s clicker off so there would be no resistance on the line. The spool started up, then stopped, then started up again … ever so slowly.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

Fishing

– by Dennis Doyle – 4/27/17

The Oracle of Mill Creek

Leo James knows better than most what’s swimming down there

Dennis Doyle

In gauging the chances of a successful fishing season, I have learned to distrust the forecasting of state and conservation officials as fraught with politics and self-interest. Worse, my own guesses have proven wrong so often that I’ve learned to stop making them. There has been, however, one source I rely on year after year. I’ve come to think of this fellow with his thick mane of white hair as the Oracle of Mill Creek.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

Fishing

People

– by Dennis Doyle – 4/20/17

Mind Your Line!

Monofilament catches more than fish

Sarah Jablon

How often do you consider how your actions impact the environment? If you fish, the answer should be, every time I go out on the water. Discarded fishing line is a small issue with big consequences. Every year, birds and other wildlife are injured or killed by monofilament line. Working with osprey at Patuxent River Park, naturalist Greg Kearns witnesses this tragedy firsthand.

article – Fishing

News

– by Sarah Jablon – 4/13/17

Borrow a Rod at Mountain Road Library

Sorry, but you’ll have to catch your own fish

Sandra Olivetti Martin

When you want to check out a book to read, you probably wouldn’t head to your local tackle store. Yet if you want to catch a fish, you might start at the library. Specifically, the Anne Arundel County Library on Mountain Road. Fishing poles are the latest addition to the library’s multimedia collection to, in the words of County Library chief Skip Auld, “educate, enrich and inspire our customers.”

article – Fishing

News

– by Sandra Olivetti Martin – 4/13/17

Giants of the Chesapeake

Use light-tackle techniques for the fairest fight

Dennis Doyle

If you want the best odds for hooking up and landing the most and the biggest migrators in the early trophy rockfish season, then troll. A wide spread of big baits with multiple heavy-action trolling rods spooled with 30- to 50-pound line will give you a definite edge.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

Fishing

– by Dennis Doyle – 4/13/17

Psyching out the Big Rockfish

Trophy season opens in just a week

Dennis Doyle

The trophy rockfish season is fast upon us. These migratory trophy-sized fish are in spawning mode. First they move up the Bay to their natal headwaters. Then, having spawned, they move back down the Bay, returning to the Atlantic. They move in pods unpredictably. Thus fishing in a fixed spot or targeting a specific area is not the most productive strategy. Constantly moving and presenting baits continually over an area as large as possible is the better method. That’s trolling.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

Fishing

– by Dennis Doyle – 4/6/17

Don’t Lose Your Trophy to Old Line

Proper preparation prevents poor performance

Dennis Doyle

You can never trust Maryland’s March weather. Another certainty is the march of time, which puts us only a couple of weeks from Trophy Rockfish Season, opening April 15. Cold or warm, snow, sleet, rain or sun, the striper season is fast arriving. So don’t make opening day your first day on the water. I take at least a week for a shakedown cruise or two plus scouting trips to get ready. That means now is the time to get going.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

Fishing

– by Dennis Doyle – 3/23/17

Catching a Bay Treasure

White perch make good sport and better eating

Dennis Doyle

March brings a springtime treasure that almost makes up for its treacherous weather: white perch. These tasty fish have just begun to show up in the creeks, though the winter storm that tormented the Northeast coast might delay the bulk of their numbers.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

Fishing

– by Dennis Doyle – 3/16/17

Testing the Late-Winter Waters

If an extraordinary day comes your way, grab your gear and get fishing

Dennis Doyle

Friend and neighbor Frank Tuma and I were enjoying a combination shakedown cruise and yellow perch outing on the Magothy River. At Beachwood Park, we noted a number of anglers milling about with about as much success as we were enjoying, which was none. No one seemed to care. It was enough to get out on the water.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

Fishing

– by Dennis Doyle – 3/9/17

Remembering the Rockfish Ban

My First Trophy of the Year

The Oracle of Mill Creek

Mind Your Line!

Borrow a Rod at Mountain Road Library

Giants of the Chesapeake

Psyching out the Big Rockfish

Don’t Lose Your Trophy to Old Line

Catching a Bay Treasure

Testing the Late-Winter Waters

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