Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

Are My Ears Deceiving Me?

It should be too early for croakers, but who’s complaining?

It was our first drift. My two youngest sons, both still in their teens, were holding medium-weight spin rods poised over the side, awaiting action. Spooled with 12-pound line and baited with pieces of common grocery-store shrimp, with an ounce-and-a-half sinker, the rig dropped right to the bottom where the fish were — without overpowering the twitching tips of their six-foot sticks.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

– by Dennis Doyle – 5/5/11

Breaming with Joy

Seek bluegill, or bream, in sweetwater when the dogwood blooms

It was warm and sunny, a lovely day with a light, early morning breeze coming out of the southeast. I hadn’t seen a day like it in some time, and from the last weather forecast, I knew that I might not see another for perhaps longer still. Hurrying, I slid my squat, blue dingy into the back of the pickup and filled it with tackle, battery and an electric motor. Then I headed for the Eastern Shore.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

– by Dennis Doyle – 4/28/11

Though April Showers Come Our Way

Surely the fishing will get better in May

Cold, rain, wind and otherwise miserable weather. That’s the standard spring day in 2011. I can’t remember another year when I have gotten so few days on the water by this time.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

– by Dennis Doyle – 4/21/11

Torn Between Two Loves

It’s open water vs. sweetwater

This time of year brings conflict for me. The Trophy Rockfish Season beckons with the promise of big fish on big water, a temptation that is almost impossible to resist. Yet there is another of nature’s sirens murmuring in my ear. This one promises even more luscious treats to be had as the sweetwater bite blossoms.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

– by Dennis Doyle – 4/14/11

Trophy Rockfish Season

April 16 is the big day

Anglers have been waiting for this event for more than 120 miserable days, ever since the season closed last December 16. These have been cold, snowy, rainy, windy days, days without hope of even a glimpse of Mr. Pajama-sides. But all of that is over on April 16, when Trophy Rockfish Season begins at last.1

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

– by Dennis Doyle – 4/7/11

Between White Perch and Hickory Shad

Chesapeake Bay’s most common and perhaps least common catches

Sending out a chartreuse shad dart tipped with a grass shrimp toward the dark water of the far bank, I let it sink for a brief three-count before tightening up my line. Almost immediately there came a sharp tap, and I set the hook. My rod bowed as I leaned into yet another lively white perch.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

– by Dennis Doyle – 3/31/11

White Perch Have Sprung

To catch them, fish fresh shallows of tribs

The spring equinox has kicked this year’s white perch run into overdrive. An increasing amount of daylight in early spring is one of the prime stimulants to the white perch spawn. The equinox, coupled with our recent record rainfalls, has gotten this best loved denizen of the Tidewater moving early.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

– by Dennis Doyle – 3/24/11

The Coming Season Is Now

Day by day, new fish come our way

Our new angling year on the Tidewater is rich with possibilities. But if you don’t plan to take advantage of what’s happening now, some good times may slip past. A number of particularly great fisheries have already started.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

– by Dennis Doyle – 3/17/11

Knotty Matters

If you want to catch fish, you’d better know how to tie a fisherman’s knot

One simple thing an angler can do to help catch more big fish is learn to tie the right knot correctly. In a life of fishing and after working in a sports store for a good number of years and listening to countless tales of big fish broken off, I’ve learned many anglers aren’t sure which knot to tie or how to tie it.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

– by Dennis Doyle – 3/10/11

New Year's Day

Finally, out of the cabin and onto the water

We had been fishing about two hours for yellow perch without a bite. Still, we were happy as clams. Mike E., poised in the front of my skiff, was not even upset the third time he fouled his spoon-rigged minnow in a tree over the opposite bank. I stowed my rod and moved our skiff toward his problem.

article – Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle

– by Dennis Doyle – 3/3/11