Regulars (Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle)

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 12/2/10

Savoring Season’s End

Adrenaline warms up the last days of rockfishing

The chill was familiar for this time of year, damp and penetrating. A soft gloom had settled over the water with the arrival of some heavy cloud cover, and I noticed that the tidal current running against a fresh wind had just added an eager chop to the mix. Fish Are Biting The big winter rockfish are still a bit to our south, but they are showing up in ever-better numbers. Stripers in the 40-inch range and carrying sea lice fresh from the ocean have been encountered near...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 11/25/10

Cold Comfort

Big rockfish make foul-weather fishing worth while

Getting in on the early-winter rockfish bite can be quite unpleasant. Except for the lucky anglers with big, enclosed boats that can safely and comfortably ply our cold, windswept Bay, most anglers this time of year must simply deal with November’s increasingly nasty weather. Fish Are Biting Good fishing for stripers is occurring throughout the main Bay, with fish to seven pounds being taken by trolling, fishing cut bait, chumming and casting to breakers. Farther south,...

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

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 - 11/11/10

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 - 11/4/10

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 - 10/21/10

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 - 10/14/10

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 - 10/7/10

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 - 9/30/10

The Key to Catching

If at first you don’t succeed … try something different

Sundown was only a half-hour away as I steered my skiff toward another deserted shoreline. Well out, I switched over to my electric trolling motor and eased into casting range. My target was a rip forming over the nearest of a number of mostly submerged stone jetties jutting sharply out from the shoreline. Fish Are Biting Rockfish remain the stars of the fall bite. Live-lining, chumming and trolling are the preeminent methods of securing a limit as the water temperatures have...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 9/23/10

A Sweetwater Slam

Despite heavy winds, I landed a largemouth bass, a bluegill and a pickerel

Most folks know that a grand slam is baseball’s term for a home run with the bases loaded. Angling has its own slam. A Chesapeake Bay slam is landing a rockfish, bluefish and Spanish mackerel on the same day. The freshwater version is typically a largemouth bass, a pickerel and a bluegill. Fish Are Biting When winds permit, there is great fishing on the Chesapeake. Trollers are starting to do well pulling small spoons, fast and on top for Spanish mackerel and blues, slow and low...