Articles by Dennis Doyle

Master Angler at Work

Joseph Capozzolli is one of a new species of Chesapeake waterman

A few hardy souls on the Chesapeake still fish to live. Commercial fishing, one of our oldest and most demanding occupations, is fast disappearing in even the farthest reaches of this vast estuary. The causes are, on the one hand, the collective pressures of our times, so high they easily overwhelm a species, be it fish or humans who labor to catch them. On the other hand, it’s our slow recognition that many of our hard-pressed living natural...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 11/17/11

Autumn Afield

I can’t resist South Dakota’s 7 million pheasants

We hadn’t gotten a dozen yards into the thick growth bordering the harvested cornfield when the first rooster burst out — behind me. I whirled, shouldering my model 12 Winchester (circa 1929), swung through the bird and fired. The ringneck dropped like a stone. Our 2011 South Dakota pheasant-hunting season had officially begun. Nearby, my oldest son, J.P., gave me a thumbs-up as I slipped the bird into my game pouch and re-established my place in our line...

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

The Spectacular Spec

Spotted sea trout don’t frequent our neck of the Bay, so you want to get out there when they do

I was wade-fishing off Thomas Point Park when the fish hit my Clouser fly. Casting the weighted streamer around a boulder-strewn area in about four feet of water, I felt the take, and right away I knew it was not a rockfish. The strike was tentative, and the fish immediately broached and flashed a spotted iridescent lavender-hued flank. It was a spec trout and the first one I had caught in quite awhile. I fought the fish with a soft hand, my long rod making this an easy task...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 11/3/11

A Spawning Success?

Was this year’s good news because of — or in spite of — our fishery practices?

The Young of Year Survey for striped bass spawning success in the Chesapeake Bay for 2011 is a whopping 34.6, the fourth highest on record since the Department of Natural Resources began this statistical measurement 58 years ago. Since our resident rockfish population has declined by approximately 30 percent over the last decade, this is great news indeed. Twenty-two survey sites are visited monthly from July through September each year by DNR biologists, who collect fish...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 10/27/11

Etiquette for Breakers

How to get your fair share when fish and birds are feeding

It had started as a brisk, calm morning, but the fish weren’t in the shallows where I had hoped to find them. After a futile hour, I followed Plan B to the Bay Bridge to find only little guys there. I was calling it a day and heading in when I saw a wisp of smoke to the north. Thinking it odd, I watched for seconds until I realized it wasn’t smoke at all. It was a swarm of feeding seabirds, their numbers growing by the second. Securing my gear, I fired up the...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 10/20/11

Beating the Elements

When conditions are rough, the catch is all the sweeter

The 20-knot northerly wind was supposed to have laid down by dawn. Of course it didn’t. Mike and I nonetheless launched at first light and, despite the snotty weather, were soon anchored off one of the western-side Bay Bridge supports and tossing chunks of weighted soft crab back into the structure. My skiff was rocking and rolling, but we were determined. Our battle plan had morphed into simply getting four legal stripers as quickly as possible, then heading home....

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 10/13/11

Into October Fishing, I Go

Quietly and with hope

The tide was beginning to briskly move out as I lowered the hydraulic spike on my shallow-water anchor. Positioned a dozen or so yards off a long, heavy rock jetty in four feet of water, my skiff came to an abrupt stop, then swung about with the current. The light was already getting low in an overcast early evening gloom. I took my time getting my tackle ready and letting the water settle. When the bite has been difficult, it’s always a good idea to be cautious with...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 10/6/11

Getting a Proper Grip

Another week, I’m sitting home cleaning the gear

The past two weeks have been frustrating. Constant marine forecasts for morning rain and thunderstorms have been followed by calm, balmy mornings with lovely overcasts that have not only been rain-free but ideal for working the edges of the Bay for marauding rockfish. Those same low clouds are excellent concealment for any nasty squalls that do make their way down the Chesapeake. A squall could be on you with no warning whatsoever. Over my many years on the water, I’ve...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 9/29/11

Waiting for the Bay to Clear

Use the down-time to clean your gear

Today I put on long pants for the first time since last June. Normally this is not entirely a bad thing because chilly fall weather means that bigger rockfish will be in the shallow water I love to fish. But not right now. Around our neck of the woods the fishing is pretty much on hold, and it may take some time before it returns to normal. The upper- to mid-Chesapeake has been a disaster zone for angling. Satellite maps of the Bay (http://mddnr.chesapeakebay.net/...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 9/22/11

Fishing Our Big Muddy

When the fish bite, you gotta be there to catch them

First came Irene, then seven straight days of even greater deluge from Tropical Storm Lee. With so much forced inactivity, I was on the brink of angling despair. When the forecast suggested our first day of precipitation-free weather, I loaded my skiff. Arriving at the ramp and launching at first light, I had no misconceptions about my chances. All the Bay’s tributaries had been swollen in flood stage for days. Water was the color of coffee with...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 9/15/11