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Topic: NKR - Fishing With Dogs  (Read 1990 times)

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Tinker

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Kevin
  • Location: 42.74°N 124.5°W
  • Date Registered: May 2013
  • Posts: 3304
I may have all the right gear for kayak fishing, but I do, on occasion, like to fish from the banks of the small coastal rivers down this way.  Sure, all I can catch are small trout since small trout are the only fish in these rivers at this time of year, but it's a great way to spend an hour or two with a fly rod.

I'm often alone on the rivers, but when I'm not, I fish with The Dogs.  Until March of this year, The Dogs have been a pair of Labrador Retrievers, Molly and Cocoa, sisters from the same litter.  Molly just turned 15 in August, but old age claimed Cocoa last March.

The Dogs were totally uninterested in fishing and always wondered why I was standing still with so much river bank to explore until I caught a fine trout - an undersized steelhead to be honest about it - and a switch turned on.  "Things live in rivers?  Why didn't you tell us this before?" and they started fishing, too.

Molly was the first one in the family to catch a salmon - and a darned big salmon at that - from a small feeder creek when the salmon lost its mind and beached itself after Molly had chased it a hundred yards upstream and down again a dozen times.  She had it by the dorsal fin, and while some may claim she had to open her mouth to catch her breath, I know she recognized it as a wild fish and practiced ethical catch-and-release.

From that day on, I was never fishing with dogs.  The Dogs would jump in and swim and splash around doing their version of fishing, but raising a ruckus that guaranteed all the fish for miles around were heading for quieter, less doggy surroundings.  We still went to the rivers, but I was merely practicing my casts.

A few weeks ago, I brought home Parker, an English Shepherd pup, to keep Ms. Molly company.  Parker is just completing his vaccinations, so we have to be careful about where he can go for a little while longer.  Up the Elk River, above the Hatchery, where there's nothing but a Wilderness Area upstream, there's a fine pool in the river where Parker can come along and be as safe as he would be in the backyard.

We gave it a try yesterday.  Molly, of course, plunged in - or plunged as much as an old dog can still plunge - in search of fish.  Parker preferred my way of standing in ankle-deep water along the bank of the pool, where I rewarded him for his fine fishing etiquette, and resigned myself to practicing my casts.

It shocked everyone when a trout took my fly.  It wasn't much of a trout, maybe all of 4 inches, but it was a trout and it made the mistake of jumping right after it discovered it was caught on a sharp pointy thing.

Molly is too old to give chase, thank goodness, but that one leap was all it took for Parker to lose his mind and dash into the river.

The little guy had never been in water deeper than his elbows, so he was totally unprepared when he stepped off a ledge into three feet of water.  Momentarily under the surface, he popped up with a shocked look and sputtered, "Did you see that crap?  What the hell is that all about?"  Then, recovering his composure, he headed-out to where the trout had once been, not noticing it was now much closer to me and his dunking had been in vain.

Molly, however, had anticipated that I'd be bringing the fish to the bank and was back next to me, ready and waiting to pounce.  It's true that age and cunning will overcome youthful exuberance.  She's proof.

I use barbless hooks, so it was no problem to dip the tip of the fly rod into the water and shake the little trout off before Molly had another fish, and while it disappointed her, she accepted that I, too, can sometimes be a sportsman about fishing.

Parker, meanwhile, seemed to have forgotten where the bank was and was swimming around in a circle.  Calling him and whistling didn't do any good, and to be fair, he's only 100% reliable about coming when called if there's food involved.

Well, Molly and I stood there watching the little numbskull for a few minutes until it became clear he wasn't going to head for shore, any shore, and we reached Decision Time.  I know I've claimed I don't put my fly rods down in the sand, but I didn't have a hat this time, so I put it down as gently as I could and headed in to get Parker, who was still swimming in a circle in crotch deep (for me) water - until he saw me coming and swam a larger circle, taking him out into five feet of water.

Folks, I'm ashamed to admit that when he did that, I started thinking I could always get another puppy, but I changed my mind when I remembered how much I'd already spent on vaccinations, and followed after him.  He can swim pretty fast, but because he was still swimming in a circle, I could swim just fast enough to catch him as he came past.  I grabbed his back legs, definitely foul-hooking him, but happily, English Shepherds aren't game fish and I didn't have to release him.

Back on the bank, taking inventory, I hadn't thought to take my wallet or my keys (with the electronic bob-thingy), or my iPhone out of my pockets when chasing after Parker.  The electronics are toasted and the list of addresses in my wallet is a soggy mess.  Parker, however, was none the worse for the experience and was running up and down the bank and splashing through ankle-deep water at top speed, and generally oblivious of how close he came to being fish food.

I took a moment to rinse out the reel and made one last cast to neatly reel in the fly line.  Ms. Molly sat quietly, obviously dumbfounded by what she'd just witnessed.  Parker the Idiot went after the fly line!  This time, however, he stopped in chest-deep water (his chest, not mine) and all ended peacefully.

There'll still be no fishing with dogs in my future, and if yesterday foretells the future, I won't even be able to practice my casts when Parker is around - and he'd better learn how to swim towards shore.  The Elk River is darned cold that far upstream.
« Last Edit: September 01, 2018, 08:16:39 AM by Tinker »
I expected the worst, but it was worse than I expected...


BugNerd

  • Herring
  • **
  • Location: Seattle
  • Date Registered: Jul 2018
  • Posts: 48
Great story! Thoroughly enjoyed it (except the losing electronics part, of course).


YippieKaiyak

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Location: Hillsboro, OR
  • Date Registered: Feb 2017
  • Posts: 349
Great read,  thanks!  Definitely made my morning.
Kayaking without wearing a PFD is like drunk driving.  You can get away with it for a while, but eventually someone dies.


Tinker

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Kevin
  • Location: 42.74°N 124.5°W
  • Date Registered: May 2013
  • Posts: 3304
Thanks.  The conditions are perfect for fishing the ocean around here, except there's a really big dredge at work, blocking the harbor.

Nice timing, guys.

And Parker will redecorate the house if I leave him home, so a little bank non-fishing is all that's available right now.  Glad you enjoyed it.
I expected the worst, but it was worse than I expected...


 

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