Anybody take their dogs fishing?

[mainbutter]

I've been thinking of getting a dog sometime soon, and was just thinking about the possibility of having outdoors fun with it. Does anyone take their dogs fishing? How about out in boats?

I was just thinking about the extra precautions you might take when having a dog along, everything from the dangers of hooks to leash laws..

[Nick Kuhn]

Being able to take a dog fishing will depend heavily on the dogs obedience/personality. I would take the dog shore/dock fishing first to see how it responds to flying lures and flopping fish before taking it in the boat. My dogs are not fit to be in the boat, but I've seen plenty of others fishing with their dogs in the boat.

[2thepointsetters]

All of my dogs fish with me. I have no issues but I am REALLY careful with hooks.

[Ralph Wiggum]

My dog enjoys being in the boat with me. I do take him fishing, but I don't take him all the time. He's a Great Dane, so he takes up a fair share of room in my boat, so it's easier without him.

[jwmiller33]

this is my dog

her name is molly, she is a golden and is turning 11 this december 12th. she has lived on a lake for 8 of the first years of her life, so she LOVES the water. now that she is older and kind of mellowed out, she is an extremely well behaved dog. i brought her fishing with me this summer for the first time and she loved it, had a absolute blast. at first when we driving across the lake, she was scared and stayed back by me with the tiller. she got more comfortable later and was up front enjoying the breeze.

dogs are mans best friend and i always look forward to the next time i can bring my dog out... my dog never barks, ever, when were out in the boat. she is too old and mellow for that. barking at random things such as bait, fish, rain, etc, is not her thing. she doesnt even get too excited when a fish is in the boat. she just lays down in the middle of the boat next to me, with her tongue out and smiling, just happy to be there.

[Rick G]

My dog loves the boat but she barks at the fish so she isnt the best partner when im tryin to keep a good walleye bite a secret. Other than that a dog can be fun in the boat just be carefull where your hooks are.

[solbes]

We have a Boarder Collie named Molly. Really awesome dog, but fishing is not her thing. I used to take her out in my old boat because frankly I didn't care about it. I even put up with the barking at lures, barking at waves, and barking at rain. After a few scratches were put in the new boat, she became a dock fishing dog. She was always a little too energetic anyway out on the boat.

I do remember some good times. When it got hot out, I would be turned around doing something and I would hear a huge splash. I spin around and see nothing but bubbles. Then she pops her head up and starts swimming around. BC's are not exactly Labrador's in the water, but she did all right. Tough to lift a wet dog over the gunnels though!

I was lucky with the hooks. But I have heard stories. Be careful!

[newoodhntr]

I take my 10 year old lab all the time. She starts to whine when she sees the boat cover come off all excited to go. The wife lets her swim while I park the truck and that calms her down before fishing.

[Scott M]

Brought my dog along this spring/summer to get her ready for boats this fall (she's a retriever). She enjoyed things, but by late summer my fishing partner had one close call too many and she got kicked out. She moved around a lot the first few times out, then got settled in. She's young and really exciteable. When we caught fish, she wanted to lick them. When we baited hooks, she was all over the bait.

The tipping point was when we were moving spots on the Minnesota River...we were pulling off one spot and I had reeled up and put my rods in the holders...I always took the cut bait off but this time I forgot. She went for the bait on the hook when I turned my back. All the sudden I heard this huge cry, we both scrambled to the floor, and in an instant she had snapped the line. I couldn't find the hook in the mad rush, and I had assumed she had swallowed the hook...the only saving grace was it was a circle hook and I called a buddy near the launch to bring some hydrogen peroxide out to induce vomiting...figured if we got her going she would spit it out and with a circle the point is turned towards the gap so she could expel it. On the frantic drive back to the access I happened to see the hook laying on the boat floor. I was so thankful she hadn't swallowed it...it was a really close call and I was almost delirious because I figured my wife was going to kill me and the vet bill would kill me.

Looking back there were just too many dangers in catfishing to bring a dog into my buddy's boat and put both of us at risk...Fish that flop around with big pectoral spines, BIG sharp hooks, heavy weights, anchors, and ropes, attractive cut bait and stink bait. She stayed home the rest of the summer. Honestly I think we were better off because I didn't have to have one eye on her and one eye on my rod tip. You really need a quiet and stable boat and if the dog is restless at all you can't detect bites and at worst you can scare off fish.

I guess my advice is it really depends on what you are doing. If you don't expose dogs to the dangers I may have, you might be okay. I will take my dog with bass and panfish fishing this spring and summer, but only when I have all my gear stowed and everything under control.

[pushbutton]

i have a 17 year old mutt that has probably gone fishing for the last time, have spent countless hours over the years with his company on the water. if he dosnt make it through the winter, next spring just wont seem the same without him. while he was a spazz in his younger years he, like many of us, mellowed in his older years and became happy just to be there taking in the sights, sounds, and smells. i am truly blessed that i had the patience when he was young and that he was such a dann good dog later in life. here is to the best fishing partner a guy could have. i love you buddy!

[icehousebob]

My #3 son has been taking his Weimeraner out with him since he was a puppy. He's rowdy but has learned to obey. His soon-to-be wife has a Golden so now they go out with two dogs with few problems. My older brother has always fished with his two Small Muensterlanders and they love it. He had to break them of the habit of trying to retrieve the fish as he brought them to the surface. They liked to jump in and grab the fish.

[fivebucks]

My lab fishes with me almost every time out. He's a good boat dog as I worked with him as a pup to be able to fish with me. If you work with them I think most dogs can be good boat dogs.

[Wayne Ek]

I take Dot (a pudelpointer) 2 years old, with me when I'm alone. When we are running she sits on the floor next to me, otherwise she has the run of the boat. I've learned not to have rods out on the deck and to expect her to get excited each time a fish comes to the boat. She has jumped in to retrieve fish and we have had to remove one hook.

[311Hemi]

I've been thinking of getting a dog sometime soon, and was just thinking about the possibility of having outdoors fun with it. Does anyone take their dogs fishing? How about out in boats?

Our dogs love to go out fishing and boating in general. They don't go all the time, especially on some of the bigger trips where all our time is spent on the water. No big extra precautions you need to take other than the obvious exposed hooks and keeping them safe while under way. Make sure you take care of any whining right away, one of my labs is a little more trouble in the boat because he is always whining and wanting to retrieve anything that is in the water. I have had him jump in after lures a few times as well.

He will even help bring in skiers!!

[MNice]

[img:left]

Mine is pretty calm, never a problem with hooks, fish etc.

[Bobb-o]

I take my dog Aspen fishing with me all the time, whenever anyone else gets too close to us she growls at them (which is the only time i have ever heard her growl). The only downside is when i am ice fishing she tends to steal fish from people who are near me and makes a pile next to my fish house

[Sifty]

I take my dogs Brandy and Shelby with me and the family when we go out. It is a joy to have them along with us.

Great pics here as well.

Sifty

[Matt C]

Mine use to love it, until I brought them to Mille Lacs this fall.

Keda, scared and won't move from under my legs!

Wally got a little sea sick in the swells. lol.

[pushbutton]

the picture of wally is priceless, yep, he doesnt look so good.

[Duffman]

If I even THINK of heading out in the boat, this is where you will find Chestnut;

She finds trolling for salmon to be boring;

She'll let you know if your bobbers down. (Believe me, having a constant set of eyes on your bobber is pretty nice.)

I do have to take some precautions with rods and lures, but otherwise she's fun to have with. She enjoys bass fishing the most, there's constant action, maybe not fish, but watching a topwater lure come back to the boat is exciting for her. And judging from her sighs, she'll let me know when it's been too many casts without a fish. Everybody's a critic!

[jwmiller33]

duffman-great lookin dog! i love goldens

[Cooter]

We need Musky Tom to chime in!

I take my lab along both in the boat and while shore fishing. It was tough at first because I usually musky fish so with constant casting and big lures splashing down he wants to go retrieve - especially big topwaters like a hawg wobbler are about more than he can resist!

Tough too when I do hook one - big fish splashing around with a treble hooks everywhere, gotta be careful for sure.

Ice fishing absolutely - you just got to keep an eye for false flags when tip up fishing!

[Duffman]

Thanks jw, I do like my redheads.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I bring my aussie terrier out with me all the time, if I am solo, she has a blast

[bottomdweller]

We have three dogs and they all love to fish. We usually only bring two at a time, three in the boat gets to be a lil much.