I mean really? It's a well known that the scent of a dog can spook fish. Dogs go out in the water (some species do) and splash around and make noise. Combined with their heavy scent and the strong sense of smell fish have, it will put fish off the bite most of the time. Not to mention the pain it is to other anglers who may not want to deal with a dog running up to them and barking or licking, etc. The other day, I saw a guy sitting on a rock with his rod laying next to him while he was tying up. Another guy's dog ran over to him and after a few seconds, got tangled up in the guy's line and when it tried to run away, it drug the guy's G Loomis rod about 8 feet over some big rocks. Aren't dogs supposed to be kept on a leash?

A well-mannered dog does not not hurt anything at all....it is the dogs that are allowed to run loose that can cause havoc. Do not blame the dogs but blame owners.

Agree with Sparkey. Usually the owner, not the dog.

Actually, depends on the County. Some counties have leash laws, some don't. I know in Pierce, dog must be on a leash at all times, or under immediate control. But in Kitsap, at least in the Olalla area, dogs are allowed to run free. Have watched animal control seize animals on the Pierce side in GH, but the kitsap A.C. will drive by dogs they see. They will only stop if dog is dead, or if there is a complaint that dog has bit someone, etc. So, you'd have to check country ordinance (In Pierce, there is no exceptions, even for rural areas).

It may be their only friend.




herm

so they can poop in the river

i third the motion, well mannered dog(s) are welcome at the fishin hole, i don't think the fish really care, elk, cows, deer cross the river, there's gas exhaust in the river and/or residential run off & if i could afford a G-Loomis no mutt is going to be providing the locomotion for it, well mannered or not..

What's worse an ill mannered dog, or someone ill mannered kid? Nothing more better then having someone's kid throwing rocks in the water while you're fishing. I have never seen a DOG do that!

Don't blame the dog/kid…blame the parent/owner

Dogs are usually not the problem, it's their owners. A good dog is the result of hard work by an owner who gives a damn about his dog and how that dog interacts with anybody at anytime.

Years ago I had an Australian Cattle Dog that would fish with me, bank or boat. She got excited when I hooked a fish and never got in the way. A great companion. Once while camping on our private property on Lake Chelan, three guys in a canoe trespassed and started to set up camp near ours. A visit by me and her snarling teeth and they decided to move on down the lake.

While we're talking about dogs(nfr). My neighbor has two golden retrievers who spend 20 of 24 hours each day in a kennel. When the owners get ready for work each morning and returns home from work, the dogs bark loudly for an hour straight........and they never tell their dogs to be quiet. It's not pleasant. If you own a dog, love it, train it, be with it.

I got a new Cattle dog puppy a few months ago. She's with me 20 out of 24 hours a day. She's wonderful, hopefully you'll see her fishing with me on a river someday.

Just to toss a recent observation into this hot caldron of a topic that comes up every so often.
A couple of weeks ago on the Bogey I watched a guy with a dog catch brat after brat. He and his dog never moved from one rock on the hole. My friend commented on how well the dog behaved because he had a retriever too that he couldn't take fishing because it wouldn't stay out of the water. Anyway, the guy keeps his first fish. Then releases a few others. Later he passes his rod off to a young lady who I'm sure never caught a steelhead before and helped her land it. Aware that he is the only one catching fish on his side, he starts handing off fish after to fish to all the many "friends" he is starting to attract. All this time his dog never moves from his spot and is just as intent on fishing as his master. Now, I have no idea how many brats he caught that day but I'm sure he was still catching fish after we dropped out of the hole. I did happen to notice however, that each time he handed a fish off to someone else to play, he would sit down next to his dog and quietly pet him till the fish was landed and he got his rod back. It sure didn't seem like the dogs scent, which must have covered this guy, had any adverse effect on his ability to catch fish though.

Oh by the way, we observed a number of other dogs that day and we both noted well behaved they were and what a joy they were to watch. Wish I could say the same for a number of other compadres that would have done well to follow their example that day.

oh come on I wanna go too!!!! And I don't stink

The problem is very few dogs that I have seen on the rivers are well trained.

No one would mind if your dog wasn't barking, getting tangled in our gear and being a nuisance.

There was a big black mongrel on the Tolt that would snap at our lures on the back cast. I never saw him hooked in the mouth, but it’s a miracle he wasn't. He was hooked in the fur several times. He also would eat our bait, if given the chance. His owner thought it was funny.

Kids, dogs and, fishing buddies can all be great or awful. Depends on how they were trained.

You had me laughing with that one cowfish.

I agree 100% with Jacob , I don't hate dogs or kids BUT neither one has a place on a river bank if they are not kept under control by "Dad", I am tired of driving 100 mi. or more just to get to the fishing hole and have some jerks dog run up to me and jump up on me or try to bite me! I have almost been bitten two or three times. I go fishing to relax Not to have to deal with the guy who never has anybody that will go fishing with him because of his out of control dog. I agree that it is the masters fault that thier dog is out of control But try to tell them that and see what kind of reaction you get from him ,so what do you do? Just give up your fishing in that area that you just drove two hours to get to so some jerk can bond with his dog and ruin the fishing for everyone, I don't know about the rest of you but I go to Catch Fish and get sick and tired of having to deal with someone else's problem. As far as the scent of a dog they Do carry a chemical scent called L-serene , it alarms fish and makes them quite aware that there is a preditor in the immediate area, l-serene is released through the pores and in tests done by fish biologists Dogs tested higher than anything else ,ever wonder why the guy next to you was catching fish using the same exact thing you were and you weren't catching anything ?it could have been that you had a higher amount of l-serene in your system on that particular day . l-serene is produced from the amount of meat consumed so if you had taco bells El Grande beef burritos for dinner there is a good chance that you have a high amount of l-serene in your pores, I know some of you will say that this is all a bunch of bull but do a search on l-serene or talk to a fisheries biologist . By the way Mooch it is possible to take your dog fishing and cast upstream and out and catch fish because the scent of the dog is going downstream Not up, the person you talked about that was catching one fish after another when nobody else was had the Hot spot that day .I have caught a lot of fish standing next to other guys when they weren"t because I had the slot were the fish were holding, and the same thing has happened to me when someone else was lucky enough to be in the zone. by the way did the fella you talked about punch his card when he handed off his rod to all those other poor fisherman who couldn't catch their own fish or did he have them punch the fish on thiers so he could keep fishing and not give up his spot and make sure that he was the one that caught every fish in that spot instead of letting someone else have a chance of hooking and playing thier own fish!

Never had nearly as many problems with the relatively few dogs and kids I see on the river as I have with the relative horde of inconsiderate adult fishermen.

Can we blame their owners or parents for their rudeness?...

Most the folks on this BB that I have fished with have fished with my dog, Guinness, too. He's a 100 lb. black lab, who loves being outside, especially on the river. He plays around in the bushes behind me, or sits at my feet if I tell him to. He doesn't chase fish, or people, or other dogs, and he doesn't go in the water unless I tell him it's OK.

He especially loves going in boats, and really loves it when people catch fish. He hasn't really figured out the cnr thing, though...the look on his face when I release fish is priceless:

"What the $%@# are you doing? We got up at O dark 30 to just let 'em go?"

He's also the biggest ham in the world, sneaking into almost every fish picture when he's around...and not just mine and my partners', but anyone's. He loves the camera!

Other than that, he's a model fishing partner. He never low holes me, or casts over my line, or starts telling me his life story when I get within twenty feet of him on the river bank.

Unfortunately, he's going on 13 years old and has some increasingly difficult arthritis problems, so he only goes on easy trips with easy gravel bars to walk along.

Whenever people post the "Who would you want to fish with?" threads, I always think I'd like to fish with him more, if he was only up to it. It breaks my heart to pack the truck and see him sitting on the porch watching me, knowing he's not going to get to go that day.

All that being said, a poorly trained dog is a nuisance and a menace on the river. Barking, biting, swimming, grabbing gear or bait, or chasing fish that are being landed are all behaviors that ruin the experience of being out there for most of us.

Dog owners are like sled owners...the problem is not sleds or dogs, the problem is bad sled drivers and bad dog owners.

Some dogs just shouldn't be on the river...and some people just shouldn't own dogs.

Fish on...

Todd.

I was on a river a couple of years ago, walking through some brush to get to the bar. When I poped through, the river was about a hundrfed feet away, I noticed a guy and a gal there. The nex thing I noticed was two pit bulls tearing ass up to me and they were screaming at thr dogs to come back which made no difference. I new at that point this was not good. I took growling, snarling and teeth showing was not a good sign, so when the first dog got within about twenty feet, I shot it and the second dog stoped and turned away. I did not have to shoot that one.
Then they came up screaming at me and cussing at me also. At that point I told them if they have a problem they should call the sherif.
I love dogs and have always had hunting dogs. I don't mind dogs on the river at all, as long as they are under controll. I would hate to think how the situation would have turned out if I did'nt shoot.

I would do the same If I had two pitts running at me. Any dog for that matter comming at me like that would most likely get a bullet if we were on public property anyways.

I think I would've called the sheriff after shooting the dog to have the owner reported. Actually, I don't carry a gun, but would if I thought loose Pit Bulls were a possibility on my rivers. Dogs like that don't belong on public property off-leash. Grown men have been killed or badly injured in similar circumstances. What if you had a child with you?

BTW, Veterinarians love to have clients who fish take their dogs with them. It's good for business! Swallowed fish hooks, salmon poisoning, porcupine quills, foxtails, giardia, lacerations, etc. Sorry, just a veterinarians joke. Still waiting for my annual salmon poisoning case this year.

I hate seeing dogs on the river or at the lake. My daughter is scared to death of dogs. I mean REALLY scared to death. It's not that she hasn't been around dogs. She's seen grandmas 2 big dogs almost every day of her life. She just has this phobia about dogs.
So when people are letting their dogs run amock it really puts a damper on our time together.

When it comes to brats:
Yes, I would.
And yes, I have.

Bingo.

The latter.

To me any day on the river is a great day. Fish or no fish, dogs or no dogs.
But I do need to remember that what doesn’t bother me might be a problem for others. And like many others, I just try to be mindful of folk so that they can have as good a time as I am having, but unfortunately we don't always get it right out there.
One thing is for sure,I won’t be bringing my yappy Shelties anywhere near the river. But, I have been known to get away from the crowds with a good friend a time or two in the past.

Todd: Great stories about your dog Guinness. Cool name, too, it brings back fond memories of five days I spent in Ireland.

Mooch: Great avatar! And a nice pic of the dog and fish. That dog might have a little cattle dog blood in it's heritage.

Great story Todd. Reminded me of our old lab "Grizz". Was an awesome fishing dog. Would simply sit and wait for us on the bank while we fished. Never moved until we were getting ready to leave. Then, we'd let him hit the water if, and ONLY if there were noone else around, or if guys said ok. If too many people, we'd take him around a bend or two to let him have his fun (actually scared some fish into slots for guys lol). Was a sad day for us when his health problems got so bad that we had to put him down (he was 15 at the time). Same problems and a couple more. Miss him dearly.

My Lab now is a spazz. He's a wonderful boat dog. Simply lays down in bow or on floor while we fish. But I would NEVER EVER take him with me fishing the bank. He's a people dog (anyone who attended my jig tying clinic would attest to that). So I know better not to take him bank fishing with me. But in the boat, he's an angel. Actually on the bank he is too, but he wants to be pet and played with. I keep him under wraps (as in, in the car), or on a leash if on the bank if I'm just walking down to check out a river.

I'm pretty sure I know exactly the dog Jacob is talking about. Runs up barking at you like you're breaking into his house and follows after you walk past him barking like mad... I think I might calmly walk up nice and close to the owner and then start viciously barking and growling at the top of my lungs just for fun.

Hi All

I've been lucky enough to have had 2 GREAT Irish Setters. One is still with me and he is not at the point where I would take him fishing. Would love to but I understand that it would not work. He loves to visit to much.

My 1st on the other hand was great to take. I took him on a number of trips on the Sky, Hoh and Quillayute. He understood what fishing was all about and would get so pumped when I hooked/played a fish. On the Hoh he was funny. At the bottom/past Barlow's he would walk into the water and sniff every fisherman, moving up the line until he was finished. Then he would just go and lay down. I always figured he was looking for people who messed with him in his past life.

The one thing that bothers me are the people who bring there dogs/kids to places like the Samish where you have lots of people casting and hooks. poles etc laying around. One day Octoberr we had to constantly tell this kid (7 or sod) to not walk in back of us. He came so close to getting hooked in the head many times. Dad didn't care. He was up 150 fishing and bull****ting.

Have a Great Day

Been lurking on the board for several weeks (this is my first post), and wanted to chime in on this topic.

A friend and I were fishing downriver from my house last Sunday and ran into much the same situation as Mr. Gray did.

I was on the bank, he was in the river just a few feet out and a matched pair of what I believe were pit bulls (brindle colored) came towards us snarling and snapping. Neither of us being armed, I quickly dug my fillet knife out of my pack and slipped it into my back pocket, and fortunately both dogs stopped about 30 yds. away.

Seems most of the folks in our neighborhood let their dogs run free. Most times they are friendly and I'm glad to see them. On occasion one gets down on the river and decides to roll in the dead salmon (currently Chum's) and what a stink! Of course, it is usually one of the friendly labs that like to bounce right up to you to get petted..:-(

Seems like a great group of folks here, and I have learned "tons" just reading through all the back posts.

To whover built this site: THANK YOU!

Mike B

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/readerscast/rc131.html Here is a link that might help some of you to understand what I am talking about, Mooch not only is it not fair to the other fisherman what that guy on the bogey was doing But it is also illegal .

Mooch,

That day on the Bogey was me with the dog, big Alaskan Malmute. But that was not me catching all those fish, and that was my girlfreind who reeled in a very nice fish that the old man of the day handed off. That old man was petting my dog and you are right about dog scent being a problem, in my experience I dont think that it is. This coming from having that same exact dog for seven years and since it was 10 months old it has been on the river, me catching fish the while. But my buddies have dogs and in no way would I ever want to see them on the river bank. The only thing to say is it is definetly the owners fault, for making a wrong judgement and even bringing their poorly trained dog. Oh yeah did I mention that SID was the best dog ever, ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha.

hi todd,
thought I'd pass on a tip for your dog.

Glucosamine

my old lab had such bad hips I was ready put him down when my mouther-in-law gave us a bottle, We already had new puppies for the kids. started him on the pills and he stopped limping in two days. got so he would refuse to go out the door at night if he didn't get his pill(he took it stright up no food to help it down)
he lasted anouther two years before he started limping real bad.

something to try.
eric

Some people have no respect for others period.It doesn't matter whether its dogs on the river, screaming kids in a restaurant,driving down the freeway erratically,littering-dumping garbage or whatever scenario you can come up with they are self centered and could care less about anyone else around them.

Yes I do own dogs but I never put anyone in a position to deal with them unless they choose to.

Wow, hate for my first post to be a rant, but this is a big issue for me! I just went fishing and brought the dog. She is not animal friendly. I am 200% careful with her to avoid other dog owners. But, why do people think it's ok to let their dogs loose because their dogs may be friendly? There is a Washington State leash law and I am sick of dealing with strange dogs running up to my car to sniff my dog when she is obviously not friendly. It's not the dogs fault, it's the owners for not being a good owner. We waited for some guy to launch his boat after telling him we would wait because of his dog (we were there first). He took his darn sweet time then decided to use the lavs while his dog cornered us. Cute, not! I keep my dog away from otheres, on a leash and get irritated by fluffy dog owners that think their dogs are soo cute that everyone eants them to run up to them. My dog is Amstaff (Pit cousin) . For all of you that get nervous around them, they love people more than anything and usually just "rush" you in excitement. I've been rushed by two strange pits also and it is an uneasy experience. But, the Cocker Spaniel will be more likely to bite you than my dog. Don't hate them becvause they are physically superior to most dogs, they are just dogs. It's the training that changes them. Anyhow, leash your dogs please! Or don't bring them if you can't handle them. There's many days my dog doesn't get to go as I don't know if I have to worry about other dogs running loose. She was attacked by 2 loose Mastiffs (140lb and 180lb) and I have never seen horror like that and am glad she took them down and they didn't come after me after charging us. If it was the other way around and she had attacked a poodle, she would have been put down. Even if that dog was offleash. So, I have no sympathy for people that let their dogs loose in public areas!

i woud never bring my dog fishing unless i was going somewhere that i knew that i was the only person and would probably be the only person all day. i dont let dogs in my boat cuz i dont want the distraction or the chance of broken rods. many dogs are better behaved than many fishermen but i would personally not trust my dog enough to be well behaved or many of the other fishermen. sometimes she will sit and protect the truck but that is the closest she gets to the water.

as far as the phermone thing... i tied a pink and white jig with all of the white being malmute undercoat and caught fish on it without washing the fur first. by the way, malmute undercoat works better that yarn for getting caught in fish teeth.

twice now in the last six months someone has shown up with a hound. last fall in eliot bay that cur bayed for about ten hours straight litterally without stop. no matter where they were or i was you could hear that dog like you were in their boat. does anyone remember this day back in about late august or early sept?? that just seemed so far over the line of bad dog ownership.

Rattlefish,

Thanks for the heads up...Guinness is already on both Glucosamine and MSM...it really makes a difference for him.

Fish on...

Todd.

OK, the dogs can't defend themselves on this board! So let's give them a chance, and let's hear some of the great stories out there where our dogs have truly been mans best friend!

If only they could talk about there maters!.....what a thread that would make

Who's going to go first?

Cowlitzfisherman

Rather a dog than a loud mouth fat woman fresh out of the trailer.
Don't have a problem with women, just this one.

Seaweed,
I suppose this should go to a different thread but here goes anyway.
Thanks for the very interesting article which I have no interest in disputing. However, the point was: does I-serene or dog-pit affect your ability to catch brats? I'll stick with my original assertion, which I believe is supported by your article, that it does not. No doubt I've personally used every excuse known to steelheadom as to why I got skunked, but I'd be the first to admit that dog odor was one of the lamest. I'm still working on a excuse that will stick, so let me know if you come up with one better.

As far as the "other fisher" is concerned, fairness may be a subjective thing but the legality issue is something different. Perhaps you can explain how he was fishing illegally. I read the regs again and it does not seem to addresss this situation directly.

It may not say it in the regs but the guy that "hooks" the fish is the 1 who caught it, doesn't matter if he hands it off. I watched a gamie nail a guy at BC a few years ago for this.

I know the answer to this one, ah!! because the dog can't drive himself?

AKKings / Seaweedsam

You said;

Is it your belief that a person can not hook a fish and hand them off to another fisherman with out punching "his card" each time he hooks a fish?

Do you think that just becuase a person "hooks" a fish, that the fish legally belongs to the person who "hooked" the fish?

Is that what you guys are saying?

Cowlitzfisherman

cause the dog wants to get away from the wife for a while also

CFM-Mooch, what I saw at BC probably 10-12 yrs. ago was a 2 guys together, 1 was catching and 1 was not, first guy lands a steelhead, proceeds to hand 2 to his buddy then lands a 4th, while they were cleaning the fish another guy who had been fishing near by (gamie) asks for their licenses, then proceeds to tell the guy who hooked 4 fish that he is being ticketed for 2 fish over his limit, and gave him a 5 minute lecture. I don't know what the final outcome was I'm just telling ya what I saw.

AkKings

Legally, if a person has caught his 2 fish, and has punched out his two legal steelhead, he can no longer continue to fish for steelhead. The exception on that rule would be if salmon season was open and he had a salmon card. He then could continue to fish for, and land salmon. The catch is that the other persons who gets handed the rod, must first bring in there lines first before you can hand off your rod to them. He can land one fish and punch it out and then hook and hand off as many fish has he want's until he puches his last steelhead. Tthen he's done!

It's a little bit different when you are fishing for salmon. Once you have caught your legal limit of adults, you must stop fishing for salmon and that includes jacks. But then again, if you have a steelhead card, and steelhead is open, you can continue to fish for steelhead and you must release any salmon that you may hook. It works the same way when you are guiding too.

Cowlitzfisherman

Akkings,

I've been told by WDFW enforcement just the opposite of what you describe. You "catch" a fish by reducing it to possession. One angler may be holding the rod when a fish bites and then hand it off to another licensed angler, who may play the fish, who could hypothetically hand off the rod to yet a third licensed angler, who may land the fish and reduce it to possession. The angler who reduces the fish to possession (was holding the rod when the fish was landed) caught the fish and must punch his salmon or steelhead card.

If WDFW enforcement has more than one way of interpreting this, THAT is a problem, and I want to check this out with WDFW.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

I don't doubt any of you and the only thing I can think of that may have caused the problem was that the guy doing the hooking also did most of the fighting of the fish. Again, this was a few years ago and details are kind of fuzzy (guess I'm getting old) but I do specifically remember the fish cop telling the 1 guy he was over his limit.

Cowlitzfisherman,

The guy had one steelhead on the bank, and the poles of the people his pole was handed off to were on the bank, if I would of thought that he was doing an illegal act in no way would I of allowed my girlfriend to grab the pole and proceed to bank a steelhead. So it is my understanding that what you are saying is true, and that is how I have always thought it to be.

Maybe I bring my dog to the riverbank for the same reason some people bring their guns.

Matt

It's true!!!

Cowlitzfisherman

AkKings

Lots of fish cops have made that same mistake before!

mr seaweedsam, If i drove 100-150 miles to this great fishing hole full of all this hassle, i think i would go buy a map and find a stream alot less traveled, there is alot of water in the great state of washington and i'm sure you could find your own little utopia. secondly , i have caught alot of fish with our 2 beagles in our boat, pulling plugs not washing hands all day, etc face the facts ,, fish are fickle . some days you catch,
somedays you watch the water go by.

A couple of years back I went fly fishing with my father in law and an expensive guide. Before the trip the guide tried to sell us a variety of flies that he assured me were required to catch fish on the Henry's Fork. I declined, used a batch of flies I tied using hair left over after the groomer cut my mom's terrier. I did fairly well on the dog hair fly. By the end of the day the guide was requesting a couple of my "terrier tail nymphs." Scientific studies may say dogs scare fish but those heavily fished trout sure loved the taste of terrier.