Dogs Love Fishing, Too!

You probably already love duck hunting with your best friend – your dog – but do you take him or her fishing, too? Dogs of all sorts love fishing and being on boats, and it’s more fun to bring them along than it is to leave them at home. Or, at least it is as long as you remember these important tidbits about fishing with dogs.

• Bring plenty of freshwater, and a way for the dog to drink it. You need a bowl or at least a cooler tray or similar object, because if you pour it from a bottle the dog will miss more than half of the water. We’re not worried one bit about spilling water all over the place, but that pooch is likely to get very hot out there and dogs can’t sweat. Instead they pant to cool off, and you need to keep them well-hydrated.
• Mind your bait like you never have before. Many dogs (Finn included) won’t hesitate to munch down sun-baked menhaden or a chunk of peeler crab. The resulting mess (when your former bait re-enters the atmosphere a few minutes later) is NOT pretty.
• Mind your hooks like never before. Some dogs will snap at a swinging lure or a baited hook, with obviously horrible results. You have to act as though you have a two-year-old child aboard at all times.
• If you’ll be fishing from a boat and your boat has fiberglass decks, bring a carpet remnant or a large matt, and place it on the deck for the pooch. Their paws tend to slide right across slick fiberglass, and they may have trouble standing up if you don’t place something on the deck that they can get a purchase on.
• Doogie life jackets? Well, Finn can swim circles around me so I don’t put one on him (even when duck hunting; neoprene vests can compress the naturally-insulating hair of some species, and make them much colder than they would be if they were swimming unencumbered). That said, there are other species out there that aren’t great swimmers. In that case, it would certainly be a good move.

Yes, it will take a bit more work and a bit more prep to take your dog fishing with you. But we can promise one thing: the dog will appreciate it, and love you that much more for it – and you’ll be glad you went the extra mile for your best friend.