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Author:
NSGSplatmaster
Date:
Jun 11, 2009
Subject:
Dealing with Dogs?
Message:
Hey folks, new to the site, and I mostly registered to pose this question. How do you guys deal with dogs? Since I do a lot of my fishing from banks, there are a finite number of sufficiently cleared places to fish on a given pond or lake. A lot of times this public space is shared by a a lot of people - other fisherment, runners, hikers, and people walking their dogs. Diversity is good, and it's nice to see people outdoors. Unfortunately, I've also dealt with a lot of rowdy dogs lately. They get excited and immediately run over to your bait bucket and start knocking stuff about. I usually don't yell at the dog because the owner is nearby and i don't touch them because firstly, I don't think handling other people's animals firmly is always appropirate, and more importantly, I'm allergic to dogs. Today I was fishing Lake Mohegan in Fairfield. My dad has not been fishing in years and I wanted to bring him somewhere with a lot of accessibility and diversity in fish (that gamble paid off. No trout, but largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, yellow perch, and even a pickeral made appearances). Said lake is apparently big with dog owners, according to some sites, and has a no-leash policy in effect. All morning, people's dogs would run over, sniff around, etc. I have no problem with that. But frequently the owners were not near by so I just had dogs rummaging around my stuff. At one point I was tying a new hook on (pops did a good job tangling stuff up: now I was doing for him what he used to do for me when I was a kid, so I guess its only fair ;) ) and a golden retriever flies out of no where and runs through my line. Thankfully for the dog I was holding the hook and the line was only 2 pound test, so it broke - any heavier and the dog could have been injured. The owner walked by nonchalatly without even nodding an acknowledgement. The coup de gras was before we left though. We had moved to another part of the bank when three dogs just jump into the water (with our lines in there) and start swimming around. I reeled in quick so I didnt hook the animals. My dad packed up our stuff in disgust and suggested we leave while the owners stood there smiling like idiots, and then had the nerve to complain at US, saying that there was plenty of area of the lake we could fish and they were as entitled to use the lake space as we were. Of course, neither myself or my dad said they weren't allowed to use lakespace, but that it was both inappropriate, rude, and potentially unsafe for the animals to have the owners allowing them to go barging into the water that people were fishing in. They saw us fishing, and instead of going around, they thought their animals had priority. (One woman even said my dad probably doesn't care about dogs - ironic, since he's a veterinarian and has done a great deal for dogs, among many other animals). Rant aside, what do you guys do in this situation? Do you hold the dog and shoo him away? Do you politely (or not so politely) ask the owners to move on? Or do you move? Either way, I would not suggest fishing the more accessible areas of Lake Mohegan unless you want to potentially deal with idiocy like that. :x
Author:
Bass Addict
Date:
Jun 11, 2009
Message:
yell at the owner and if that doesn't work pull out your flllet knife and gut it.
Author:
pdcrack
Date:
Jun 11, 2009
Message:
i would honestly come up with something like "I'm not trying to be rude, but would you please mind moving on a little further so my father and I can fish here? " type of deal. I dont think that is asking to much of anyone. As for the dogs coming to your area, maybe having some doggie treats or something to occupy them would be good? who knows...
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