I had forgotten how good having a forum was, now I get to read what other guys on the Kelvin get up to. This post is taken directly from the forum and I think shows the nature of urban fishing at its best.
Trout and Salmon Guru Aleister Polson writes about a regular issue with urban anglers – dogs! He has found a very good reason not to loathe the buggers jumping about barking and drooling everywhere…
Release the Hounds…
Sometimes fishermen moan about dogs going for a swim in the river. Well not me, certainly not any more after what happened the other week. In fact from now on I might even consider hiring one of the brutes to take fishing. I’d decided to have a cast in a pool I only occasionally bother with, it looks great and I have seen salmon move there once or twice but I’ve never really persevered with it probably because it is such a popular doggy swimming pool. Nine times out of ten when I arrive it’s infested with at least a dozen assorted Labradors chasing sticks and tennis balls. The other week I went for a look and was surprised to find it deserted and took the opportunity to fish it through. I was well down the pool and not having had a sniff was considering moving on when a golden retriever scrambled under the fence panting with excitement. The owner wasn’t far behind shouting strict instructions for it to stay out of the water and not bother the fishermen. That’s uncommonly considerate from a dog walker thinks I , and shouted back graciously “ nae fish in here, you’re fine , let me take one more cast then it’s all yours!”
So I lazily rolled out a farewell cast while considering where to try my luck next. Well the hound must have thought I was throwing it a big stick and as the line flew out it was already stampeding along the bank then taking flight and moments after my fly hit the water this vast yellow hairy idiot came crashing into the middle of the pool and simultaneously my rod buckled over and I had the most savage smash n grab take from a salmon I’ve ever experienced. The poor fish must have shit itself judging by the speed it hit the fly.
So the owner’s having a conniption at the dog and she hasn’t even realized I’ve got a fish on. Then the fish sees the dog and starts the acrobatics trying to get out of the water. And then the dog thinks this is more lively than a normal stick and starts chasing it round the pool. Well I thought there’s no way I’m landing this fish so I threw my camera over the fence to the woman and asked her to get some photos of the whole debacle.(Urban Fly Fisher says: brave man that, there was a 50/50 chance it could have been in cash converters within 5 mins) But I did mange to land it despite the efforts of my canine ghillie and unsurprisingly it didn’t take long to revive , it went off like a rocket!
So I’m CONVINCED the dog jumping in induced the take. And the fish was doubly scared being hooked AND chased by a dog so it fought twice as hard. So there you are, salmon coursing with hounds, I’m all for it and I shall be proposing it at the next AGM
Great story Aleister Polson. I didn’t read the first bit though (typical even though I’m a university prof.) and was quite surprised when I didn’t see Alistair in the photo.
What a great story,i will be chucking the dog in to the water next time i go fishing….
….recalls the late great Wally the WonderDog of TU fame and SingleBarbed’s mutt……
I read a story many years ago of a ghillie on an estate in the Highlands who once the fish in a pool had become stale would go down to the pool half an hour before the anglers were due to start fishing and launch his dog in to the pool. This was done to chase the fish from the safety of their lye’s. This would cause the fish to become aggressive again as they searched for a knew safe area while they waited on the next spate.
This has nothing to do with dogs and fish, but when John D mentioned chasing the fish from the lye’s I thought of this.
Check how this kids gets this brown to come out from under a rock after he hooks it.