I don’t select dogs for fishing. My English setters have a more important job to do, but any attributes they develop in the angling domain are added value.
Fishing doesn’t come easy for free-ranging setters. I was walking the dogs with Ranch Girl the other day and she noticed that for every mile we covered, Jade probably ran 10 … while making it appear effortless. As Jade searched for birds, Ranch Girl’s Australian shepherd, Ruby, stayed close, waiting for direction.
I suspect Ruby’s tendencies would make a better fit for the fishing life. I’ve had her in the boat before and know she does well. Setters, on the other hand, don’t wait for direction from their humans. Turn away for a second and they’re off hunting.
I’ve had mixed experiences with my dogs and water. My first setter, Jack, famously nearly drowned in the Big Hole River one day when the water was too high to fish, but not so high that my barely 1-year-old pooch didn’t hesitate to cross it when he found the noisy red-winged blackbirds on the far bank irresistible.
For a few scary minutes, I thought the river would carry him to Twin Bridges, but he eventually worked his way to the far bank and smartly waited for me to drive around to fetch him.
Young setters are nuts, but at least they learn quickly.
Jack settled into life as a fishing dog in his later years, though sitting behind me, he tended to slide his head under my arm to rest it on my leg as I rowed. An adorable trait, but Jack had an uncanny knack for picking the worst possible times to cuddle, such as when whitewater approached and I needed a full range of movement on the oars.
Doll was a terrible fishing dog when she was young, always looking to drift away to hunt as soon as I was distracted by the water. And she memorably took a roll in a fetid cow pie along the Big Horn River once as I tried to fish, but by the time she was 7 or 8, she settled in pretty well, handling herself calmly in the boat or sitting quietly on the bank watching me as I fished.
Jade, setter No. 3, is now 4 years old, and she is showing signs she might be the best fishing dog of the lot. This is all based on her progress around water only this summer — just the last month. Before this, Jade had little interest in water, avoiding it when she could and only hesitantly approaching it when thirst compelled her. She’s an animal of the uplands.
This summer I’ve been taking her along on fishing trips and she developed a new appreciation for water after she was forced to wade across a mid-sized stream I was fishing (being on the far bank is intolerable, apparently). The first time she crossed she was reluctant. The next time she approached the crossing with some enthusiasm.
On our third stream crossing she took the lead. After that, each time I approached the bank — either to fish or cross — I had to be ready to grab her collar and whoa her up if fishing was my plan.
Once, as I approached the bank to fish, Jade went full Chessie on me and with a running start, flew halfway across the creek landing with a full belly flop that would make any retriever proud.
I gave up on fishing that hole.
She’s also learned to sit patiently on the bank while I fish, at least for a while. Silently, she likes to wade into the water to stand next to me while I cast, if conditions allow.
I try to keep her close as Jade is unfamiliar with the techniques used to avoid spooking trout, but it has been a summer of substantial water progress.