How many of you fish with your dog on board? What do you think is the best breed for a bass boat dog? Anybody have any good pictures or stories?

Breed matters not. A good bass boat dog is one that will go on point. A great bass boat dog is one that only points lunkers.

MORNING COMMUTE WITH MY LAB

I fished for years with my beagle. He wasn't a problem for the most part. I would take him to an island and let him off so he could do his thing for a while. Sometimes his nose would get the best of him and I had to wait for him to return, but he always came back. If I was fishing and he was ready to get in the boat, he would just start swimming to the me. Seen lots of wiener dogs and labs on the water.

I german shepherd hates being on the boat. Shes petrified of water actually.

my big chihuahua went on her first trip. After a while fishing on the troller I looked to see how she was doing and I didn't see her. I figured she jumped out somewhere. There are alligators here so I quickly turned to re follow my route.

It turns out she was hiding under the front deck. Her last trip.

My rescue pup is part Lab and part hound. He just loves the boat and is fearless. He's only 10 weeks old. Regardless if I'm launching or taking out, moving back and forth to the truck and in the boat...he will be with me every step even swimming to the boat when I'm trying to get it on the trailer. He got a treble hook in his lip (not bad) on the first trip and fell in immediately at the first stop. I enjoy him a lot but hope he doesn't break a rod tip.

Before the �I�ve been taking my dog for years� crowd chimes in, the OP sounds like he doesn�t have a dog now...do the dog a favor and leave him/her at home...especially in the summer when they don�t have anywhere to go to get out of the sun, they can get heat stroke real quick, and since they can�t talk you will not know, plus there is the potty break thing, the lure chasing thing, the jump in the water thing, ect. ect. I love dogs � have two Golden Retrievers that only go on the boat when the wife can be there to keep an eye on them so I can fish...kina fish...LOL...just my two cents

Great pictures, Lou. Looks like an awesome fishing partner/finder.

We have a 100 lb lab that loves the water. My wife really wanted to rent paddle boards a few months ago because she thought it would be fun to have him ride with her. I was sceptical because, anytime we are near water, he wants to go in. He did a lot better than I thought he would, once we figured out that she had to paddle ahead of me when he was on her board. For some reason, any time I got ahead of them, he would jump off and swim ahead. We broke him of being the "leader" a year and a half ago, so I'm not sure why he started doing that again.

The first time he was around water, he was about two months old (that was about 85 lbs ago for him) and we took him on an overnight canoe trip. He wasn't into swimming then and pretty afraid of the water when we tried to introduce him to it before taking off. We didn't try to force it because you can, apparently, turn them off to water if you just throw them in before they are ready.

Midway through the second day, he was napping on top of our cooler when we found the only fast current of the weekend. We were moving pretty good and trying to avoid some rocks when I had to make a quick turn. I was really focusing on steering when he - mid nap - slid right off the cooler and into the river. There was no way I could stop or really even slow down for another 20-30 yards. I yelled to my then-girlfriend, now wife, sitting up front and calling out obstacles, that we lost Bo.

I turned around and he was swimming as fast as he could (the current was doing most of the work) to catch up to us, or maybe just keep his head above water. His paddling and the current finally brought him even with the boat and I was able to grab his harness and pull him in, no worse for wear.

That was the last nap he took on the cooler.

The first time he was around me fishing (I fish from the bank or a kayak) was when we went camping this past Labor Day Weekend. Like I said, he can't stay out of the water, so trying to get him to stay so I could throw a line took some work. Then, when I would make a cast, he thought we were playing fetch, which took some more work to get him to stay out of the water.

Here we are fishing on Labor Day:

that is an awesome picture too "Duck_Hunter" !

I understand where KC is coming from. I would be weary of taking my dog out in the summer for 6-8 hours but it can be done as long as you use common sense and pay attention. I think any dog can be on the boat while you're fishing, as long as you take the time to work with them and they are well-trained.

Our neighbor has a lab that goes out with him and understands that, when on the boat, there is no jumping off to swim while it's fishing time.

Good tips and food for thought, KC.

Thanks! Clear Lake in the LBJ Grasslands.

I took my dog on a boat ride the other day in my new to me boat and she curled up under the passenger console once we got on plane. After we slowed down I noticed she carped on the floor. I guess I scared the carp out of her!

Have had better luck starting a 'to be fishing dog' riding in a boat as a puppy. The lab above was boat savvy by 12 weeks old and yes like children in a boat they are time consuming to keep safe at first. Every puppy has his Jesus moment and thinks once he can walk on water (or lilly pads). At 130 lbs, I'd never lift the adult dog like him back in boat.

He knows difference between "fishing time" and his "play time". In summer heat he may get a much as 5 minutes shore swim/play time once every hour. A white dog seems much more tolerant of sun/heat than a dark color. He costs some fishing time,but a time or two, he has spooked shallow bass showing me along his runs along shore exactly where they were setting.

As you see in earlier photos, I put a vest/jacket on even a good swimming lab in the winter which may have frigid water temps in which he still loves to take a swim. Even labs can get a muscle cramp or scrape their underside over a sharp stump or might go overboard on an unexpected wake hit. The vest is good insurance.

You can safely and quickly train a young pup to forever avoid any lure in one lesson with a couple rods/lures on the boat temp fitted with a tiny straightened barbless wire (not steel)panfish hook and some scent. I still though today use a quick on/off lure-wrap on every treble hook equipped crankbait laying on my boat deck. I don't let co-anglers and their casts to be in the boat with him which is no matter as I usually fish alone.

I've taken my dog out twice now, but only when my wife went along. She loves being in the boat in the garage, but she whines all the time while being on the boat. She can't stand it when she can't chase my lure every cast. I took her out about three weeks ago and that'll be the last trip for a while until she matures some, she's still a pup. I really hate it, but fishing is supposed to be fun and relaxing and taking her makes my blood pressure go through the roof! Hopefully with time she'll be my fishing partner. I think any dog can be a great boat dog if given the time and training needed. Don't let my post discourage you, just know it takes time to get them adjusted. Also, when starting out, don't have rods on the deck that have treble hooks. I've heard too many stories about people trying to remove a hook or two from a dog in stress. Doesn't sound fun.