Rickard Gustafsson | Saturday, 26 July 2025
I’m back from the cabin in the woods and directly from there I went to volunteer at a Dog agility competition. Which reminded me of somethings I’ve noticed that dog training and fly casting have in common. We are coming down with a bit of a heatwave at the moment so I thought there would be no time for fishing or practice during a few days away. Well I was a bit wrong I could have squeezed a bit of both in so I missed having a rod around. I usually bring a rod when I go away even if the chances are slim that there will be any use of it, you never know. So that was something I don’t plan to do to myself again.
So what can we learn from dog training? The basics are fundamental and need to be practiced at whatever level you are. This is just not for dog training and fly casting, this is true for all skills we want to keep sharp. We must train our basic stroke with a short line length, not getting away from that. And all the other basic fundamental stuff. Which reminds me, I have not done the triangle drill in quite a while now. And that is probably one of the best drills of them all.
Even if we must grind the fundamentals practice must also be fun. Add some play to the training. BUT DON’T FORGET THE FUNDAMENTALS!
Little often is better than long to compensate. And learn to see when enough is enough for the day. You’ll see how the attention span of the dog starts to decline and mistakes starting to happen more frequently. Then it’s time to call quits.
The dog goes where your body is pointing. At least in dog agility, it is very important that you point with your chest. Try it when you are out practicing and see what you find. You might find some improvements if you aim at your target with your chest.
There are some lessons for the actual fishing also. Some dogs will get triggered and want to play with a toy that is coming right at them but some dogs will just ignore it then. But if you act like you are trying to hide the toy from the tog, being a bit sneaky with it then you will suddenly get more attention. And after sneaking the toy past the dog, try to rush the toy away from the dog and you will have a dog all over the toy. Well some dogs just don’t find toys interesting at all, then you can always stick some meatballs in the toys and get some attention. But don’t use that as an excuse to stuff all your toys with meatballs before you give it a shot to really entice them. And remember if you are using meatballs to get attention to the toys you might not be playing anymore, you are feeding your dog. A bit like adding scent to your flies, you are still fishing but playing in the same league as the powerbait guys.
Sometimes a dog will try its limits with you, or just want to be a pain in the ass, by running away from you. The best thing there is to have them on a long leash and stop them. But they seem to know when they are off any leash, that is the situation I’m thinking about. Then they will know that you are looking at them, even at full speed away from you. The most effective method to get such a dog back is to give it a quick shout or whistle, turn away and run away from the dog. For some reason it can feel that you are not looking. The same seems to go for fish and all other animals. So when stalking them, do your best to act as like you aren’t interested in them.
Now I’m off for spending some time with the in-laws. It will be fishing with sinking lines hoping for mackerel and sea trout. The mackerel has a good chance of ending up in a pan with butter after being turned in flour, with some salt and pepper. Then being drowned in cream and dill.
Cheers, Rickard