Letter to teachers and kids – April 24, 2008
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I figure just about anybody can have a dog that finds pheasants or grouse or other birds. My goal in life is to have a dog that finds fish.
That's why it has been a 10-year-long mission to turn my old dog, Smokey, into a fish pointer. And, for the past two years, I've been trying to point his young friend, Bandit, in that direction, too. It hasn't always been easy. I'm still not sure either of these two Labrador retrievers quite grasp the concept of what I want them to do.
For example, both dogs are really good at pointing the lunch cooler. I figure they can sniff out a doggy treat at two miles. And when it comes to pointing and licking fish that I've already caught, they'd get an "A" from their teacher every time.
"Point fish? What fish?," Smokey would ask. I'd tell him that I was fishing for walleyes. "Is that the pointy-topped fish that tastes a little like chicken?," Smokey would reply. To Smokey, everything must taste a little like chicken. But, I'd pull out my fishing regulations booklet with the picture of the walleye in it. I'd point out the walleye, the smallmouth bass, the rainbow trout, the northern pike, the paddlefish. And Smokey would eventually get bored, curl up in the bottom of the boat and fall asleep.
Bandit's reaction was different. "WALLEYE......WALLEYE.......WALL....EYE! Fire up the outboard motor. I'll drive. I know where they are," Bandit would say. He was lying, of course, and I knew it. He just liked to ride around in the boat all day. "Faster! Faster! FASTER!," was his solution to all problems regarding finding some fish.
The only signs I have that either Smokey or Bandit was learning anything at all was when I actually found fish on my own and hooked one. As I went to the back corner of the boat to reel the fish in, all of a sudden I'd have both dogs at my feet. They'd lean over the edge of the boat. They'd watch the fish splash. They'd step on the net so I couldn't grab it easily. And we'd have a real free-for-all mess of fish, dogs, net, rod and reel, fishing line, lure and me when I pulled it into the boat. And then, the licking would begin.
But I keep trying to reach my life-long goal of training a fish pointer. So far, it hasn't worked out exactly as I planned. But we'll keep trying.
To help you find fish, this would be a good week to look at one of the Curriculum pages on the Missouri-Yellowstone Adopt-A-Fish Web site that deals with Fish Biology and Habitat. It will tell you about how each fish species has particular things it needs and things that it likes and that helps determine where they make their homes and where you'll find them.
If you have any questions of the biologists or want to send an e-mail to me, or Smokey, or Bandit, just send it to walleyes@walleyesforever.com. We'll answer you as quickly as we can.
Talk to you next week.
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Signed,
Mark, the old guy
Smokey, the fish pointer
Bandit, "Point fish? WHAT FISH?"