Dove Retriever

[Crab Pot]

So my neighbor is an avid duck and dove hunter.

He has a club down in Los Banos which is two hours south from us.

It isn't quite "duck conditions" but he said the dove shooting is off the hook.

The property he hunts is cris-crossed with multiple AGG irrigation canals and a lot of the dove he's shooting end up in the water.

He doesn't have a dog and is tired of getting wet and cold to collect the birds.

So knowing I'm a fisherman he asked me for suggestions.

He also fishes striper in the same canals and told me takes his rod and reel with him when it's dove time.

So I came up with this.

Eagle Claw 10/0 hook with some of my wife's old wine corks.

I told him if he can cast accurately this should work.

Patent Pending   

[JasonGotaProblem]

Clever.

[Midway Tommy]

That ought to work fairly well if the hooks have enough weight to cast far enough.     

[JasonGotaProblem]

File off the barbs. Nothing is trying to escape. But might be the difference between a bad day and a terrible one for him. I hate treble hooks. But this is a legit use.

[Shellbelly]

Dove hunting can get pretty crazy.  When the birds are plentiful and you know you'll most likely get a limit, choosing the shot is a good practice.  Let the bird pass if it's going to sail into the water.  Easier said than done, I realize that! 

We hunted white wings on the Rio Grande border in the '70s.  If anyone has ever hunted that scene, you know it's easy to limit out in an hour or two.  With hunters stationed every hundred yards on certain properties, LOTS of birds went into the river.  Lots of shotguns got real hot, too!

Thank you guys for coming up with a way to retrieve a bird that would have been lost.  I appreciate your ethics.

[steelfish]

genius

[pointbob]

Eagle Claw 10/0 hook with some of my wife's old wine corks.

Only your wife drinks...hmmmm...lol

[jtwill98]

Good idea. 

Just a thought, I think hooking the cork across one barb might work as well.  It would expose the two other entire barbs underneath the cork as the cork would float on top of the water.

[jtwill98]

As a follow up to your post, I built a similar item for retrieving lures.

Mine is mainly used for bass fishing from the boat, but I have at times used if for shore fishing ponds and creeks. That is, when I remember to bring it with me.

First I attach the swivel (nearest the HF 25' dog leash) to the line going down to the lure hung up on something.  Before I send it down the first time, I remove the chain and oversized treble hook. 

I used the heavy football sinker to try and bump the lure free. That works 50-60% of the time to free the lure from branches or underwater stumps.

When it doesn't, I attached the chain with the treble hook and try to jiggle it to catch the lure body or hooks on the lure and brute force it free. This works maybe 5-15% of the time.

The one flaw, is I need to separate the treble hook from the chain as it often gets tangle in the underwater debris and only use it as the third attempt.     

It has paid for itself many times and I did remove the barbs from the treble hook.

[Crab Pot]

Eagle Claw 10/0 hook with some of my wife's old wine corks.

Ha, I'm a beer drinker!

Only your wife drinks...hmmmm...lol