Walley pike and perch = meat fishing.

trout = sport fishing.

there is no sport in pike imo, as you get a few head shakes, then they barrel roll up in your line and you just drag them in.

pound for pound you will never get as good of a fight as you get from a trout. Unless it's a Steelhead, which can be argued as being a trout over a salmon, but really they're all salmonids.

to be perfectly honest, the funnest fish I have ever caught would have to be a pink salmon, sea lice fresh from the ocean in the kitimat river. I quickly learned why they're sometimes called circle fish. You know how hard it is to keep a fish on your line when it's swimming in tight circles very fast.