toughest fish

[Mackinaw]

according to outdoorlife small mouth bass are the toughest fighting fish.
what do you think?
mack

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by Mackinaw

according to outdoorlife small mouth bass are the toughest fighting fish.
what do you think?
mack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVxDOLHw7hg

They are fun to catch and a great fight for sure. Got my first chance this spring with Matt Benson on Vancouver Island.

[Dragless]

Freshwater i would think rainbow trout are by far yhe hardest fighting fish other than maybe salmon or steel head when they are in the rivers.

[The Spank]

I have caught thousands of smallmouth having lived in good smallie country most of my life. Largemouth too. Pound for pound I would give Largemouth the nod over smallies for strength but smallies like to tear it up fast and can be very acrobatic twisting and jumping often. Largemouth like to bulldog down or as my buddy would say when he got into a decent one, this one's got shoulders! I have caught lots of rainbows too, mostly on big tackle downrigging on the Great Lakes and they are good fighters but on a pound to pound comparison I would give the nod to the bass over the trout. But in the end they are all fun to catch. Want to experience another bulldog fighter? Try a sheepshead(freshwater drum). They put up a pretty dogged fight too.

[58thecat]

You get a 7" mountain cutthroat on a fly and she will dance the surface like grandma on maple syrup

[PerchBuster]

My personal best Smallie is 5#12oz and I have caught a couple thousand more larger than 3 lbs. They put up a tremendous battle for their size and often very acrobatic. For sure in my top 2 fish just to catch and have fun with but in my opinion the best fighting fish pound for pound I have experienced has to be Coho Salmon. They can scream line off the reel for 30 or 40 yards with their backs out of the water, turn around and charge the boat making you pick up a ton of slack line like your saving lives, just when you think you lost it it comes flying 5 ft out of the water and then bulldogs hard right back to the bottom and then repeat all of those 3 more times. We got in to some real good wild northern cohos one time up in Haida Gwai averaging over 12#, personal best was just under 15# and you often felt pretty lucky and fortunate just to get one to the net. They can be completely psycho fighting one of them.

[The Spank]

Originally Posted by PerchBuster

My personal best Smallie is 5#12oz and I have caught a couple thousand more larger than 3 lbs. They put up a tremendous battle for their size and often very acrobatic. For sure in my top 2 fish just to catch and have fun with but in my opinion the best fighting fish pound for pound I have experienced has to be Coho Salmon. They can scream line off the reel for 30 or 40 yards with their backs out of the water, turn around and charge the boat making you pick up a ton of slack line like your saving lives, just when you think you lost it it comes flying 5 ft out of the water and then bulldogs hard right back to the bottom and then repeat all of those 3 more times. We got in to some real good wild northern cohos one time up in Haida Gwai averaging over 12#, personal best was just under 15# and you often felt pretty lucky and fortunate just to get one to the net. They can be completely psycho fighting one of them.

I find there is no comparison between saltwater and freshwater fish when it comes to fight. Saltwater fish make freshwater fish seem like slugs. A Great Lakes salmon sure does not have the stamina nor strength of a wild saltwater salmon, not even close!

[Mackinaw]

Originally Posted by The Spank

I find there is no comparison between saltwater and freshwater fish when it comes to fight. Saltwater fish make freshwater fish seem like slugs. A Great Lakes salmon sure does not have the stamina nor strength of a wild saltwater salmon, not even close!

pound for pound i dont know if i would agree.Salt water for sure has the largest fighting fish but for acrobatics and hook throwing aggressiveness i like fresh water. i agree with your last post about sheepshead they are a bulldog it is like fighting a castiron frying pan on steroids
but this is just my opinion
mack

[kouleerunner]

Disagree.

Nothing freshwater, and even a lot of saltwater species, puts up a fight like a white sturgeon. Period.

[waterninja]

Originally Posted by Mackinaw

according to outdoorlife small mouth bass are the toughest fighting fish.
what do you think?
mack

I have always thought that Rainbow Trout put up the biggest fight pound for pound of any fish that I have caught.
As for toughest fish.... I was just about to start a new thread about one.

[huntsfurfish]

Goldeye. They give all they have. Even though they dont get very big.

Pound for pound my choice.

[The Spruce]

Fresh Water

#1-Sturgeon (For those that haven't caught...they jump, A LOT)
#2-Channel Catfish (Most Powerful fish LB for LB I have dealt with)
#3-SM Bass

Salt Water (That I have caught)

#1-Marlin
#2-Tuna, well any Tuna
#3-Dorado (Mahi-Mahi) when over 50lbs. The little ones scrap, the big ones are a challenge to get in the boat.

[guru fisher]

When you hook a giant Sturgeon. I play Metallica's nothing else matters cause there ain't even a comparison ...

[trigger7mm]

Pound for pound, in freshwater, my vote would go to the smallies. My favorite fish to catch out of over 50 different species I've caught.

[Mackinaw]

Originally Posted by huntsfurfish

Goldeye. They give all they have. Even though they dont get very big.

Pound for pound my choice.

thats like bluegill just crazy for there size
mack

[EZM]

The experience really depends on the tackle/method.

Generally, Largemouth, Tiger Trout and Pike for freshwater.

I haven't done a whole bunch of saltwater but Salmon and Tuna (both of which I've caught) were a blast.

A 30 lb Tuna on light gear is crazy fun and get's my top overall pick.

[Kurt505]

Originally Posted by guru fisher

When you hook a giant Sturgeon. I play Metallica's nothing else matters cause there ain't even a comparison ...

My biggest was just over 9' and it was incredible.

Hard to compare a 4lb smallmouth to a 9' sturgeon though.

[wildbill]

Channel cats, caught just a couple around five pound while workin in mb, took me like 20+ minutes to get em in on 6wt fly rod, felt like i was going to snap my rod in half at any minute, one the locals on my crew took me out to lockport after work one night, he caught three trophs, me one troph 39", what a fight!

[Tom Pullings]

Another pound for pound smallmouth vote. They're like little footballs of muscle and attitude.

[RavYak]

Red drum are strong fish. They don't jump or give blistering runs but just pull hard from start to finish.

[calgarychef]

Guess they've never caught barramundi.

[mapleleafman3]

Carp put up a good fight too. ya I know I said carp.

[pinelakeperch]

It's important that you consider the comparison in "pound for pound" terms. Obviously a white sturgeon fights harder than a smallie in a direct comparison.

[Tom Pullings]

If we're not going pound for pound then I vote blue whale.

[frederickwreid]

I'm not sure where I fall on this one. I guess it depends on the gear and the fish. A rainbow trout on light fly gear is great fun - but so are Smallmouth on light to medium tackle.

Saltwater is another 'kettle of fish' all together.

I'd have to throw my opinion behind Atlantic Salmon. Great fighters often in smaller rivers on fly gear. Almost the best of both worlds - saltwater stamina and power, but within the confines of a river. Excellent fun.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lds]

Originally Posted by waterninja

I have always thought that Rainbow Trout put up the biggest fight pound for pound of any fish that I have caught.
As for toughest fish.... I was just about to start a new thread about one.

Lake whitefish put fight rainbows from my experience. Even Rocky Mountain whites. Out of all the Alberta fish I would put lake whites as the hardest fighter. Never caught a bass though. As for salt water. Go to the tropics and you won't find anything that fights harder

[Mackinaw]

Originally Posted by Tom Pullings

If we're not going pound for pound then I vote blue whale.

sorry blue whales can not be accepted they are not a fish....lol
but i bet they give a hell of a fight.

mack

[Mackinaw]

Originally Posted by mapleleafman3

Carp put up a good fight too. ya I know I said carp.

i have fought carp in Ont fishing the fast water waste weirs very powerfull not unusual to fight them for 4 hours or better when they get in the current.

mack

[Fishing4Trophies]

Pound for pound, my vote goes to the Rainbow trout of the upper Columbia. Man do these fish fight like crazy.

[AK47]

In Europe it is hands down barbel, in Russia or Mongolia - taimen.