Favorite Fish?

fisherwoman · #1 10-03-2009, 04:57 PM

Just wondering what everyone's favorite Alberta species is to fish for? Overall, including: eating, cleaning, catching, best fight, most beautiful, ect.

I would have to say my overall favorite Alberta fish is the walleye. Easy to clean, good eating, and fun fight to the boat. I love when i first hook one because I always know when it's a walleye. They pull straight down on the line rather than back and forth. I love that feeling!

How about the rest of you?

WayneChristie · #2 10-03-2009, 05:11 PM

Id have to say personally, Ive never caught a fish I didnt like, they are all my favorites

fisherwoman · #3 10-03-2009, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

Id have to say personally, Ive never caught a fish I didnt like, they are all my favorites

That wasn't the question!

DarkAisling · #4 10-03-2009, 05:19 PM

Oh, that's an easy one for me

Rainbow trout

(Okay, they're not a native fish, but they've established themselves quite nicely in some places)

fisherwoman · #5 10-03-2009, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAisling

Oh, that's an easy one for me

Rainbow trout

(Okay, they're not a native fish, but they've established themselves quite nicely in some places)

Your right they are not native (except in the Athabasca River) but they still count! Why rainbows?

WayneChristie · #6 10-03-2009, 05:28 PM

Ok Ive caught pretty much all of them, and Id have to say overall, with light tackle and heavy current, my favorite would be Rocky Mountain Whitefish. On ultralight gear and 2 to 4 pound test they fight as hard and strong as anything out there, smoked they are good to eat, and you dont have to go way out of your way and spend a fortune to find them.

DarkAisling · #7 10-03-2009, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisherwoman

Your right they are not native (except in the Athabasca River) but they still count! Why rainbows?

I think they're the tastiest fishies ever, they're nice and non-threatening looking (pike and sturgeon scare me), and they're wonderfully acrobatic at times. Oh, and did I mention that they are really yummy?

flygirrl · #8 10-03-2009, 05:41 PM

Rainbow trout

Drop_Tine · #9 10-03-2009, 05:41 PM

Walley

Walleyes · #10 10-03-2009, 05:42 PM

Gee let me see,, I know,,,, Walleye bet you wouldn't of guessed that one hey lololol. But I still have yet to catch one of these elusive Pickeral people keep saying that they catch in Alberta so maybe they would be the best hard to say

fisherwoman · #11 10-03-2009, 05:42 PM

I have never caught a rocky mountain white. They are on my to-catch list though.

I also like rainbows for the flying out of the water aerobics

And they aren't stinky like pike.

Beazer · #12 10-03-2009, 05:53 PM

Bottom suckers. No question the best fish if you want to pump some muscle.
lol.

Actually Pike because even the smallest ones will fight hard and they always surprise you. They can taste great if you know how to cook them right.

Wulfespirit · #13 10-03-2009, 06:05 PM

Walleye.

Great table fare and the lakes I fish for them on are beautiful places to spend time.

buckmaster · #14 10-03-2009, 06:17 PM

Lake whitefish for me! Love them smoked.

burbotman14 · #15 10-03-2009, 07:01 PM

For me burbot because they are so different looking and good eating. Large pike second best. Out of alberta and in Canada I'd have to say coho or chinook salmon. Great fight on a 8-12 pound coho.

pecker · #16 10-03-2009, 07:07 PM

definitely PIKE the best reel screeming fish we have in alberta . 2nd to walleye for eating.

TIGHT LINES.

fishstix · #17 10-03-2009, 07:24 PM

Mermaids! best looking fish in the water. I also like the bull trout. Albertas provincial fish! Cutts are my second fav.

huntsfurfish · #18 10-03-2009, 07:53 PM

Walleye

Hey Walleyes

Seems up to about 25 years ago it was pickeral caught here in Alberta

but around that time the walleye seemed to have taken their place

Edit - this just in - had a neighbor make a claim he caught one just last week. Still checking into the story though!

catnthehat · #19 10-03-2009, 08:03 PM

Big grayling on a 5 weight.
Cat

Sundancefisher · #20 10-03-2009, 08:22 PM

7 inch perch on a 8 weight fly rod

fishman · #21 10-03-2009, 08:52 PM

Watching a big brown trout explode on your dry fly is probably the hardest thing on your heart but the best for the thrill...i am catch and release so measuring my favorite fish would go in diffrent catergorys like the best fight, the hardest to catch.

Big brown trout....very smart, hard to catch but explosive on a fly rod, but love to dive straight down

Big brook trout....very wary and harder to catch love to dive down, not as good a fight as a brown

Cutthrout trout....great fight to the end but not as aggresive fight like a brown and hardly ever break the water

Rainbow trout.....love to jump which is exciting and do usually grown bigger in alberta then other trout

bull trout......get big, eat anything very aggrevie but don't fight that great compared to a brown

artic grayling........small, stupid, easy to catch and are aggrive enough to keep a guy busy and great to teach kids to fly fish on

Splake.......get big, don't fight that great, love to stay deep most of the time

Tiger trout.....are probably the most aggressive fish and are alot of fun to fish, stay down when hooked

G3 trout introduction to alberta has made more aggresive trout, in my mine is great for a fighting quality

Lake trout.......get big, stay down deep and fight quality low

Lake white fish..on a fly rod can be alot of fun espically if they are big

rocky mountain white fish.........fight ok for size and are usually cooperative

I am glad that we do have a number of diffrent species of fish to catch and for the most the target has been by the province is to stock mostly rainbows, so alot of people don't get the chance to fish other species of trout...............i guess i am a trout man and have nothing against other species just like my trout for a number of reasons................but in all this is only my opinion

CoyoteChallenger · #22 10-03-2009, 09:36 PM

Pike Or Lake Trout from cold water!!! Gotta love em!

slickinfinite · #23 10-03-2009, 09:58 PM

Muskie from back in Ontario and Brown trout in Alberta, I've been catching lots of them lately and the 8+ pounder was a hell of a fish I was worried he'd snap my line but I was lucky. I really like pike and walleye out here to also wish Alberta had bass populations (.

jts1 · #24 10-03-2009, 10:16 PM

For a fight you cant beat a BIG Pike ripn out on your drag. Or a nice Trout leaping out of the water on the end of your flyrod. But eating.. Walleye hands down

bbbhunter · #25 10-03-2009, 10:20 PM

Cutts, not just because of the fish...but where you have to go to find them..you are in some of the best scenery in Ab going after cutts..they love to rise...they may not be the hardest challenge but they get a decent size, and the added bonus of any cutt stream is the Bulls and whites!

duffy4 · #26 10-03-2009, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisherwoman

Just wondering what everyone's favorite Alberta species is to fish for? Overall, including: eating, cleaning, catching, best fight, most beautiful, ect.

I would have to say my overall favorite Alberta fish is the walleye. Easy to clean, good eating, and fun fight to the boat. I love when i first hook one because I always know when it's a walleye. They pull straight down on the line rather than back and forth. I love that feeling!

How about the rest of you?

This is a tough question.

I like to eat walleye, but do not find them "beautiful" at all.
Rainbows, brookies, browns, lake trout are all "pretty" looking and fun to catch.
Cutthroat are I think the prettiest, live in nice country (not part of the question) and are willing to take a fly.

But I don't think trout are the best eating of Alberta fish.

Grayling are pretty, fight well and take a fly with enthusiasm. But I have never thought much of them on the plate.

Ling are maybe my favorite eating fish but will win no beauty contest and do not "fight" much.

Yellow perch are very pretty and taste great. Lots of fun to catch if you find the right lake with good sized fish. (but even a great big perch is not a very big fight)

Pike...a pretty good combination of good eating, good fighting, fun to catch, not really "beautiful" but "handsome" in an alligator kind of way.

A187 · #27 10-04-2009, 04:49 AM

1. Largemouth Bass (I know its not an Alberta fish, but its my favorite to fish for)

2. Pike

- Catch and release for life.

dodger · #28 10-04-2009, 07:21 AM

PIKE !! I like them because they like to fight back when your eye to eye with them and I have the scars to prove it. A cold water Pike for shore lunch is the best.
Dodger.

tatonkagp · #29 10-04-2009, 07:51 AM

Sundance that is funny, I like pike for eating and would prefer over walleye. Prettiest fish is bar none the grayling. Best fight is rainbow, in the +5lbs range.

Geezle · #30 10-04-2009, 08:35 AM

Pike for sure, though I haven't caught one since I came to Alberta yet...

Even the hammer handles will put up a good fight, and if you can clean 'em right, they're not bad eating either

I'd really like to snag on to a sturgeon and see what they're all about too, but it's looking like that one may have to wait until next season.