Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Hardest fighting freshwater fish?

What do you guys and gals think the hardest fighting freshwater fish is? Ever catch a bowfin or dogfish (Amia Calva)? I think they are the hardest fighting fish. As a taxidermist I am presently mounting two of them.

Cecil, how goes it?

My experience is limited, but I cast my vote for the Smallmouth.

I give a second for bowfin! If you’re talking pound for pound however I would vote for small mouth or brook trout. Any gar anglers out there? I have always wondered what catching a gar would compare to.

Cecil:

You're right there with bowfin...fightin' dang things. Carp, however, I'd argue, fight even harder. Try bringin' in a 10 lber on medium tackle. They just don't quit...

Without doubt, the hardest fighting freshwater fish are those that had to spend some of their lives in salt water fending for every meal.

The steelhead is by far and away the hardest fighting fish I have ever had the fortune to catch. In a small Alaskan stream that you can spit across, a 25 pound steelhead will make your heart race.

I would go for the bowfin or grinnell, it will make your line play a tune. Buffalo is also a great fighter which does not get tired quickly.

Try a 75 pound BLUE!! ...they fight harder than either of these fish yall are mentioning...You can get a hold of one of these things and they go to jumping out of the water like a big ol Tarpin!! ...OOhh WEEE!

The best pound for pound fighters I have ever caught are probably freshwater drum (I think thats what they are) and smallmouth bass. However, fish with more weight on them give give you that epic battle. The lowly carp may win in this category.

I have never caught a bowfin. Sounds like I am missing out.

Robinson, are you sure it was a blue cat; they eat only bottom stuff and soap, remember? How did yu catch one on a plastic artificial; it must have been foul hooked, maybe in the nads so he didnt fight much.

It makes sense, however, the only one I have experience with is stiped bass.

Time of year plays role. Here in the north, a musky or northern pike can put on one hell of a show in April but in July they tire quickly.

ML is right about the Steelhead. I forgot about those even though I fish for them every November up in Erie on Elk Creek. Biggest one I've ever caught was 11 pounds.

With that in mind, you could rate fish within weight categories. <1 lb., 1-5 lbs., 5-10 lbs. etc.

I read a magazine article several years ago that rated the top 10 hardest fighting fish based on a pound to pound ratio. If I remember correctly, Bluegill was 3rd. Smallmouth, carp, and stripers also made the list.

From personal experience I agree with ML and others about water conditions and having a saltwater background produces the hardest fighters. So I would say a striper is the hardest fighting fish I've caught. They have the saltwater vigor, and in early spring will practically fight to their demise.

tritonvt,

I think a more interesting question might have been "among the pond fishes, what would be the best fighting fish?"

The answer for me would be the one with the salt water heritage...the HSB. Just like their close relations, the stripers, they will fight to the death.

burgermeister
I love it man! you right ...

Man all this talk about pound for pound is for the BIRDS...think about it, if they made that excuse on the football field or any where else in life, it would NOT count....Get R done is what I say...If the Blue pulls harder because he is bigger and stronger....well....He is bigger and stronger!

Heck I am going to get this littel 2 stroke 10 HP outboard motor to push my nice big Bass boat around....HECK NO ...give me that 100 horse four stoke Johnson MAN! and quite foolin around with that skimpy stuff.....

pound for pound.....stats is for loosers...

steelhead and kings , kings more so. nothing like a 35 lb king in the river. in the pond got to go with HBS , their getting in the 5 to 7 lb range , they fight like its the last thing there going to do. they rock

May sound nuts, but I've hooked-up with a few whitefish while fishing for smallmouth, and pound-for-pound they are the craziest fish I have ever tangled with. Artic grayling and smallies are right up there as well in my book...

Fishman Dan,

Artic grayling is on my "fish to be caught before I can't fish anymore" list. I sure hope to get some soon.

I guess grass pickerel. The little guys think they can fly.

Kentucky bass are real agile little fighters too. I used to get 2 or 3 jumps from each one.

Bowfin have a lot of stamina. You can't just yank 'em and bank 'em. They're just too ugly and pre-historic looking. I don't like those teeth, either.

Gar are pretty good fighters, but I always try to avoid a fight. I try to land them quick to prevent them from cutting the line or throwing the hook.

Carp pull hard. I once caught an 8 pounder on ultralight tackle, and thought I had a 10 pound bass at first. It took 10 minutes to wear him down. When I landed him, he instantly died.

Catfish remind me of hooking a submarine... they pull hard and straight, and are very unlikely to jump.

Peacock bass are extremely hard fighters. In the USA grass carp I have caught have been amazing. Sad thing is that LMB are not even in the top 8 in this topic. I think they are overrated, although the strike is impressive on top water.

I can not imagine a fish fighting harder than the steelhead. River and flyrod. up and down the river for 100 yards plus, fish catching 4 - 6 ft of air.

My no. 1 pick
Steelhead

My no. 2 pick
The infamous flathead cat

Almost forgot the runner up for no. 2 spot. The tiger musky.

The Peacock Bass is an extremely hard fighting fish and also the Pacu. The African Tiger fish is the most acrobatic with one of the highest difficulties in landing. If we are not comparing pound for pound than I would go with the Nile Perch which is a relative of the Striped Bass and can obtain 350 pound plus size.

Steelhead would be my pick also for the hardest fighting fish. I go up to the Manistee River every fall searching for these fish. Don't catch a lot but when we do, wow what a fight!

fozzybear and all that voted Steelhead,

I have to tell you guys my Steelhead story which is why I voted for them in this thread.

Imagine a small Alaskan stream, on Prince of Wales Island, but could be anywhere in Alaska. You are standing in this small stream, a big Grizzley has just ran away from the banks, the air is pure, the water is better than Ozarka. You have a 7 wt fly rod and a purple egg sucking leech on the end of it. Casts are no problem in this stream as a 40 foot cast puts you well on the opposite bank. You pass a dead fallen log and your leech comes to the end of its drift and begins rising in the cuttent. You know that is the prime time for a Steelhead to strike so you ready in anticipation. Then it happens; the purple monstrocity called a fly suddenly stops rising and goes downstream. A magnificent 38 inch plus fish goes head to tail above the water in moves that Greg Lougainess would envy. The fish heads for the downfallen log and there is nothing you can do to stop it. For inexplicable reasons, it turns and heads downstream and you follow running, stumbling, crashing as you go. You come to the end of the pool and the fish knows and you know that it has no where else to go. So, it fights. it jumps, it pulls, and does everything in its power to gain freedom, but in the end looses the struggle. It is dead before I can even get it out of the water. A magnificent fish, a fish of a lifetime, but in sad irony it fought to the death. Steelhead, one of the World's treasures.

The only fish in my pond big enough to pull out drag at this time are the catfish. Some of them are in the ten pound range. I had caught them from another pond when they were about seven pounds and put them in mine. I am hoping that the hsb will do well and someday be able to take the honor of being the hardest fighting fish in my pond. The hardest fighting fish that I have ever caught was a 135# tarpon near Boca Grande Florida using bass tackle. Those fish can really jump! I should also mention large shark fishing for their ability to pull for hours and hours. Some of the bigger ones that we have caught took three of us taking turns on the rod to get them in the boat.