Pound for Pound the Greatest Fighting Fish

[Derrick-k]

for all of you who gave your vote to the smallmouth bass, Im just wondering if you have ever hooked a chrome fresh from the tide steelhead?

[raffensg64]

Great point.....not all of us have lots of salt experience. If broken down into two categories, those being "saltwater" and "freshwater", it's very possible that steelies would get the salt vote and smallies would get the fresh vote. But then again, steelies would then be up against everything that roams Washington's coast! I suppose this would be easier if we didn't live in a coastal state!

Shoot, may as well go with three categories and and "adronomous" in there, too.

[Derrick-k]

Great point.....not all of us have lots of salt experience. If broken down into two categories, those being "saltwater" and "freshwater", it's very possible that steelies would get the salt vote and smallies would get the fresh vote. But then again, steelies would then be up against everything that roams Washington's coast! I suppose this would be easier if we didn't live in a coastal state!

Shoot, may as well go with three categories and and "adronomous" in there, too.

Steelies are mostly fished in freshwater rivers.

[Widgeondeke]

I'd have to vote for the SHAD. They don't weigh more than 2-4 pounds, but coupled with the river currents and there paper mouths. It makes for a lot of fighting with a gentle stick, there's no hard set and reaming out of the water. I haven't fished for shad in the Columbia, but I used to hit the Sacramento every June for this plentiful fish. Reminds me of our pink salmon season, hard not to catch'em. Looking forward to taking my kids out for some Pinks.

[A9]

No way a smallmouth is the best fighting fish....
A good healthy rainbow will put a bigger fight up then a smallie..

And a Coho salmon will destroy either of those...

[CK14]

smallmouth & bluegill, it's a toss up. i can't even imagine how hard a bluegill would fight if they were the size of bass =p~

[bigastrout]

No way a smallmouth is the best fighting fish....
A good healthy rainbow will put a bigger fight up then a smallie..

And a Coho salmon will destroy either of those...

I vote Rainbow too but not a brooder or a big trip that spent most of its life in a hatchery pond. A natural rainbow in the 5 pound class is the greatest fight

[islandbass]

At this point for me, I will say smallmouth for me. This season was the first I targetted them and the first one I caught blew me away with its fight. I thought it was going to break my rod (okay, I'm exaggerating a bit) but I was so impressed with its fight. The little bugger could not have been more than two pounds yet fight so hard and tough and it never quit even when I lipped it.

I say smallmouth for now until I experience the fight of a steelhead. I have only heard stories of how they fight and look forward to hooking into one sometime soon.

Another impressive species I've fought are the chum salmon. The last brute I hook into on the Green took my new Curado D to task. It was filled to capacity, but after a phenomenal 22 minute battle, I had less than ten yards left. The holes in the spool were very visible and I realized I was going to lose this bout. One last non-chalant roll of its body at the water's surface and a final burst of energy and it was over. I tipped my hat in respect. I showed my reel to the only other angler there and his eyes popped out and his jaw dropped. I timed the fight so there is no exaggeration there but that day I got schooled and just about spooled. With that said, the chum doesn't get me vote because they're just brutes to begin with and seem to be more as "bull dog" pullers as opposed to runners as the small mouth and steelhead as I gather from the posts here.

[Jake Dogfish]

smallmouth & bluegill, it's a toss up. i can't even imagine how hard a bluegill would fight if they were the size of bass =p~

I agree. As mentioned before some fish are faster but nothing tugs harder for its size...

[quickfish12]

I have fished for many species of fish, including steelhead, salmon, sturgeon, trout etc. etc. In salt and fresh water. Thee steelhead is a great fish and will fly when hook and the smallmouth will strip line to beat the band. Both are great fighting fish and it ultimately comes down to which fish YOU think fights better.

[Kamloops Chaser]

I would have to say a Kamloops .. Most of the time a 10 lb or larger kam will take 500 or 600 Feet of line straight down before the even think of stopping.

[USMCFisherman]

I would have to say that some of the reef fish in Hawaii are at the top of my list. Ulua and Papio fight like no other.

[beresford13861]

Well i would have to say pound for pound is "THE ALMIGHTY STRIPED BASS" also known as Rockfish or hybird bass .. mostly found in southern states ...he has the heart of a bluegill , the fight of a smallmouth , and the strenth of worldclass catfish ...

http://www.stripers247.com/index.html


:batman:

so true, they do compare and it most cases fight harder than a SMB.... i catch them down here often.
sharks are fast anf fun, but once you get there head turned, its a tugof war.
BFT, and YFT are overrated!!! totaly, taste great...yummmm.

im going pound for pound with a bluegill.
a 10# bluegill i think might be a challenge of NON-UL gear maybe even shark gear!

[the1fishingpro]

Im also a huge steelhead fan, But I have heard Tarpon are supposed to have an awesome fight. So I would have to say Tarpon are probably the best fighting fish pound for pound, but steelhead are a close second.

[A9]

Sea Run cutthroat out in the salt might actually be a good bet for lb. for lb. best fighting fish...

SRC's makes a smallmouth fight look like nothing...

[Hal]

Bluegills by far.

[travislikesfishing]

my vote is for steelhead because i used to do alot alot of bass fishing and i ve caught small mouth up to 6 lbs and the steel a wild steelie that was hard to weight because of the it goin crazy didnt want to hurt it but it was about 4 lbs fought way harder than a 4 or even 5 pound smallmouth but when it comes to hatchery steelies small mouth have them beat.!.!.!

[cavdad45]

Stripers put up an excellent fight. Even the small ones under 10 lbs.

[AdsBot [Google]]

The Chum. Hands down. I've caught 4 pound chum that have fought like 20 pound kings. Or how about winter blackmouth in the sound...sub-legals pulling like tyees!! Gotta love fishing!