Pound for Pound

[zippyFX]

So pound for pound whats the best freshwater fish for fight and excitement. Not that I have a lot of experience with many species but my top 3 would be:

(1) Carp now that I have been on some more
(2) Catfish
(3) Pike/Musky

[Dropshot]

Definitely Smallmouth at # 1 Channel Cats #2 Carp # 3 ....

[OldTimer]

(05-25-2014 11:04 PM)zippyFX Wrote:  So pound for pound whats the best freshwater fish for fight and excitement. Not that I have a lot of experience with many species but my top 3 would be:

(1) Carp now that I have been on some more
(2) Catfish
(3) Pike/Musky

Hmmmmm.......... for freshwater FIGHT/EXCITEMENT:

At 5 pounds each - Smallmouth would beat them all.

But smallmouth don't ever get as big as your selection.

At 15 - 20 pounds - my choice in order would be - Muskie, Rainbow, Channel Cats, Carp.

Salmon get big - but its usually a long dull tug o' war really.

Cheers,

OldTimer

[Giuga10]

I've always believed that Sunfish and Bluegill are pound for pound the best fighters. They don't get very big, but no fish of the same weight fights as hard as one of those guys!

Other than that, I'd say smallies or Steelhead

[Fossil Fish]

Oooooooh, a 5lb pumpkinseed, that WOULD be fun. Since they -at regular size- make up 90% of everything I've caught so far this year, I can only imagine what a monster one would be like.

[MuskieBait]

I don't think I've caught enough fish at different size of each species to really say for sure...for example, I've yet to catch a 5lb Bluegill to compare to a 5lb Muskie...or a 1lb Coho Salmon to compare to a 1lb Black Crappie...

Until you've caught them multiple times at a certain size to compare, it is simply conjecture...So I often find these pound for pound comparison a bit silly...

Would a 1lb White Shark fight harder than a 1lb Smallmouth Bass? You can't even answer that question since White Shark doesn't come that small...

And I've only ever heard of one case where someone caught a mini sailfish that was under 5lbs...from a pier...so how can you compare something like that?

Thus...silly question for me...

All I know is...most of the carp I catch are 10-20lbs average and they are a hell of a lot of fun. Most of the Bowfin I catch are 5-8lbs and they are a hell of a lot of fun. Most of the Steelhead I catch are 3-10lbs and they are also a hell of a lot of fun.

I just enjoy them for what they are and don't concern myself with which fish is stronger pound for pound...because as much as we try to make it into an equal comparison, it simply isn't.

And if you only fish for species purely just because they pull hard, you are missing out a lot of the other challenging aspects of fishing.

As I said to MA recently "You seem to only care about big fish that pull hard..."

As such...you miss out everything else...and limit yourself to only certain species...and then people ask "How are you able to catch 388 species?"...duh!

If Round Goby grow to be 5lbs, I bet they would kick every other species' ass...

[OldTimer]

I guess it's all relative - I've seen a 100 lb cheerleader beat the snot outta a 280 pound linebacker............... smile.

[zippyFX]

Don't get me wrong... I enjoy fishing for all types of fish and enjoy bringing them all in equally....

I was equally impressed by the ultra shy bite of the redhorse I caught last weekend

As a newb I'm just running with a carp buzz right now.

Like a kid in a candy store I will likley be wowed by my first impression of my next species.

[Toasty]

For hard running fights, I like carp. Nothing like carp at the whirlpool, I've had a couple reels spooled there and had friends who lost their whole rods by being pulled in. For heavy weight resistance fights, salmon in the river are fun. Steelies offer the unpredictable and aerobatic fights.

Pound for pound I'm going with Pumpkinseed Sunfish. I've caught hundreds in the 7-8" range and the fight is comparable to a 1-1.5lb smallmouth bass. Sometimes I think I have a bass but it's only sunfish. I've caught a few approaching 10" and one actually broke my medium heavy shakespeare rod.

[OldTimer]

A dead open umbrella would give a good fight at the whirlpool......smile.