FIGHTIN'EST FISH?

Wayne Knight typed:
Lionel F. Stevenson wrote:
Hi y'all,

Of the fish I've caught, these are the fightinest ounce for ounce:

[snip]
Whaddya think?

I think I'd like to catch an Atlantic Salmon one day.

But until then

1. Permit
2. Blue Marlin
3. Sailfish
4. King Mackerel
5. Brown Trout

It's interesting to read the different take on fighting fish. I've never
even fished for your #1-4 (someday, when I grow up), but the brown trout
I've caught, and I've caught a few, have been near lethargic. The big ones
I've caught have put up some fight and were fun on a light rod, but on an
"ounce-for-ounce" basis didn't even make it into my top 5.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj/

Tim J. wrote:

but the brown trout
I've caught, and I've caught a few, have been near lethargic. The big ones
I've caught have put up some fight and were fun on a light rod, but on an
"ounce-for-ounce" basis didn't even make it into my top 5.

I think a lot of *fish fighting* comes from the evironment. And IMO, if
most of the fish one is catching once felt the side of a hatchery tank
I don't think they fight very hard at all, but the last couple of
decent sized (14") browns I've hooked took some serious line out and
really put a bend in the rod.

I fish to fish these days and like trout more because of where they
live not so much of how they fight. I've spent most of my life on the
southern coast. As a teenager and a young adult I had so many
opportunities to fish the salt. Besides the Blue Marlin, I've caught
white and striped marlin, hooked a tarpon, sailfish, swordfish,
dolphin, several species of shark, etc. I think sal****er fish are the
better fighters pound for pound but I just don't enjoy that kind of
fishing anymore. Same with the Bass and Bream, I fish for them at least
twice a week in the ponds and creeks near here, nothing wrong with them
per se but I look forward to each outing for my troutlets. The wild
ones are so much more attractive.

Wayne Knight wrote:
.... I think sal****er fish are the
better fighters pound for pound but I just don't enjoy that kind of
fishing anymore. Same with the Bass and Bream, I fish for them at least
twice a week in the ponds and creeks near here, nothing wrong with them
per se but I look forward to each outing for my troutlets. The wild
ones are so much more attractive.

Very true. I don't think there are any freshwater fish that can match
*pound-for-pound* any sal****er fish.... even the ugliest little grunting,
shovel-faced, spiny-fan-finned, puke-and-mud-colored bottom-dweller.....

I'd much rather catch a 9" trout than a 9" bluegill, for the reasons you
state (beauty of the fish *and* their surroundings), although
ounce-for-ounce the bluegill will almost always fight better.

Among salmonids I've caught, I think it's steelhead rainbows brookies
cutthroat browns bulls.

But then, that's based on the specimens I've happened to run across. As
you say, things vary a lot from place to place. The browns in OR, even
the stream-bred ones, are pound-for-pound mere shadows of their cousins in
the Madison. Bull trout in the Metolius are infamous for being poor
fighters; folks on the Westfly board call them boots. In the reservoir
the Metolius drains into, though, they're reputed to fight like tigers....

JR