Hardest Fighters

[warlock]

Not trying to hijack the thread, but my BIL caught a 27 1/2 inch walleye on his crappie pole at the Melvern spillway last Easter. It was 12.25 lbs, less than 1 lb shy of the Kansas state record(13.16 lbs). I was lucky enough to net it for him since he was on top of the spillway and I was fishing off the rock chunk at the bottom.

There was only one other guy there, up top watching...less than an hour later there were 15 other people there fishing and the rangers came to check licenses and the fish. The ranger also had my BIL fill out the Master angler award application.

All in all it was a good time, although it was really cold and even snowed on us for about 5 mins.

[skeeter]

Pound for pound, IMHO it's a big male Bluegill. My old man always said if Bluegill grew to 5-6 pounds it wouldn't be safe to swim in freshwater

Average catch, again IMHO, it's gotta' be Smallmouth. They never, never quit and, as you anglers know, you better be ready for that final crash dive when you get them up to the boat ! Whites are great fun since they swim around with their mouths open, are true Bass and hit the bait at about 20 MPH, they also fight with their entire side but give me a Smallie any day.

[Bird Watcher]

Carp definitely deserve some respect. No other fish in the state can come close to their endurance.

[Poke 'Em]

I agree with Luke, where's the carp in this? They may not have the fastest runs or the most spectacular jumps, but they have more endurance than any other fish that swims in freshwater.

While they don't always do it, a carp can strip a lot of line in a hurry. I've had a carp go from the end of my rod when I hooked him to on the backing in about as fast as you can say "fish on."

[hoglaw]

Ditto on the carp and hybrids. Last year though, I fished in the annual Pop's Place Drum Rodeo in Smackover Arkansas. It's a drum "tournament," and an epic good time. Anyway, our boat landed a dozen or so drum, all of them right around the 10lb mark. I'm here to tell you, these guys pull like nobody's business. Any bass fisherman who's tangled with one accidentally knows that the second you drop the hammer on them, it's a dead-pull run on the bottom.

As far as toughest to bring in, I'm going to go with a foul-hooked carp during white bass season. I've had to hit the ibuprophen after a couple of those guys.

[flyfishmaster]

Overall I have to say a Smallmouth puts up the best fight from hookup to landing.

But I would have to go with a bluegill if it were based on the first 15 seconds after the hookup.

Later,

FFM

[FRENZEL]

CARP! Smallies and Hybrids are good far as warm water. Brownies in the cold.

[laker67]

If the silver bullets in Taney got as big as the Browns they would be awesome.

I've never caught a big striper, so I guess I'm not qualified to comment. I'm not expert for sure, I wonder what the real experts on the board think though. I do know this, a pre- spawn male Brown in the 20 lb range is MEAN!!!

I have to agree with Bman, a 20 pound brown, on a fly rod, is quite the experience. Once you have him wore down and whipped, then comes the netting challenge. It is like trying to manuver a five gallon bucket of water into your landing net. He will fight you and pull you to the very end.

[Tightline]

Sumday, I would say you are right on with your list.The True Bass are hard to beat as far as pulling power.

I had never caught a Hybrid until a few years ago at Truman,they are like hooking a freight train, they are just unbelievably strong.

But those Smallies are right there with the Whites.

[Al Agnew]

It seems to me to be a complicated question. A lot depends upon time of year, water temp, type of tackle used, size of fish, the health of the fish, what it's been doing lately, the part of the body or mouth where it's hooked. And what fighting characteristics do you consider more important? Speed? Strength? Leaping ability?

I'm going to assume average sized healthy fish for its species, caught in optimum water conditions, fair-hooked on tackle that matches the size of the fish. I've caught just about every species of North American freshwater game fish except hybrid stripers, so here goes...

Strength

1. carp

2. flathead catfish

3. striped bass

4. bluegill

5. smallmouth

Speed

1. silver salmon

2. rainbow trout

3. smallmouth

4. spotted bass

5. white bass

Leaping ability

1. rainbow trout

2. longnose gar!

3. smallmouth

4. spotted bass

5. largemouth bass

Keep in mind that I'm talking wild stream bred rainbow trout here. A lot of trout caught in the Ozarks are nowhere close to being the fighters that wild western or Alaskan rainbows are. And although brown trout aren't the fighters that rainbows are, I like them better, can't really explain why.

Although the smallmouth is my favorite fish, I have no illusions that it rates at the top in any fighting category. However, it has a nice mix of characteristics, ranking fairly high in all three. And it's such a pugnacious predator and so susceptible to surface lures, and lives in such really neat places, that it has to rank way up there overall.

For pure character, you gotta like muskies and pike and even chain pickerel.

Ozark walleye are great just because they are a challenge to catch. Of course, they are also good to eat, but I wish we as Ozark anglers could get past that. The fact that most Ozark walleye are killed to eat is probably the only real factor that is keeping the Ozarks from producing the next world record. As a fighter they are mediocre.

You guys must be catching different goggle-eye than I am. I love the little critters, but great fighters they ain't, after the first five seconds.