Best Personal Fight

[creek wader]

After reading all the post in the "Hardest Fighters" topic. I think we all can agree to disagree on the the hardest fighting species. Most of everybody's choices is by personal experience or personal favorite species of fish. I still think pound for pound is the only fair way to do it. I'm sure a 20 lb Brown trout puts up a heck of a fight. But a 20 lb carp? 20 lb Drum? 20 lb Bluegill? 20 lb green sunfish? or a 20 lb smallie? We'll never know for sure.

But just for giggles or a chance to do some bragging. What personal fight with a fish was your best or most memorable. Big fish on light line? Big fish in tight cover? Catfish on a flyrod? Foul hooked drum? I can think of a few of mine off the top of my head. Here they are in no particular order.

1) 6 lb. cat, My first catfish (landed) on a flyrod, caught him on a 2 lb tippet. Fishing a farm pond. It was a pretty good fight, that got a whole lot better (scarrier) when he got into the cattails and did the famous catfish roll. He was my 3 rd of the day. I lost my first 2, along with some nice (expensive) crayfish imitations. I got to admit, I went with 6 lb tippets after that.

2) 5 lb. drum, off a wing dike in the Missouri river. I was using a very large crawdad on a pretty heavy tackle. He wasn't the biggest, I wasn't using light line. But, It was about 2 am, very dark and he made a run into the current. It took 30 min. and I thought, I had finally caught my 1st monster flathead. But, it was fun.

3) 12 lb. blue cat. While crappie fishing on Smithville lake. I was using an ultra light w/ 4lb. test. Fishing in the thick timber. He took my jig minnow combo around every branch in that tree. I was amazed to catch him. I thought finally, I had my monster largemouth. Once again, disappointed by the species but not the fight.

4) 14 lb. channel cat. weighed on a certified scale. While snagging for spoonbill on the Marias Des Cygnes river, at Osawatomie, Ks. I had snagged a good size shad. I filleted it. Took a fillet and put it on a rig with 20 lb. test. Went further downstream. The river was near flood level. It was raging and I really didn't figure on catching anything. It no sooner hit the water, and the cat hit it. In that torrent of a current. I thought I had snagged a log. It took a good while to get him in. Pulling him back against the current. I was the only one of a lot of people fishing, to catch anything. So, I got to show him off. I was young and proud as a peacock. But, that day, I rather of had me a spoonbill.

5) While fishing a lake in Minn. We were catching yellow perch, small largemouth and crappie. No walleye, which we were trying to fish for. I hooked into something on my ultra light, with 4 lb. test. I had him on for 20 min or better. It seemed like several hrs. I never saw him. He made the final run under the boat, broke my rod and hence my line. Walleye? I double it, Whatever it was, he stayed down and made several runs. Could of been a pike or a big cat. I'll never know. But, of all the fish that I lost. He was the one that I wish I could of at least seen, what it was.

That's just a few that I remember. A drum and 3 cats and whatever. But, it was the gear or the conditions that made it a memorable fight. To me, that's what it's all about.

[Bman]

#1 The 17 lb Male Brown pre spawn pictured in my avatar. Hooked and played the big guy at Taney, about 15-20 minutes into the fight the Dam turned on 1 unit fairly hard. Had to chase him nearly to the MDC boat ramp before bringing him to hand. Rising fast water and a mad male Brown, had me deep into my backing so many times I couldn't beleive it. Glad I had my running shoes on that day.

#2 A 100 lb Tarpon on a spinning rod with 30 lb test down near Miami Fl.

After each of these fish I was shakin and worn out for the day.

[Greg]

My 3 most memorable:

1. A brown trout I caught several years ago just between outlet 2 and rebar (Taney). I had my wife and son with me. I hooked him on 6X tippet. He just wouldn't give up. He made several long, long runs. Plus at one point he just kind of sulked mid stream and I couldn't budge him for probably 10 minutes. My son was fairly new to fly fishing and was in awe. When I finally got him in he was "only" about 20" but with big shoulders, a pronounced kype with teeth, and was in full color (fall spawn). I thought the length of the fight might do him in. But he swam off strongly. Just a brute. I've caught numerous bigger trout but he was the best fighter.

2. Maybe 10 years ago while floating the gasonade with my family I caught a huge smallmouth on an UL spin rod. Length and girth said he was approx 5 pounds. Despite his size he jumped several times and once I thought I'd lost him in a snag.

3. 9 or 10 years ago fishing #2 outlet (Taney) during generation I caught a bow that was approx 9 and maybe 10 lbs. Biggest trout I've caught to date. Oddly she didn't fight that hard. Too fat. Still just her sheer size made getting her in pretty difficult on a fly rod along with the generators going. Also by the end I had a crowd watching and cheering me on. Several in the crowd were puzzled that I released her.

None of these is close to the biggest fish I've caught in 40 years of angling. But these are the 3 I remember best.

Greg

[drew03cmc]

The fish that I remember best is this one.

This is a 17"+ (3+#) rainbow trout that fell for a little golden jig (1/80). I caught this girl at Lake Shawnee in Topeka, KS on March 7th. It was windier than heck that day, blowing 15-35, with whitecaps crashing into my waist while wading at the dam. I was fishing a 6'9" 2/3wt Mark Fitch Purist bamboo stick with a Dennison Fly-Lite reel. The reel doesn't have a drag to speak of, and when the fish took off, the handle was smacking me in the fingers over and over and over. I fought her for about 5 minutes before she came to net. It is, to this day, the largest trout I have caught.

[FishinCricket]

I was crappie fishing at a pond when I was 15. My friend and I kept seeing something hit on the top on the other side of the pond. Just out of curiosity I crept over there with my Shakespeare Ugly Stock ultralight (with 4 on test) and tossed a top water popper in the general area of the disturbance.

WHAM! Something hit and immediately stripped off 3/4 of my line.

I musta jukes and jibed and played that fish for an hour. When it came to hand?

18 pound channel cat! My friend still has the picture on his wall, and as far as we know that cat is still in that pond.

Way back before that when I was 8 me and a buddy would set out limb lines in his pond (different buddy, different pond), and we had caught quite a few catfish that way.

One morning we got up to go check our lines (we had been losing perch on them) and the sapling that we had tied our nylon line to was gone! Uprooted and gone.

Two days later we came up with the ingenious idea to drag the bottom of the pond with a big treble hook ( in an attempt to hook the sapling that was, we were sure, still attached by nylon line to a 500 lb channel cat)

Wouldn't ya know we finally hooked that limb! And attached to it was, to date, the biggest snapping turtle I have ever seen in my life? All of the sudden it was like we were attempting to slay a dragon! This thing was 31 inches across the shell...

I still feel bad about what we did to that turtle. After it was beheaded, it roamed around the yard for over 24 hours headless.. It's, in all honesty, a memory of my ultimate cruelty. I try not to kill anything now if I can help it.

[laker67]

My most memorable catch was a large male brown, caught at T-como a few years back. It took about 30 or so minutes to land, and was landed on 5x. I tried to upload a picture but failed. It is one of very few large fish that I have kept. It was heavy into the 20 pound class. My second most memorable catch was a blue ribbon stringer caught at RR. I caught 10 lunkers that day, and the 5 largest fish weighed in at 62.5 pounds. The 5 ranged from 11 to 14 pounds, and were landed on 7x. All of these fish were released unharmed.

[Bman]

My most memorable catch was a large male brown, caught at T-como a few years back. It took about 30 or so minutes to land, and was landed on 5x. I tried to upload a picture but failed. It is one of very few large fish that I have kept. It was heavy into the 20 pound class. My second most memorable catch was a blue ribbon stringer caught at RR. I caught 10 lunkers that day, and the 5 largest fish weighed in at 62.5 pounds. The 5 ranged from 11 to 14 pounds, and were landed on 7x. All of these fish were released unharmed.

Wow, I hope you are able to download that pic! The 20 plus fish I have had on got the best of me. One 20 plus male took me to the other bank at Taney when they turned on 2 units! He looked like a rail road tie in the water. I ended up on one side of the big hole, he went to the other bank.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I would have to say the best fight I had happened was when I was 7 years old. Mom and dad had a place on the Elk River arm of Grand Lake. If any of you happen to know, it was between Cayuga and Shadow Rock.

Every now and then dad would get some scrap cheese from the local cheese plant(which can't be done now due to bait companies) and some corn. We would bait up a hole just off of a point where the cabin was.

It was also at this time in my life that I was taught how to cast and reel up just the right amount of line to leave juuuuust a little bow in it to detect the bite. We would have the rod propped up on a rock or use a log that had washed up on the bank. We rarely used a forked stick. It was also at this time in my life that I learned how to tell the difference between the wind, waves and a bite. Man, those were the days.

Anyway, this day in particular, there was dad and couple of close friends and me down there fishing for carp. Dad had me using a Speed Stick rod and Mitchell 308( I think, I can't recall the # for sure) reel with 10 lb Stren.

So I start getting a bite. I have my hand in position to grab the rod and jerk just at the precise time dad tells me. As I am watching the line, it makes a run and Dad yells "YERK". And I do. And let me tell you the fight was on. Boy against beast!

Up to this time I had caught my fair share of carp and catfish. But this was different and I knew it! This was no ordinary fish! Usually the fight was over in 5 minutes. That was not to happen this time. Five minutes came and went. Then ten, or so it seemed to a 7 year old. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, the common sound of line being stripped off of a reel, was many times. My arms wore out from the struggle, I looked back at my father and said, "Take it, I can't do it!" "NO", he said, " You hooked it, you reel it in!"

And I did. Finally. After what seemed to be a lifetime, and the most wore out 7 year old you ever saw in your life, I was the proud owner of a 18 lb carp.

But now, I was so excited at the monster fish, I bear hugged that beast, weighing what seemed to be not much less than me, and took off through the camp looking for my mother. I was so proud of that fish! I looked for her for about 10 minutes or so and not finding her, headed back to my dad, to let him go.

Ahhhh the memories

[ozarkgunner]

I would have to say the best fight I had happened was when I was 7 years old. Mom and dad had a place on the Elk River arm of Grand Lake. If any of you happen to know, it was between Cayuga and Shadow Rock.

Every now and then dad would get some scrap cheese from the local cheese plant(which can't be done now due to bait companies) and some corn. We would bait up a hole just off of a point where the cabin was.

It was also at this time in my life that I was taught how to cast and reel up just the right amount of line to leave juuuuust a little bow in it to detect the bite. We would have the rod propped up on a rock or use a log that had washed up on the bank. We rarely used a forked stick. It was also at this time in my life that I learned how to tell the difference between the wind, waves and a bite. Man, those were the days.

Anyway, this day in particular, there was dad and couple of close friends and me down there fishing for carp. Dad had me using a Speed Stick rod and Mitchell 308( I think, I can't recall the # for sure) reel with 10 lb Stren.

So I start getting a bite. I have my hand in position to grab the rod and jerk just at the precise time dad tells me. As I am watching the line, it makes a run and Dad yells "YERK". And I do. And let me tell you the fight was on. Boy against beast!

Up to this time I had caught my fair share of carp and catfish. But this was different and I knew it! This was no ordinary fish! Usually the fight was over in 5 minutes. That was not to happen this time. Five minutes came and went. Then ten, or so it seemed to a 7 year old. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, the common sound of line being stripped off of a reel, was many times. My arms wore out from the struggle, I looked back at my father and said, "Take it, I can't do it!" "NO", he said, " You hooked it, you reel it in!"

And I did. Finally. After what seemed to be a lifetime, and the most wore out 7 year old you ever saw in your life, I was the proud owner of a 18 lb carp.

But now, I was so excited at the monster fish, I bear hugged that beast, weighing what seemed to be not much less than me, and took off through the camp looking for my mother. I was so proud of that fish! I looked for her for about 10 minutes or so and not finding her, headed back to my dad, to let him go.

Ahhhh the memories

I have to say the best fight of my life was back in August when I landed a 5oish Lb. spoonbill below Bagnell (right at the yellow line)on my crappie rig spooled with #4 test on a small #6 gold hook. I got it it the bill some how.... 30 mins later I got it to the boat on my St. Croix "Light" rod. What a rush! I love catching fish when you are " under geared" What a rush to land a PIG on #4 lb. test. Landed many cats while crappie fishing down there.

[Leonard]

Here you go...

Late night fishing at Taneycomo... This was the first night (after the flood last year) they shut the water down..

with a 7wt fly rod.. and 8lb maxima leader....

It was caught (snagged) just a couple inches outside of the mouth on the cheek..

Troutn was with me this night

Not sure what it would go.. but several people says in the 60lb range