Stirring the pot but there is much truth to this.

[BilletHead]

       The 4 Most Overrated Freshwater Fish in North America | MeatEater Fishing (themeateater.com)

 

[jdmidwest]

They were gullible and easy for meat eaters, hence the passion.  They were native and abundant.

[tjm]

No fish that is hard to catch will ever be really popular as a sport fish, because everyone wants actually catch fish not just hunt for them. Trout are only popular with fly fishers because they are easy to catch on flies. Suckers might eat just as many insects as trout but aren't so easy to catch on flies.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

The article speaks about how overrated certain types of fishing are, yet below it are an overly outrageously expensive chest pack and a Benchmade knife for $130.00.  Seems kinda off-putting to me.  

 

That being said, I cannot disagree with the article.   

[BilletHead]

5 minutes ago, Daryk Campbell Sr said:

The article speaks about how overrated certain types of fishing are, yet below it are an overly outrageously expensive chest pack and a Benchmade knife for $130.00.  Seems kinda off-putting to me.  

 

That being said, I cannot disagree with the article.   

          Correct Daryk. Personally, I like Meateater shows. This being said the gear is high and I do not own any. We have bought some tee shirts when on clearance for ten bucks . Call me cheap! 

16 minutes ago, tjm said:

No fish that is hard to catch will ever be really popular as a sport fish, because everyone wants actually catch fish not just hunt for them. Trout are only popular with fly fishers because they are easy to catch on flies. Suckers might eat just as many insects as trout but aren't so easy to catch on flies.

            Not always true. We go places and hunt for trout. read the BilletHead adventures. Then again, we are not like most you speak of.  Over 90 percent of what we fish for is with fly gear. Not picky with what we target either. We are not fly-fishing high-class snobs. Just like to fish. Just as happy with a three-ounce bluegill as we are with a three-pound bass. 

[Mitch f]

This article seems to be written by a rookie fisherman and is just a bunch of blathering. The guy probably had to write this story due to a deadline. 

[Al Agnew]

Nobody ever touted walleye or crappie as hard fighters for their size.  Indeed, most people pursue them because they are great to eat, and once you find them, easy to catch in most places where they are found.  Brook trout aren't the best fighters, either, compared to some of the other "real" trout (brookies are char, not trout).  They are pursued mostly because they are trout but kinda easy, and in the east, because they are the only native trout and live in some wonderful streams.

There is no doubt that bass are not quite as great fighters as mythology says they are.  Comparing species at their best--in moving water that is optimum temperature for their metabolism, and wild fish, rainbow trout are faster and jump higher, brown trout are just as strong and often jump just as well, catfish are stronger, and a whole bunch of saltwater fish would pull a smallmouth inside out if they were hooked together.  But the beauty of bass is that they do a little of everything; they pull hard, they go for cover, they jump, and it takes them a while to give up.  This combination of fighting abilities, and their aggressiveness and the myriad of ways you can fish for them...heck, even the fact that they are easier to handle once you get them to hand than most other fish, makes them almost the perfect game fish.

[tjm]

But most important for popularity is that we can catch them. Rather easily, 50-100 per day I hear tell. 

I don't think they count as "game" unless we eat them.  "Sport" is a better description of catch and release. And of course if we admit that our quarry is overrated, then we admit to being poorer hunters. 

14 hours ago, BilletHead said:

Over 90 percent of what we fish for is with fly gear. Not picky with what we target either.

what fly and presentation will consistently take redhorse? are they as easy as trout? 

[MOPanfisher]

Over rated depends on what you rate them by.  One man's ah crap is another oh yeah.

[FishnDave]

At the end of the article..."perhaps nothing is overrated"...

Everybody is different.  Some folks enjoy focusing their fishing time on a single species, whether that's a trout, bass, crappie, catfish, carp, gar, sturgeon, musky, whatever.  Its all good.  Maybe some folks just fish for whatever's easy and close to home.  Great.  There's so many ways to go about and enjoying fishing.  Thank goodness we aren't all doing the same thing, right?

I enjoy catching almost any fish.  And I get sort of...I don't know...bored?...if I only catch one species for too long.   I like knowing there's more types of fish out there.  Some are bigger, some are stronger, some are more challenging, some are more "beautiful", some are less common, some are more unique in some way.

I feel fish have an inherent value, whether outright, or as a food for other fish.  Folks who know how to catch species "x"...also have value to the rest of us.  If I want to catch species "x" and want to reduce my learning curve, I can learn from those that have caught them.

We're here for a short time.  Enjoy your fishing time however you want to do it.  Eat 'em if you want.  Don't kill it if you aren't gonna eat it.