Northwest Fishing Reports

but when you weigh 20 or 30 pounds it's easy to pull hard.. and check out the wimpy tail fins... what's with those dainty little things.. good for art exhibits but really tough fish have big manly tails... and have you ever watched a tuna swim???? the tail moves 3 or 4 inches at the most from flop to flop.. it moves really fast but strong fighting fish need big strong tails that flop from eyeball to eyeball.. that's how real fish fight....

I mean tuna are great eating.. the best.... but their fight is highly overrated...

Used to read stories back in the late eighties when the asian stock market was sky high about guys in
Maine and Massachusettes going out and catching a big bluefin (700 or 800 pounds), bringing it back and selling it to the fish monger and taking the money down to the bank to pay off their boat because they were getting $150 per pound and more....

great eating but when it comes to fight a really tough fish is going to be impossible to land if it's 800 pounds.....



the greatest fighting fish pound per pound is the smallmouth bass..... if one ever reached 800 pounds there would be warnings at the dock not to fish for them because it would be a life threatening experience.......

I don't know how many times I've caught a nice fish in the early season (when the water's cold the smallmouth don't jump like they do when it's 60F and above) thinking it's going to be a 6 or 8 pound walleye or lake trout or maybe catfish but when I finally pull the little beggar in it ends up being a 2 to 3 pound smallmouth....

bronzebacks are tough and mean and they fight like hell... they don't get the respect they deserve because it's pretty unusual for one to grow much bigger than 5 pounds.... please don't ever cnk one of these fish..... catch and release smallmouth for sport.. catch and retain for consumption everything else.. (well.. except for largemouth because they are good fighters too and maybe the odd trout in a catch and release only lake)....

As far as fish I've caught it's gotta be the mighty steelhead! I've only tangled with a few in my day, but man, a 6-pound steelie can make an incredible run. Forget about them heading for the next county, those guys streak towards the next time zone! Their stamina ain't none too shabby either.

I will admit though, I've never caught a smallmouth bigger than a dink (I'll try to fix that this month).

The strongest pound for pound fish that I have caught is a smallmouth. I've heard the Peacock bass is suppose to be pretty tough too. I've never caught a steelhead, but I've heard they can be pretty strong aswell.

Smallmouth bass is hands down the hardest fighting fish. I would be really curious to see how a steelhead would fight if it didn't have river current to help it out.

bluegill, pound for pound.

I've heard mako sharks are like reeling in a jetski. Also, I've heard for their size that Permit put up a really good fight. Then you got tarpon which are pretty prolific fighters.

But as far as a fish that I've actually caught - smallmouth.

The Smallmouth gets my vote.

The Smallmouth has a bit of a additude.
Pulls like a truck and never quits.
They will hit anytime, anywhere on anything. You just never know.

My vote go's for small brook trout in creeks. They never stop fighting and pull way harder than their size. I once had a 9" brookie jump about 5 feet out of the water before I landed it.


FISH ON!!!!!!!

I will have to say the smallmouth as well. If you were ever to hook into a smallmouth bass the size of a world record largie you would simply never land it. A four pund smallie is like fighting most fish double or triple it's size. I have caught steelies, lots of them and they are a good fight, but they don't have the sheer brute force of a smallmouth.

zen leecher aka Bill W wrote:bluegill, pound for pound.

yup - best in my book! just too fun on a UL

I have heard many times that the golden dorado is the best pound for pound fighter.

But it has to be hands down, the bluegill

Well I havn't fished much out in the ocean (mainly was feeding the fish :pale: ), but I have to say Smallmouth Bass would be my #1 with Bluegill #2 and Steelhead #3 pound fer pound. Or maybe it's Bluegill Steelhead then Smalley, or Steelhead smalley then bluegill????? We need to take DNA from all 3 and make up a Smallbluesteelie . =d>

Rod/reel and tackle make a big difference. Compare the fight of a 4 lb Smallmouth caught on a heavy rod and a swimbait to that of a 4 lb Smallmouth caught on a light dropshot-spinning rig. The smallie caught on the dropshot fought the hardest.

The lighter the gear with a greater chance of loosing the fish the more the fish seem to fight.

Any size fish you have to chase up and down a riverbank puts up a good fight.

Pound for pound Walleye put up the least fight.

The day you forget the net all the fish caught seem to put up a good fight.

Trout caught trolling with pop gear don't seem to fight at all.

Without a doubt the hardest fighting fish in the world would have to be the mighty squaw fish. Just kidding. But seriously the hardest fighting fish I have ever tangled with is definately a Steelhead. I love both fishing for smallmouths and steelhead and have caught both in rivers and lakes countless times, but Steelhead just out right haul balls when hooked and take more time to bring in. I have never fished for them before but I hear Bone Fish fight extremely well.

This is a great debate. I tried to find the article on this such subject that some biologist did about 15 years ago but could not locate it, I'll see if my buddy still has it. The study proved that the hardest fighting fish in the world pound for pound was the Bonefish. A Trout can only get up to 20 mph including steelhead and only do this about twice during a batttle and for only 40 feet or so. Bonefish can get up to 30 mph and do that to a guy about 8 or 9 times during battle, and also make these runs for 150+ feet. Not even the Smallmouth bass can do that, do not get me wrong smallies can flat pull and I love catching them. That is my opinion, that and $1.69 can get you a 24oz.er at the local store.

Well i would have to say pound for pound is "THE ALMIGHTY STRIPED BASS" also known as Rockfish or hybird bass .. mostly found in southern states ...he has the heart of a bluegill , the fight of a smallmouth , and the strenth of worldclass catfish ... They get up there in size .. check out the link below !!.. I use to fish them back in nashville, tn .. they are super fun to catch and a angler can always tail when he has one from the way bite , if you dont have a good grip on your rod you just might lose it (AND THATS NOT UNCOMMON)....BBD



http://www.stripers247.com/index.html


:batman:

I'm not going to argue that the steelhead is mightier pound-for-pound than the smallmouth since I haven't caught a decent smallmouth... although I may play antagonist in the future to keep the debate going simply because with all of bass-enthusiasts on this forum the smallies have numerous, numerous advocates... but here's some actual data with a reference. According to the Freshwater Angler series's 1997 publication, "The Art of Freshwater Fishing" the steelhead has "been clocked at more than 26 feet per second, fastest of any freshwater fish" and "hooked steelhead may leap repeatedly, sometimes clearing the surface by 2 or 3 feet."

Tmusky, I don’t think the current "helps out" steelies as much as you may be implying. Sure, it can be an X-factor sometimes, but they shoot upstream quite often as well, where the current should be a hindrance to them and a benefit to the angler. However, that is not case, whether they’re up or downstream from you, in rapids or in a stagnant hole, the angler is still more likely to lose the fish than land it.

Definately the smallmouth. I've had one pound smallmouth on that felt like a three+ pound largemouth. Those little guys sure can fight!!!!

Joe

Fish-or-man brings some good information to the table.....


I would tend to believe that steelhead are faster than smouthmouth.. they are a noble fish and I've had a lot of fun catching the ones that I've landed over the years.........

but, I do believe that tuna are even faster..... that funny looking tail that sort of differentiates tuna from other species is part of a total body structure that limits resistance and allows it to be much faster than it's prey.. probably much faster than even a steelhead at full gallop..... but even a 1959 edsel could get up to over 100 mph if you gave it enough time....


but what we are talking about here isn't speed, it's fighting ability.. and fight is driven by desire and acceleration more than speed........


now a few have mentioned the lowly bluegill as a great fighter and I tend to agree... I've caught 3/4 pound bluegill in water clear enough that I could not only watch them hit my jig but I could watch the way they fight...... bluegill, unlike other panfish like crappie and perch, will turn their bodies totally perpendicular to the fishing line when engaged in that life and death struggle we call "sport"..... what this does is put the entire exposed area of their rather thin but "area rich" frames in a position to offer the most possible water resistance to the angler's efforts..... bluegill are great fighters.. they are fun to catch and they should definitely be in the top 5 in the "fight per pound" sweepstakes...... however, they don't jump and once you turn them from the "perpendicular" position they are pussycats....... but it is amazing how much resistance a relatively small fish can offer to a sport angler when it uses the right techniques.....


and despite all these accolades I seriously doubt that a bluegill's top speed is even half that of a steelhead.........

fight is fight and speed is speed........


steelhead are fast, powerful, and a lot of fun to catch but on a pound per pound basis I would still give the nod to the smallmouth because of it's incredible acceleration (check out tail area per pound of fish and muscle mass to drive that tail.. this is what makes a great fighter)..... when you look at it this way the smallmouth is the piscatorial equivalent of the 1960's "muscle car" and everything else is a volkswagon..........

A long time ago in a place far, far away I can remember runnning big spoons set 10 feet or so behind a downrigger running at 80'. All of a sudden the rod popped up and the line went slack. A few seconds later a 3 pound class smallmouth came charging out of the water going 5 to 10 feet up into the air and landing a foot or so from the back of the boat where I was standing...... The little fish seemed to be stunned from all the excitement and just sort of sat very still next to the boat and within reach of my arm for a few seconds.... I quickly reached out into the water pulled the single barbless hook out of it's mouth and a few seconds later it dove quickly back down to where it had started it's journey.....

The smallmouth is an incredible fighter.. there are others that deserve mention, but there can only be one number 1...