Top 5 Species to Target?

[Slabasaurus]

So Reading the walleyes and outsiders thread made me think about my favorite fish species to target. It was more difficult than I thought it would be.

1. Trout*

2. Panfish*

3. Pike

4. Smallmouth*

5. Catfish

*denotes species targeted on fly rod.

Yeah. I think that's it.

I Will also say that Trout are by FAR my favorite to target, while the rest on the list are pretty close to each other. Walleye is close to making the list. Really close. So are largemouth.

[reinhard1]

1. Northern Pike

2. Trout

3. walleye

4. panfish

5. Smallmouth

would like to get into catfish though. get them by accident and i have eaten every one of them. they were around 2 pounds or so. those big cats here on the catfish threads must be a thrill. good luck.

[FisH_SLaYer24]

1. Walleye

2. Panfish

3. Smallmouth Bass

4. Lake Trout

5. Northern Pike

[Wabamskee]

1 - Stream trout* (not a specific species...I like them all)

2 - Walleye

3 - Northern Pike

4 - Muskellenge

5 - Largemouth Bass

following slab's idea - *denotes species targeted on fly

I tend to like the hunt and the fight. I do love panfish, but it is something extremely special to catch that perfect beast!

[gurkster]

Winter

1. Walleye

2. Crappie

3. Perch

4. Sunfish

5. Northern

Summer

1. Bass

2. Sunfish

3. Crappie

4. Walleye

5. Northern

[Nick Kuhn]

1. Muskie

2. Pike

3. Smallmouth Bass

4. Largemouth Bass

5. Panfish with the flyrod.

[bassfshin24]

Summer

1) Bass...thats pretty much 99% of the fishing I do spring-fall. Occasionally I'll do some slip bobbering for some eyes on mille lacs.

Winter

1) Crappies

2) Eyes

3) Perch

[kg2]

1. LMB

2. Panfish to eat

3. Walleye for their 2 week season (before bass opens)

[Deitz Dittrich]

Bass

Sunfish

Crappie

Walleye

Trout.

[ANYFISH2]

1. Smallmouth bass

2. Walleye

3. Largemouth bass

4. Bluegill

5. Northern Pike

[tencountff]

1. Walleye

2. Walleye

3. Walleye

4. Walleye

5. Walleye

JK..... But not really!!

[Kyhl]

1. Walleye

2. Pike

3. Musky

4. SMB

5. LMB

[frazwood]

I can honestly say that I like them all (edit: I caught an eel once; I didn't like that; also, I don't know if I want to catch a gar... those things creep me out for some reason)... and if I could only catch one species of fish for the rest of my life, then I'd probably quit fishing.

This summer, I am hoping to catch some walleye (I haven't caught one in at least two years), a trout (any species, I don't care), and a dogfish (I haven't caught one since I was 12 years old). If I caught any of those three on a regular basis, then I'm sure that I'd have minimal interest in any of them.

In general the species that I target most often is based on what is available, so I most often fish for:

1. Panfish

2. Northern pike

3. Largemouth Bass

4. Smallmouth Bass

5. Crappie

[hoytshooter]

1.Walleye

2.Pike

3.Crappie

4.Sunfish

5.Bass

I probably spend 90% of my time chasing walleye, so that doesn't leave a lot of time for the rest of the species.

[IamZombie]

1. Crappie

2. Walleye

3. Pike

4. Sunfish

5. Catfish

[tjbassmaster]

This is hard, I cannot figure out what I target most. Seems like I fish for something different everyday. I guess this is as close as I can get.

Winter

1.Northern pike

2.Walleye

3.Crappies

4.Perch

5.Whatever will bite

Summer

1.Whatever is biting

2.Bass and Northern Pike

3.Crappies

4.Roughfish (Carp and Suckers)

5.Catfish

6.Muskies

7.Perch/Sunfish

8.Walleyes

[gloomiseye]

1. Walleye

2. Walleye

3. Walleye

4. Walleye

5. Walleye

JK..... But not really!!

Haha same! Maybe throw smallmouth in there somewhere.

[harvey lee]

I would say

Walleye

Sturgeon

Flathead catfish

bigger gills

Northern pike.

Lake trout fit in there somewhere, just not sure where.

Never have got into bass. If I were too, it would be smallies.

[thatoneguy]

1. Bass

2. Perch

3. Panfish

4. Walleye

5. Pike

[dan z]

1 sunfish

2 crappie

3 catfish

5 Northern

6 bass

[JBMasterAngler]

SUMMER:

1) white bass

2) rainbow trout

3) smallmouth bass

4) largemouth bass

5) bowfin

WINTER:

1) lake trout

2) crappie

3) tullibee/whitefish

4) northern pike

5) walleye/sauger (lake of the woods only!)

[traveler]

tough one...LIKE to target, or GET to target? Heck, I'd be chasing Kenai kings every summer if I could, and be in Cabo all fall fishing saltwater if I could! But those are too expensive to chase with regularity, so local, I'd go....

1. walleye

2. pike

3. trout/salmon

4. muskie

5. panfish

[mainbutter]

For MN only fish:

1) Pike

2) Bass

3) Panfish

4) Musky

5) Carp

In terms of hours spent fishing since I came to MN back in 2004, I think the above list is accurate.

If I had to pick my FAVORITE species (how enjoyable the fishing and catching is), the list would be quite different. I condensed groups that I often target at the same time, and I haven't included fish that I've only fished once or twice:

1) Sharks (from the beach is a must!)

2) Halibut/Lingcod

3) Pike/musky

4) pompano/ladyfish

5) Bass

Here's a list of things I'd like a chance to catch but I haven't yet, but would likely be contenders for any top 5 compilation:

1) a BIG shark (from the beach is a must!)

2) Tarpon (ideally on a fly)

3) Silurian/Wels catfish

4) Peacock bass

5) Yellowfin tuna

I'm really hoping to get down to Florida and visit the grandparents sometime this year or next, and also make some time for fishing. I think I could make a bigger shark happen in the warmer months, and I still think that ladyfish on a fly would be a BLAST. Micro tarpon that are plentiful, and you can put a circle hook on one in case something big wanders by

[eyehead]

1.Muskie

2.Pike

3.Walleye

4.Bass

5.Pan fish

[maddowg1192000]

1.Sturgeon

2.Cats

3.Musky

4.Trout

5.Anything else that bites