Who is the Strongest Fish??

[dan z]

gonna have to hand it to the bronzeback as well the bluegills are a close second tho

[Nick Kuhn]

What are you trying to say?

Which fish is the strongest than?

Have you caught a Sturgeon? If you drag is too tight, it will pull you out of the boat.

Drunken rant, lots of words saying nothing...

And my drag isn't set so tight that I'd be pulled overboard. I would say only 1 in every 20 fish I catch sets off the drag though, whereas for my dad and brother it would be 19 out of 20.

I have caught a sailfish that the captain told me to hammer the drag down on. Between the fish and the 20 foot seas overboard was a definite possibility. Good thing for waist high railings.

[Slob_Samurai]

I'll believe a king when I catch one. I have serious doubts though, My drag is probably set much higher than most other people's, despite the fact that I don't use very heavy line. Both sunfish and crappy come skipping in across the surface with less resistance than the cranks I usually catch them on (this is only a medium action pole). On that pole, no walleye has ever set off the drag, and only one bass has ever done it (weighing over six lbs). 30+" pike are all capable of setting off the drag on it (and I do know of a lake where 30+ inchers are common, thanks to a high minimum length). On my muskie rod, only a muskie has been able to set off the drag on it. A 28" pike will come in tumbling easier than a healthy milfoil plant.

Say what you will about my hammer and horse fishing technique, but until somebody can prove they can catch more fish consistently with theirs, I'll stick to it (nobody in our boat consistently outfishes me, and I've never in 21 years seen another boat out fish me by more than a single fish). This year I didn't lose a single fish that I actually wanted to land (I lost some small bass and panfish, but I never care much about those).

There are also very few times when I can't tell you what kind of fish I have by the fight, and I am usually within 5% of the size of the fish.

Will you believe me on this forum, no. Do my dad and brothers believe me when I say something, of course. They'll express doubt of my dad almost all the time, but nobody ever doubts what I say. Good reaction time will will make any fight a lot easier...

The Chuck Norris of fishing

-Could possibly be the toughest and smartest fisherman in the midwest-

[andrew chadwick]

steelhead.

lake trout

[JimBuck]

Originally Posted By: VahnTitrio

I'll believe a king when I catch one. I have serious doubts though, My drag is probably set much higher than most other people's, despite the fact that I don't use very heavy line. Both sunfish and crappy come skipping in across the surface with less resistance than the cranks I usually catch them on (this is only a medium action pole). On that pole, no walleye has ever set off the drag, and only one bass has ever done it (weighing over six lbs). 30+" pike are all capable of setting off the drag on it (and I do know of a lake where 30+ inchers are common, thanks to a high minimum length). On my muskie rod, only a muskie has been able to set off the drag on it. A 28" pike will come in tumbling easier than a healthy milfoil plant.

Say what you will about my hammer and horse fishing technique, but until somebody can prove they can catch more fish consistently with theirs, I'll stick to it (nobody in our boat consistently outfishes me, and I've never in 21 years seen another boat out fish me by more than a single fish). This year I didn't lose a single fish that I actually wanted to land (I lost some small bass and panfish, but I never care much about those).

There are also very few times when I can't tell you what kind of fish I have by the fight, and I am usually within 5% of the size of the fish.

Will you believe me on this forum, no. Do my dad and brothers believe me when I say something, of course. They'll express doubt of my dad almost all the time, but nobody ever doubts what I say. Good reaction time will will make any fight a lot easier...

The Chuck Norris of fishing

-Could possibly be the toughest and smartest fisherman in the midwest-

I've seen Chuck on the ice one time. He drills holes with an AK-47 and fishes with barb wire. Nobody outfishes Chuck, NOBODY.

[onemore]

One fish that I catch ocassionally that always gives me fight is the bowfin.

Those fish seem to battle and pull hard everytime.

I often catch them through the ice fishing for walleys or simply by mistake when jigging deep under the boat.

Each time I've caught one it's been a tremendous fight followed by dissapointment when finally bringing the fish up and realizing it's a bowfin.

[lotsofish]

Catching a bowfin is not a disappointment. I caught a 5 pounder on UL tackle this summer. What a fight. The 1/16 oz jig fell apart just after I got it in the boat.

[mrklean]

Smallmouth im a fan of, those things are tough

[onemore]

... "bowfin should be handled carefully. They are an ill-tempered, pugnacious fish, and consider themselves a match for anything - including a human being. Once in the boat, they will make every attempt they can at biting the fisherman - and they have a mouthful of very sharp teeth ..."

[The Grebe]

Never caught a sturgeon, biggest cat is maybe 12 pounds, caught pike up to 17 pounds, smallies up to 20 inches, and largemouths over 5#...I've never caught a salmon, but plenty of brook, brown and rainbow trout...but I have had some really big carp on and they will strain your tackle to it's limits!

I also caught some little fish out of the Mississippi called mooneyes and on light tackle in the current, they tussled pretty good!

[TonkaBass]

... "bowfin should be handled carefully. They are an ill-tempered, pugnacious fish, and consider themselves a match for anything - including a human being. Once in the boat, they will make every attempt they can at biting the fisherman - and they have a mouthful of very sharp teeth ..."

I thought I was the only one who noticed this! They truly do gun for you if you get them in the boat!

[slipperybob]

I have to go with the prehistoric fishes first - lake sturgeon and bowfins, next salmonoids (kings), channel kitty's, next bass (stripers), sunfish family (smb), then pickerals (ski's), finaly perch family('eye's).

I'd like to say the minnow family is pretty strong, look at how long they last while being hooked.

[LEECH21]

I'd say the sturgeon is number one...followed by smallies.

[analyzer]

I've heard down south, big stripers are tough.

Has anyone caught a TURTLE before. A big leather back or snapper will have you thinking you have a monster fish on... only to go W.T.F. when you see it near the surface.

I did the algoma thing a while back, I was a little disappointed with the fight. They use telephone poles with piano wire, and keep the boat moving forward, the fish don't really have a chance to fight. I'd like to catch a king from shore.

I'm a little limited in the fish I've caught (I haven't caught a king from shore, no sturgeon either so....)

Channel

Carp

Smallie

Worst

Crappie

[Far-I]

Sturgeon. Or a crappie the size of a stugeon. I have definatly laughed at myself after fighting a fiesty bluegill thinking i had something else on the line too

[sheephead2]

For me jigging lake trout 80 feet down.... forearms are just burning no stop fight......

[harvey lee]

Yellowfin Tuna.

[traveler]

agreed...tuna kick some serious butt...

[Jiggawhat]

I will give another vote for Smallmouth.

[Grant]

I still think a carp... it's like trying to hold on to a truck when they get going. and the thing is, ya can't really manhandle them too much, because thier lips are so "rippable". makes an already hard fight harder.

[buddha]

I'd put my vote in for the mighty BOWFIN!! Now I grew up a MN riverrat and I like carp, but wow the fin do fight!

[wildcatcreek]

I'm a riverrat myself. I love fighting them Carp. Every time I try to manhandle them, it snaps my line(the bigger ones, that is). Even the smaller 3-4 pounders seem to give a good fight with some medium to smaller gear.

[no_bod]

Hands down, sockeye salmon!

[Lotwfisher]

64" sturgeon was my strongest, and it jumped 4 times...30# line and 7'6" muskie rod was put to the test. Not only fighting fish but the river current also.

[traveler]

you could almost convince me to say sockeye....incredible the amount of strength they have. But...theres always swift current where I've caught them; it would be interesting to catch them in calm, open water to see what they could do there.