# Best fish pound for pound



## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

So, pound for pound, what fights the most! ... White Bass, Black Bass, Speckled Trout, Redfish or Catfish. Please note :texasflag I purposely didn't include the all powerful Striper, or any Northern fish we don't fish for. It wouldn't be a fair question to include the Striper


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## huntvizsla (Dec 31, 2006)

I'll say speckled trout but only in the surf. They get strong out there in all that current, even the little guys!


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## aggiemulletboy (May 31, 2006)

Red will whoop on them all. Ever notice when people catch even a big speck they say "Dang sure felt like I hooked a red at first..."

Also never taken a person to fish the salt that is used to only catching bass and have them be disappointed with a red or speck. A lot don't want to go back to them little pond and lake critters.


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

It may be going against your ground rules, but don't leave out the hybrid in LL. I must admit though, that I don't have the saltwater experience in a long time to comment there. The mackerel and tuna species seem to have the most fight per pound than I have ever had.


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

Great point WBF. I sure didn't mean to slight our fine fighting friend, the beloved Hybrid. Just last time I was behind the LLD, I caught a 10 lb. Hybrid. What a fight!!! Gosh, I may have just changed my own mind, thinking about that hybrid. LOL


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## OrangeS30 (Jun 21, 2009)

Hybrids fight way harder than any striper I have ever caught! But I think the reds take the cake.


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## Boomhauer75 (Jan 3, 2010)

How about a Marlin t-bone. Of even a Kingfish!


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## Aggie (May 27, 2004)

A 45lb mahi will crush you. Pound per pound


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## markbrumbaugh (Jul 13, 2010)

I don't know if hauling in a 4X8 sheet of plywood counts, but I say Halibut in a 6 knot current.


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## wwind3 (Sep 30, 2009)

Saltwater--30 lb jack crevalle, fresh water---the savage bluegill--if it weighed 5 lbs it would kill everything in the lake.

From your list--redfish


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## jdot7749 (Dec 1, 2008)

Ling or cobia


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## Lone Eagle (Aug 20, 2009)

I have had the pleasure of catching all of the fish mentioned thus far plus some other species. JMO but the Fresh Water Bream oz. for oz. outfights them all. If they got to 100 pouinds, a person would have an extremely hard time getting this fish landed with conventional tackle.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

From the specified list...redfish, hands down.

From an expanded fresh water list...have to put the bluegill high up there but wild rainbows would also rank very high. Freshwater reds would rank above stripers and hybrids easily...but bluegills vs freshwater reds woud be close, IMO. 

From an expanded list that includes saltwater fish...the bonefish is the hands down winner against all comers, fresh or salt...Tarpon second, mainly because of their majesty and Permit third, a very close third. Each far superior to anything in freshwater, IMO.


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

I may be repeating myself from my earlier post about mackerel and tuna family, but a darn Bonita seems to fight extremely hard for its size. Some of the fish mentioned I have never had the pleasure to catch, such as bonefish or tarpon. I personally watched a large tarpon caught off the Bob Hall pier as a kid, and that silver king jumping and flashing in the bright sun was forever etched in my brain. Absolutely awesome.


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## MoonShadow (Jun 3, 2007)

Hpw about a Bream.


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

Bluegill by all means. I still have the remnants of two fly rods that lost battles with Bluegills in American Horse Lake. It was a 300 acre lake that Oklahoma managed with the goal of raising a world record BG. We consistently caught 1.5 to 2 pound BGs for three years. Then a flood wiped out the dam and it was all over. 

Also remember a fish that always is ignored on any list, the mean and ugly bowfin. A real battling survivor of the Jurassic period.


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## nightgigger (Oct 13, 2008)

X5 on the bluegill, if they got to 10 lbs, you would have trouble landing them. After that White bass in fresh water and reds and jacks in salt.


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

I kinda like catching an upper slot red in about a 8" of water, they can sure strip some drag....in a hurry.


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## llsurf (Jul 10, 2008)

GOLIATH GROUPER.


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## 9121SS (Jun 28, 2009)

Lone Eagle said:


> I have had the pleasure of catching all of the fish mentioned thus far plus some other species. JMO but the Fresh Water Bream oz. for oz. outfights them all. If they got to 100 pouinds, a person would have an extremely hard time getting this fish landed with conventional tackle.


I would say if a Bream got to be 100 lbs it would not be safe to go into the water!


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Pound for Pound!*

:bounce:


9121SS said:


> I would say if a Bream got to be 100 lbs it would not be safe to go into the water!


 I'm still trying to fathom the 100 lb. Bream or Bluegil !


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## Lone Eagle (Aug 20, 2009)

tbone2374 said:


> :bounce: I'm still trying to fathom the 100 lb. Bream or Bluegil !


Me too and we know it won't happen but what I said is my very strong belief about their fighting abilities.


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## OxbowOutfitters (Feb 17, 2006)

Freshwater.. a Carp.. pound for pound tough as nails
Jack Crevale...or Amberjack


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## monster (Apr 11, 2008)

There are plenty of species I haven't caught, but redfish put up the best fight in my opinion. Catfish are pretty scrappy too. I once caught a small pomp that gave me a good run on light tackle.


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## OxbowOutfitters (Feb 17, 2006)

obviously you havent seen the Nile Perch on rivermonsters.. those suckers are Huge



tbone2374 said:


> :bounce: I'm still trying to fathom the 100 lb. Bream or Bluegil !


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## crw91383 (Nov 21, 2008)

Snook, Amberjack or Tuna!


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## woodd203 (Sep 12, 2007)

AJ are tough to beat


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## Bilge Bait (Apr 13, 2010)

Don't forget about stocked Conroe Hybrids! They put up a good fight, and are good baked or fried. Click on the thumbnail for full size pic.









Katfish are yummy too! Conroe Kitties


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## hammerdown (Jan 10, 2009)

A foul hooked jack crevale


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## DMC (Apr 2, 2006)

From the list, redfish. 

Pound for pound freshwater fish, smallmouth.

Pound for pound saltwater fish, bonefish or jack.


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## Danny O (Apr 14, 2010)

Sharks put up a pretty good fight, or the saltwater black drum!


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## Top-H2O 2110 (Jan 31, 2010)

I would say jack crevalle then a redfish. Reds just don"t have the speed of some other saltwater fish, like a king mackeral.


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## RedFisch (Jan 15, 2009)

Agree with Meadowlark:

list - redfish
over all - bonefish


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## wwind3 (Sep 30, 2009)

RedFisch said:


> Agree with Meadowlark:
> 
> list - redfish
> over all - bonefish


Dunno bout a bonefish but a fullgrown jackfish will make you vomit and ruin a fishing trip if you catch him first.


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

Ok guys, I started this thread, but never posted my opinion. Now when I was a kid we used to catch this perch we called Goggleye. Any of ya'll my age remember catching a Goggle Eye Perch? I've only caught a very few since I'vve been older. Think some people refer to them as Rock Bass, if I'm not mistaken. Okay, you're saying, huh? Yep, They had a body like a supercharged perch, and a mouth like a Black Bass. They were lb. for lb. one of the hardest fighting fish I've ever caught. I'm not a salt water expert so my opinion is strictly of fresh water. We all have our favorites, as evident from the many posts and opinions!


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

My personnel experience says amberjack, but I have never caught a bonefish/tarpon or tuna.
Freshwater, on Lake Livingston, would be a hybrid.


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## jabx1962 (Nov 9, 2004)

Snook....


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## drfishalot (Sep 9, 2004)

fresh- perch/bluegill
salt--bonito or BFT


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

jabx1962 said:


> Snook....


Yeah, I watched Lee fight a big one from a dock in Port Isabel one night for a few minuets, it was up and down the canal like a rocket, but broke off. It was smoking!!
Later we caught some that were much smaller we landed, quite a surprise how small they were for the fight they put up!


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## elpistolero45 (May 9, 2010)

Redfish have SHOULDERS on 'em from 2lbs on up to MegaSpotz. You can feel them Shake their heads all the way back up the line to the pole!


In freshwater... The Grenell fish we have in OLD Ox Bow lakes, Mill Ponds and the Natural Lakes in River Bottoms.... These prehistoric Line Strippin, Hook Straightening, Lure Thieving, Rod Breaking nightmares have pulled a 12foot Jon Boat with three men in it.. I was there.


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## markbrumbaugh (Jul 13, 2010)

wwind3 said:


> Dunno bout a bonefish but a fullgrown jackfish will make you vomit and ruin a fishing trip if you catch him first.


+1 Jack crevalle


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## menefreghista (Sep 5, 2006)

Well, pound fer pound I 'd say try and ultralite rig and go git some Bream....good eating, easy to find and NO LIMIT!!​


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## Bird (May 10, 2005)

Freshwater- hybrid, although the bowfin gets a solid mention, just not very common in most locations. If you've caught one then you know.

Saltwater inshore- jack crevalle, honorable mention to the gafftop slimers
Saltwater offshore- tuna (any species). Snapper fight really hard but give up pretty easily once you get them up from the bottom a little bit. AJ's pull really hard but without the head shaking of a snapper. Tuna will literally fight themselves to death


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## CmackR56 (May 30, 2009)

Freshwater: Hybrid
Saltwater: Anything in the tuna family


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

Bird, sounds like you really know your salt... Manty others have confirmed your choices, as well! thanks for your input.


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## flatwound (Mar 30, 2010)

Yep ! Bluegill !


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## Power Pole (Jul 13, 2010)

There aint nothin like catchin a snook, or bonefish


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

Hey Menefreghista, your avatar might be the hardest fighting one of all ! LOL


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## aggiemulletboy (May 31, 2006)

tbone2374 said:


> Ok guys, I started this thread, but never posted my opinion. Now when I was a kid we used to catch this perch we called Goggleye. Any of ya'll my age remember catching a Goggle Eye Perch? I've only caught a very few since I'vve been older. Think some people refer to them as Rock Bass, if I'm not mistaken. Okay, you're saying, huh? Yep, They had a body like a supercharged perch, and a mouth like a Black Bass. They were lb. for lb. one of the hardest fighting fish I've ever caught. I'm not a salt water expert so my opinion is strictly of fresh water. We all have our favorites, as evident from the many posts and opinions!


Sounds like either a green sunfish or a warmouth. Both are pretty common.


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

Thanks, Aggiemullettboy. I've never heard of a Warmouth...will check out pics on the all informative net.


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## tpool (Aug 21, 2005)

from the list - redfish

saltwater - amberjack
freshwater - hybrid


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## Cody C (May 15, 2009)

tarpon
Jack
redfish


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## Top-H2O 2110 (Jan 31, 2010)

aggiemulletboy said:


> Sounds like either a green sunfish or a warmouth. Both are pretty common.


The fish that we call a goggleye is a Warmouth. The are very common here.


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