Favourite fish to catch and why.

[Alfiegee]

I know this has been done before, but there are lots of new members so chime in.
Not limiting this to 1 fish type either, a number 2 and 3 are fine. So are 4 and 5.
I'll start. Specks are my fav. My Dad took me fishing for Brookies when I was a kid. Being out on a stream or river fishing for Brookies is great.
Smallies are right up there. I love the way they explode from the water when hooked. And they fight like crazy. Lb for lb maybe the most exciting fish to catch.
Until you hook an Atlantic. Then look out.
Non traditional "game-fish" Gar, Bowfin. I catch them each year and they are also a lot of fun.

Alfie.

 

[usernamehere]

catfish, by far, is my #1 fav fish to catch.

 

[hamiltonangler94]

Most definently river smallmouth for the fight they put on light tackle. And a close second for me would have to be pike.

 

[JeffSimms]

I'd have to go with smallmouth, due to the fight, and their colors which I find awesome. Carp are probably #1 for fight alone for me, they're a blast as well.

 

[Klik]

october steelhead. rainbow trout in general. acrobatics and erratic fighting style.

 

[Drop_Shot]

This is tough to narrow down...

I'd have to say Smallmouth bass or Channel catfish, since pound for pound both are such great fighters.

As for numbers, I love Spring Crappie on ultralight.

 

[MuskieBait]

Locally

1) Love dry fly fishing for small stream Brook Trout. They are eager to rise...and they are so beautiful. But sometimes they are keyed into something smaller than your pocket lint and they are wary of 2lb tippet...that's when the challenge begins...

2) Love stalking Bowfin in the shallows in the spring. It is not easy and it really trains my sightfishing and stalking skills.

3) Love icefishing for Northern Pike. I usually fish them with live minnows. It's the anticipation...not knowing when you'll get hit, but then you see your minnow on the line swimming frantically...then SMACK!

4) Love sightfishing for Common Carp in shallow, clear water. I love the anticipation...you see a pod of carp approaching your bed of chum then see them graze all over the chum and you know your hair rig will be picked up soon...most of the time...

5) Love small stream Steelhead...love the challenge of pulling them out of snags more than anything else...and I love seeing the float shot down then you see the headshakes and the slab of chrome in the river.

Not local

1) Zipping Zara Spooks for Great Barracuda. My friend used to live on a brackish lake full of Barracuda...and once you found the fish, it was almost a chase every cast. At the end of the session, the fish would have destroyed 3 lures with irreparable puncture wounds and missing hooks due to the screw-in eye of the hook being ripped right out of the plastic body of the Spooks. Too much fun!

2) Surffishing for Striped Bass in Montauk. Now I know why people are so crazy about it. Fishing in the dark in surf that may swamp your waders as you toss out jigs, Slugo or 12" love live eels waiting for a Striped Bass in the trough shoot up to thump your offering. Dangerous, unpredictable and line singing...

3) Vertical jigging for Samsonfish. It was a lot of hardwork...but I've never had a fish dove that hard and pulled so hard on standup gear (maybe one day I can change that opinion after fighting a Giant Trevally, Dogtooth Tuna or a Bluefin Tuna on standup gear)...no game chair, just you attached to a 88lb fish pinned to the rail of the boat. After yo-yo jigging all day with a 14oz jig, your arms turned jelly...both the reeling arm and the rod jerking arm...and then you have to hang on for 15 minutues with an angry fish.

4) Ripping jerkbaits just under the water for Talang Queenfish. I only found little ones from 1-3lbs, but they pull like hell on medium gear and the pod of dozen fish repeatedly attacked the lure cast after cast after cast. They tasted awesome too! I would love to catch some of the 3-4' long Queenfish in Australia one day...

5) It's cliche...but sightfishing for bonefish on the flats...in Hawaii...no ka oi!

 

[nate82]

I tried my luck at pike fishing last year and I have to say they are now my favorite. Had some pretty intense fights. Some my favorite plugs are scarred for life lol. The way a pike hits a lure, it is almost bone shattering.

Smallmouth are fun too. They have the fight, but don't destroy gear like pike do.

 

[Dozer]

Hard to pick just one... but any salmonid will do. Love steelhead for the power, browns for the beauty... lakers for the burping, brookies for beauty + being notoriously picky and splake just because they can be a bitch to catch...

 

[Bow Man]

Small mouth for the fight. Muskie because of the bragging rights!

 

[MartyLee]

1: Smallmouth, love the fight and good eatting easy to clean, colors......
2: Largemouth, good eatting, easy to clean, lots of them around me.
3: Winter Laketrout. Love icefishing trout
4: Perch and Crappie tie, both winter and summer fishing.
5: Brook trout: started fly fishing afew years ago

 

[BowSlayer]

favourite fish to catch: big brook trout 4+ pounds, the head shakes and screaming drag is absolutely awesome! Favourite not-commonly targeted fish species: longnonse gar, love throwing in a big chub into the current into the spring and watching the rod bounce while it hits, then hook set, in hopes it will stay on long enough for you to grab it, then the line-peelign runs, can compare it to even salmon, fight like crazy jump so high that a bow is put to shame, awesome fish! (edit) favourite ice fishing species: shallow water whities!!! love watching them stalk your bait on the flasher, then coming up with a jigging pattern to interest them enough for a strike, then the amazing fight in hopes that the mouth of the fish won't rip and that your thin line won't snap and your reel won't screw up on you leaving you in tears!

 

[classic drifter]

fast moving river smallmouth, 1 lb feels like 3 on a lake smallmouth, but dont get me wrong lake smallmouth over 4 lbs will take you for a ride!!!

 

[coldfeet]

snapper

 

[fisherman kid]

smallmouth bass

-beautiful colors
-hard fighting to its reputation (pound for pound, ounce for ounce)
-found in lots of places

 

[hammercarp]

Carp. They fight really well, they are everywhere and I have a real chance at a fish over 30lbs.

 

[BowSlayer]

^you definitely have a chance of one over 30 lbs thats for sure, tons of salmon sized ones near my place, ripped my darn 25 pound braid, when my spool ended lol, fun but expensive ounce one those beasts spools you.

 

[somethingsfishy]

In love with browns steelies lakers and salmon in the river. An awesome challenge. My favourite method would have to be skipping docks for largemouth. 5/0 wide gap with a DOA salt water shad tail... Just awesome. Also love walki frogs across pads for largies and of course.. Pitchin and flippin jigs in the thick. Love ice fishing for perch. Favourite to catch over all has gotta be salmon though... It almost brings a tear to my eye when i land them and see them up close how beat up they get and how powerful they truly are even in the rivers, with such determination to spawn, i believe conciously knowing that its the last thing they will do. Incredible fish

 

[Alfiegee]

Well I have to agree with everyone so far. Although my salt-water fishing experience has been limited. I have caught a few small Hammerheads, Mackeral and Groupers on deep sea fishing charters in the past. When those charters put you on a reef you never know what is on the end of your line til it hits the surface. Always fun tho.
Suffice it to say as I have said before, I like to catch fish. But I don't really care if I catch no fish. A good day on the water, and so on.
I started this just to hear what others would say. I can't disagree with anything I have read.
Bass, Trout, Salmon, Pike, Walleye, Carp, Cats, Bowfin, Gar and on and on, are all exciting to catch.

Alfie.

 

[Joel52]

Anything on a fly.