Best Fighting, non-saltwater Fish

[jbstar19]

Allthough I'm a diehard trout fisherman, I'd have to say pound for pound river smallies are some of the best fighters, even the small ones fight like ther're monsters! But as far as pure, line breaking power, salmon are hard to beat!!!

[wyogator]

Pound for pound, I'd say rainbows without a doubt.

[kingfshr16]

Rainbows, salmon, catfish, but gills and crappies fight pretty good for their size too.

[reubenpa]

I agree with all of you guys, but how many have caught a 15 inch fallfish or bigger?  I got one in the Susquy last year, and that thing was a fighter.  It wasn't heavy, but it was fast!!  It was awesome, but not like a smallie though!! 12 inch smallie feels like a 20 inch largemouth

[wny angler]

pound for pound bluegills put up the best battle  , for big fish 30lb+ fresh super charged salmon in the lower niagara river are tough to beat

[baginwal]

I really enjoy a good fight with a hefty smallmouth, but..............trust me, hook up with a 35 - 40 lb king salmon and after the 2nd or 3rd 100 yd reel scream, you will know why he is the king!

[Fishingking]

pound for pound  comparing the fight to the size of fish id have to say

smallies

and then

bluegills

[MickeyFinn]

Number one on my list is LL Salmon with their countless 4 foot leaps out of the water, Coho's and Steelhead are a close 2nd..

[vancouvercanuck]

My all time favourite would have to be the mighty Rainbow Trout.

[howey1176]

I really enjoy a good fight with a hefty smallmouth, but..............trust me, hook up with a 35 - 40 lb king salmon and after the 2nd or 3rd 100 yd reel scream, you will know why he is the king!

3 other buddies and I went on a salmon/trout charter on Lake Ontario a couple of springs ago in mid April ( the time when all of those little black bugs cover everything). Really good day ended up with 8 browns and a few coho's. On our way back the captain decided the last fish of the day was going to be mine because I had lost two other's at the boat earlier and hadn't boated a fish yet. About a mile from port he yells fish on. I run and grab it and I had the fight of my life. After a half hour of exghausting fighting and watching the line foot counter on the reel go crazy and counless runs I finally boated him. Don't know what he weighed but it was 34" long and the captain said it was a good size king.

The fight of my life. Almost forgot about that one.

[broken rod]

oh boy smallies on the river for sure

[ChenBassHead]

You guys may think...what the hell is this crazy moron talkin about, but have you ever thought about how hard a 10 lb chub would fight? Oh man, that would be a serious battle. HOWEVER...nothing compares to a smallie in strong current (like below a dam). A good, healthy smallie in any current will fight you to the end.

A carp is an incredible fighter as well, so I'm going to make smallies my number 1, and carp my number 2. I want to catch a drum, I've heard a lot about the fight. No where to fish for them around these parts

-Zach

[acsacmboy]

smallies are hard fighters. carp also. bluegills for thier size are amazzing. imagine if they got over 15-18 inches? wow. salmon are hard fighters. once pike reach the magical number of 32, they fight hard. especially those 45 plus inchers. nice fishin eh?

[TroutFishingBear]

I really enjoy a good fight with a hefty smallmouth, but..............trust me, hook up with a 35 - 40 lb king salmon and after the 2nd or 3rd 100 yd reel scream, you will know why he is the king!

my friend caught a 40 pound king salmon. He said it fought like crap. He said it's not that fun because the gear they use for them is like marlin gear!

[reelcharacter]

Smallies may be worth arguing about, but I will still place my bet, pound for pound, on Bluegills with light tackle.

-Reelcharacter