Hardest And Weakest Fighting Freshwater Fish

[fishboy899]

Open water I would have to say a Smallmouth Bass is the best fighter.  I would have to say that the worst fighter is a perch.  Altought its great to feel any fish at the end of my line.

[Pasquatch]

Altought its great to feel any fish at the end of my line.

Aint that that the truth!

[archbishop]

im not making it personal i personally have never caught a laker but seen them pulled in and i dont know how far "north" in ontario you are but most people talking here are from new york and maine so we dont know about warmer waters +nothing personal to you "in the north" just responding to your post no hard feeling we are all fisherman warm water and cold

[Gilles]

No doubt smallies are great fighters but wipers pound for pound are much stronger. Its a must to keep a fairly loose drag, three to four pound wipers can easily snap 12lb test like it wasn't even there. They are the closest thing to all of those saltwater dragsters. I'd have to put lake trout second for all around power. Lakers from 10 to 30+lbs have long lasting power and endurance like no other fresh water fish. I've caught king salmon well over 40 pounds and had them in, in less than half the time as a lake trout 10 pounds lighter.

[Mackdaddy21]

You guys all putting down lake trout, try fishing wild untouched lakes with cold water, when you pull em from the depths, sure they are lifeless, but in the clear water, when they seey the surface and your boat, The last thirty feet of line before landing is unreal. They fight like crazy, ive even had a 5 pounder clear the water 3 times. Lake trout deserve more respect then they get for fighting. but i guess some of you guys live in warmer waters. maybe the lake trout dont fight at all! But from my expeirience, Lakers are great fighters.

Now, for the original topic  Id say Redhorse sucker are the strongest, and weakest would be yellow perch

I fish in high elevation Colorado lakes and the water is very cold and very clear. Lakers to me fight all right but for their size they really do not. The 16 pound laker I caught two years ago fought about the same as a 5 pound rainbow I hooked through the ice that year too. On six pound line. Went on two strong runs, both as it neared the surface.  Then it tired out. Fight lasted probably 5 minutes.

Gilles, I agree wipers fight hard. I have only caught a couple, but they were both well over 4 pounds. I think they fight about half as much as  a smallmouth of the same size but they don't jump. I still don't think they fight as good though as a smallmouth or wild rainbow of similar size.

Tyler

[Kodiak Commando]

I have fished for kings and lakers and have to disagree with giles. Kings are great fighters for their size in my experience and lakers are ok at best. It should be noted also that fresh bright kings fight much better than old rotten ones. In my experience a fresh king fights with blistering runs and jumps while a lake trout pulls hard but doensn't pull much drag for it's size. I could see lake trout competing with old kings that are exhausted but a fresh king 25 with room to run especially if you are not using heavy trolling gear will outfight a lake trout around 35 to 40 pounds.

[Gilles]

Kings are undoubtably great fighters and much more acrobatic for there size than most other fish that get that big.  Nothing like seeing a forty pound fish jump completely out of the water. I'm just saying the endurance battle goes to the lakers at least the ones in Co.

Mackdaddy you haven't caught enough wiper, there no comparison. Trust me anyone that has caught them won't even put them in the same catagory.

[Hoochie]

The hardest for me would be a skamania. The weakest would be a perch.

[Mackdaddy21]

Gilles,

Yeah that was at Aurora and I think they were full because subcatchable rainbows had just been stocked. So maybe that was part of it.
Lakers do fight well. The large one I hooked last year was at least twice as big as my biggest and he took line like I had hooked into a dumptruck doing 90. But a 3 pound laker fights about like a walleye of the same size. A 3 pound rainbow screams line and slices through the water with power that no fish but other salmonids can. The fight a 17 pounder gives is undescribable in swift current.

Tyler

[MikeThePike]

I've yet to make a trip for salmon so I can't put them anywhere yet but my best would be a smallie. Worse would probably be a rock bass.

[PGKris]

Apparently I have to go fish smallies...... Sorry guys I believe you all but the only lakers I've ever caught fought like mud. Just basically had to haul them up to the surface. I'm not a big-fish catcher anyways. I'd rather have 100 fish days than catch 3 or 4 five pound rainbows! Not a big laker fan to start with. I think people underrate suckers though. Big ones in river during spawning will spool you as fast as any good chinook! But I like the jumps Thats why I love kokanee! How high can he go! Whooo! Almost landed in the boat! Double header! Yeeehaaa! Sorry got kinda carried away there lol
Later
KRIS

[TroutFishingBear]

A cuttbow (rainbow cutthroat hybrid) is the hardest fighting fish IMO.
A green sunfish puts a bluegill to shame. A green sunfish is the hardest fighting panfish.
Weakest fighting fish icefishing is lake trout, weakest fighting open water fish is walleye.

[devil-man]

My choice would be a big Northern in the fall. I have lost track of how many of my baits they have mangled beyond repair.
Perch are pretty wimpy, but I still like catching them.
 

[deerhunter]

what is a wiper. isn,t that on the windshield of the truck.

[bigredfishing]

the wiper as i know it is a hybrid of a white bass and striped bass