Hardest fighting fish?

[Poodroo]

Have had some hard fights with the finned variety out there but was wondering what fish people would class as the hardest fighting fish that they have experienced. Is it Mackeral, Cobia, Dolphin fish? For me it was a 15kg Lontail Tuna which really stretched the arms. It's the time of year that the speedsters are in our waters. Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences.

Regards,

Poodroo

[Blackened]

G'day
Personally, A toss up between wahoo, yellowtail king and cobia

They all fight completely different but all verry good

Dave

[a_big_red_1]

i think it would be a toss up between a spanard or a tuna

Daz

[manchild]

Pound for pound would be jacks ,cobia ,and dare to say whiting ;)
George

[choppa]

Pound for pound would be jacks ,cobia ,and dare to say whiting ;)
George

and i've read some of georges reports,,,,,,,,,,,,, ;D ;D

(merry chrissie mate),,,,,

i just hate getting these things,,,,,,,

[Scalem]

I reckon the bigger the fish, the harder they fight as a rule, but the mighty Cobia gives you a surprise at the end as you try gaff it into the boat..... They roll like a crocodile and break rods inside the boat if you have any lying around on the floor. Toughest fish I have ever locked horns with my a mile!!

Scalem

[knuckles]

Hi guys,

Brian, if you are on-line please PM me your street address. I'm still trapped in the less than 10 posts and cannot PM yet, but I'm getting there.

Have a good weekend

[serene_lady]

Although they dont grow as big as some other speices, the Bone fish would take some beating for there size, they resemble whiting, and the largest bone fish I have caught was 6kg. So if you can imagine a 6kg whiting on a line you will know what i am talking about. Bob.

[Boomi_Boy]

Pound for pound, no prestiege, bonito and stripeys, been lucky enough 2 make a few trips to the more exotic locations( but not bassland png), including Lord Howe, but this is my opinion.
Fresh, tandanus(pound 4 pound) would be my pic, another "lesser" species, but hope to tangle with a bluenose cod one day, I hear they just don,t give up!!!!

cheers BB

[fishface]

none of you ever caught a GT trevally? gotta be the back breaker in this bunch mentioned so far.
daniel

[StevenM]

Love the yellow tail kings,

even the rats put a a great fight

[NeilD]

The hardest fights I have had were either Cobia when they keep coming up to the boat and kicking off again or a couple of Yellowfin Tuna around 40lb on spin gear. I didn't know how to break up their circling under the boat so I just sat on top and pulled hard. That was back breaking work.

Poundfor pound the Whiting would have to be up there somewhere

Cheers

Neil

[BobbyJ123]

How about this chappie??

World champion boxer [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Jack Dempsey

http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/freshwater/images/cichlid/jackdempsey/jd5.jpg

[Black_Rat]

The hardest fighting fish to date i've caught would be a Chinamen #;) followed by a Kingie #;D

[manchild]

Pound for pound would be jacks ,cobia ,and dare to say whiting ;)
George

and i've read some of georges reports,,,,,,,,,,,,, ;D ;D

(merry chrissie mate),,,,,

i just hate getting these things,,,,,,,



Of course the whiting is closely followed by lightersize cods ;D ;D
merry chrissie to you too #8-) # # George

[banshee]

Yellowtail Kingfish.

[lippa]

lb 4 lb i'd go the humble whiting too!!!1

[RCG008]

Yellowtail Kingfish. Like they say the little guys just luv a scrap. Light tackle on a 3kg Kingy=Gameon.

[hooknose]

I reckon big Red Emporer would have to rate up there as the hardest of the reefies also big Rosie Jobfish, agree with Whiting, Tuna, and GT's but have never caught a Yellowtail Kingfish. Probably have to throw Tarpon and Giant Herr 8-)ing in there also !!
Cheers and Merry Christmas,
Hooknose !!!

[backhoe]

For brute strength and short term power nothing compares to black bass. They are the biggest, meanest mangrove dwelling fish and would pull most fish backwards without even knowing they were doing it.
Of the tunas dogtooth would have to be the best fighters. They are not only quick but don't mind resorting to the odd dirty tactic given the chance.
As far as a fish that goes crazy once it gets inside the boat cobia has to win. When they come in green they can destroy a boat when they go crazy.

[Toby]

Officially clocked at 110kph the sail fish can strip 100m of your line off inside 3 seconds. You wouldn't wanna put any flamable liquid next to your drag if you hooked one of these babies.

After that I'd say Wahoo followed closely by Tarpon..Tarpon are an insanely fast moving fish..I rekon they go harder than any species of mackeral or tuna.

[roz]

Hard to pick just one fish, so I'm going to select a few.

Top of my list would be a GT, my best GT so far was a bit over 18kg, unbelievably strong fish kg for kg.

Bone fish. I think if those things grow to double figures they would be unstoppable.

Cobia, Kings and Jacks.

Freshwater - Australian Bass.

Sorry to those who picked spaniards & wahoo, .... I think they're easy............ sorry ;D

cheers roz

[fishface]

your right roz spaniards a one run fish....... too easy :)
daniel

[imnotoriginal]

Hard to say, having caught the fish on different weight lines and set ups. For me the best fighting fish I've had have been the diamond trev I got, the big GTs and a rat king I hooked once. They all burn up a drag pretty damn well. Must agree though, the old y-ting is a fantastic fight. If they got up to a bigger size you could have some real fun.
Joel

[tunaman]

IMHO I think most fish fight the same. It all depends on the line class.
A big trev on heavy line wont be the same as if it was caught on light line.
But yellow kingies get my vote.




signed tunaman

[Sea-Dog]

.....Anything on the end of the hook when you have a birds nest or similar mishap at the working end of the outfit.

>:( >:(

I haven't seen amberjack mentioned - cousin of the kingie. Just like a submarine - Dive, Dive, Dive.

Best unstoppable would have to be a 17' glass runabout, going at about 30 Knots, that ran over my trolled lure about 25 Metres behind the boat.

[Craigo]

I would have to say the cobia for offshore, but off the beach nothing beats a big dart holding itself sideways in the waves. They don't weigh in much but boy they know how to fight

Merry xmas

[Cobia_Kid]

my biggest yet...COBIA,definantly a great fighting fish,
i also here that black marlin fight pound 4 pound,kilo 4 kilo,
100 KG 4 100KG :P
cheers

[webby]

You can have your cobes, kingies or big pelagics, hook up to a 8kg or bigger Blackspot and you have your work cut out.
regards

[nob]

i am with you black rat chinaman followed by kingie

[Pistol_Pete]

Yellowtail kings and GT's I reckon....Longtails are great fighters but the fight is no where near as brutal. :o

[TinarooTriumph]

Freshwater - Pound for Pound it is easily the Jungle Perch.

Saltwater - Don't do alot of Saltwater Fishing, but Wahoo are simply the fastest fish in the Sea... But Id love to fight a 1200lb+ B/Marlin one day. If I could tag and release one of them, Id be the happiest man alive.

Merry X-Mas AusFishers!

[chum]

Easily the toughest fighting oogly going around will be my next GT...the more u try to bruise them the more they fight back.
50lb braid on a nitro godzilla with a 6500 baitrunner locked up....its a "fair fight"

[iank]

My vote would go to jig caught black jew living on wrecks, would pull any fish backwards in the first 30 sec to min after hookup (thats if you stay connected that long), next up would be chinaman then GT,S.
Cheers Ian

[roz]

Kilo for kilo the hardest fighting fish I've ever caught....bar none.

But....I havn't caught a black bass.

r.

[Poodroo]

It's obvious that everyone has locked horns with some great fighters. The reason I picked the longtail tuna as being the best based on personal experience was because I have never had a fish fight to the point where it was literally dead by the time I got it next to the boat. They give it their all and seem to take longer than most to bring in. Would like to do battle with a yellowtail kingy though. I reckon they go hard from what people are saying.

Regards,

Poodroo

[Rod_Bender]

Pound for Pound the PNG Black Bass. Catch a 4kg blk bass and you'll think its a 15kg GT....

[Matthias]

Don't agree with the black bass theory. It's a matter of where they live. If you hooked a big mac or tuna in a mangrove estuary then the same theory applies. If you were to hook a big black bass in open water I couldn't see them doing massive 100m+ runs everywhere. Black Bass are just like a big reefy on roids but they live in the same environment as jacks which gives them the upper hand. Put them in the open and they wouldn't last long.

Pete.

[Deiter]

Well, i know it is an impossible thing to accurately compare different species/locations, but anyone who has tried extracting a grass sweetlip from the shallow bay reefs knows what a fight is.

The buggers don't have to be big either - i have one spot in 4m of water with only small rocky rubble on the bottom, and it takes at least 30lb line and a broomstick to extract anything over 1kg!! they hit hard, and they hit fast. B4 you know whats happened, you have a sore gut where the rod has just 'bucked' and he's taken your hook for jewelry. Awesome fish - make squire look like pansy's.

Damo

[roz]

Well, i know it is an impossible thing to accurately compare different species/locations, but anyone who has tried extracting a grass sweetlip from the shallow bay reefs knows what a fight is.

The buggers don't have to be big either - i have one spot in 4m of water with only small rocky rubble on the bottom, and it takes at least 30lb line and a broomstick to extract anything over 1kg!! they hit hard, and they hit fast. B4 you know whats happened, you have a sore gut where the rod has just 'bucked' and he's taken your hook for jewelry. Awesome fish - make squire look like pansy's.

Damo

Good point Damo,

It's almost impossible to judge pound for pound. But here's a hypothetical.... every fish we catch was available at the weight of say 10kg, & you were given a rod and reel with 5kg line, which species would come out in front? I might change my opinion of a GT and select a whiting.

Hope that doesn't sound too silly... well it probably does!!!

Who cares. We won the Ashes!!!!.

[Deiter]

Yeah Roz, i reckon if whiting grew to 5kg, you might never stop them.

[frenzy]

you know when you hook up and you dont even get a chance ,it may as well be a train or submarine and you never knew what hit you
Yellow Tail Kingie or his mate Black King
:o

[spinna]

Yep Yellow tail kings and black drummer or pigs as we call them down here # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## # # # # ## # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Cheers spinna# # # # #;)

[whiteman]

GT for me - much tougher than Spaniards, cobia and fingermark. Got these two in the last week and both took 30 minutes to land. I can't imagine how people get the 50kg monsters on board.
13kg: http://www.bbbalc.com/News_Events/Photos/Files/Dave_GT.jpg
14.8kg http://www.bbbalc.com/News_Events/Photos/Files/Dave_GT_07Jan07.jpg

[T1]

I would have to say the cobia for offshore, but off the beach nothing beats a big dart holding itself sideways in the waves. They don't weigh in much but boy they know how to fight

Merry xmas

I'm with you CRAIGO! They certainly put on a show and a heap of fun in the surf!!

Take care T

[johnlikes2fish]

yellow tail king most of the trevally family a big dart on 6lb goes ok too

[Slient]

I guess Snub nose dart is hardest fighting fish at beach and took me 45-50 minutes to land phew...

[hardb8]

It's very hard to compare all these great fish mentioned pound for pound.But with some thought,My personal pick has to be.

.....The Summer Whiting.....

[GBC]

I'll vote mac tuna - dirty stinky mac tuna - go hard for their length.

[revs57]

One of the best fighting fish I've ever caught was a 4 and a half foot Long Tom...got up early one morning on a Swains trip a few years back and floated an unweighted pilly on light gear just on sunup one morning off the back of the boat along the edge of the lagoon reef we were anchored up in for the night. Well that got absolutely smashed...the water exploded and frothed and this thing came up thrashing and cartwheeling, it tail walked and fought so verousously and violently for a good 10 minutes. I was gobsmacked. It only went a couple or maybe three kg, but I reckon pound for pound it packs more punch than just about anything else I've ever caught. Certainly more than just an overgrown gar fish!

Cheers

rhys

[Jabass]

Hardest Fighting Fish?

Nominating the hardest or best fighting fish can be subjective, objective and in fact a matter of opinion. So here goes. In my opinion, the West Australian Sampson Fish, large Yellowfin Tuna, and Mako Shark are top of the tree in available Aussie species. And when one talks about destroying boats – the late Jack and Signa Paton experienced their (from memory) 28’ footer being destroyed by a mad Mako which came aboard during a fight. And having to lock themselves in the cabin and radio for help. That was before he built the 40’foot Signa – now chartering off Kiama.

In the Aussie freshwater, Bass are best pound for pound – particularly in Lake Glenbawn. And on light tackle I agree that Salmon, Tailor, Bream, Whiting and the common Trevally are bloody good fun. But all that is only my opinion.
John Bethune.

[Shanoss]

I haven't read al the posts, but my money would have to be on the mighty milkfish. 15kg of milkfish IMHO would drag anything of the same size backwards all day long.

[finding_time]

as others have said it just to hard to compare fish and there differant habitats and differant sizes but i'm with GBC the little mac tuna always give a great acount of them selfs and if they lived in esturarys around snags would be uncatchable


Ian

[Mozza]

What no trout for the freshies?

Easily the top of the list on my freshwater list - nothing like stream-bred brown/rainbows with your line singing with the speed.

Haven't caught alot of the species mentioned but my reading leads me to believe the snub-nosed dart, milkfish, GT, Tuna should be up there interms of line-spooling.

Then the reefie categories of hit and run: fingermark, big cod, jewies all the red fish - they are all designed for explosive attack and run back to cover (well, not really the jewies).

Mozza

[Cammy]

i agree with mozza about the trout i have caught heaps at jindabine and eucumbene (spelling), big monsters, and r really good fighters. ;D ;D
i only do estuary fishing but for saltwater i think red throat emperor around 30 cm mark and also bream.

cam ;)

[Cobia_Kid]

im surprised there has been no barra up here :-? :o

[Fixation]

Well I know everyone has there own opinion on this topic. My personal choice for arm benders would be the Chinaman-fish. On occasion we go to a place up north that we call chinatown. These guys grow quite big in this location but pound for pound these guys double you over when hooked. One of the best sights is to see your deckie playing a good fish in and he's calling it for a red when up pops one of these monsters. A real emotional rollercoaster.

Its a bummer they are laced with ciguatera poisoning.

This is a pic of one my mum caught recently. My hat goes off to her it was nearly as big as her.

[For_Steve]

For speed I'd have to say the spanish mackerel.

For hardest fight my vote goes to the GT. They turn side on to have a break and then give it to you all over again...and again...

I think the queenfish deserves a mention, and also the tarpon. Both for their aerobatic display.

[Gladdy]

Gday all,

I would have to say a big blue salmon run hard pull hard and jump only problem not always that hard to catch don't play dirty running for snags and can be in plague proportions at times but good fun all the same on light gear.

Cheers Gladdy

[cammac]

H :oavent read all the relies but dont know if anyone mentioned Bonefish??
Never caught one but by all accounts theyre unbelievable is that true or are they just oversize whiting??!! ;D

[cammac]

Havent read all the relies but dont know if anyone mentioned Bonefish??
Never caught one but by all accounts theyre unbelievable is that true or are they just oversize whiting??!! #:o ;D

[jackash]

GT's on light gear are always good fun, but for me, permit are the go. Nailed one off the beach at Fraser 2 years ago and this thing stripped line at a rate of knots, then went dirty like a trev, got side on in the waves... took a good 15 minutes to land one of about 5lb, and that was on moderately substantial tackle.

[fish_on]

well fighting a big jack amongst fallin timber can be pretty tough but ya cant go past the old yellowtail or cobia

[cammac]

How about Drummer or Pigs as theyre affectionately know . Man they haul for their size!! :o

[timbacutta]

Cobia, the harder you pull on them the harder they pull back and can be mean when on the gaff if you don't get it right. But had a Bludger Trevally on 4 kg line that took 2 .25hrs to land and was only just over 5 kg. Mongrel would just not give up, was totally deflated to see it's size after such a long fight.

Jeff.

[eddyfish]

I've caught alot of the species mentioned but for me i have to say pound for pound of the rocks its drummer hands down,but i would'nt mind a nuckle with one of those black bass from PNG cheers Eddy

[Chuckmeister]

I'm with you eddyfish, I'd love to have a crack at those black bass.

In a creek and for the first 15 secs, I reckon you can't go past a jack (pound for pound)

[plasticking700]

i have never been deep sea fishing but my favourite would have to be tarpon i caught a 53and a 1/2 cm one on 4 pound braid which took about 10 mins to land also jacks and bull sharks deserve a mention

[rockfisho]

I rekon the Blue groper found on the rocks in NSW. They're like a bulldozer. Although I have never landed one, i got bricked in 1 second on 30 lb line.
Drummer fight well pound for pound aswell.

[Tropicaltrout]

For me it would be the Jack, as a estury or fresh only guy they pull hard and can rip locked down drag off quality reels. Other than that I have herd the hardest fighting fish is the Black Bass

TT

[PlasticFantastic]

It's gotta be Yellowtail Kingfish especially when you're jigging for them. The biggest i've caught so far is just over 11 kg and it would pull any top water pelagic backwards as it heads down to the bottom.


PlasticFantastic

[Tomsta]

Yellow Tail Kingfish Has my vote.... Biggest I've landed was 50 pound caught on 10Kg mono..... put up a real Hua of a Fight. Quite often the bigger ones are unstoppable even on 24Kg... they fight dirty and will head for the nearest rock, pinaccle or weedline when hooked.

Starting out in the early years "The Humble Kawai" on light gear was where all the action was at... a plentiful fish, capable of pulling a lot of string, running and jumping all over the place..... one of the reasons I'm now so hooked on fishing was catching these things up to around 10 pound... taste damn fine smoked too.

[Redhead]

Kingfish, followed by GT's and Striped Tuna. These fish just don't know when to give up....

Redhead

[tunaman]

I have just made a Quick count, and the hardest fighting fish is a yellow tailed kingfish and followed by the great GT.



signed tunaman

[dodger.]

Hey Guy's,
What about the Australian Salmon? Anyone who has caught one over the 3 or4 kg mark will know what I am talking about.
Pound for pound they got to be up there with the best.

[straddie]

Kingies are up there, whiting go hard, but kilo for kilo swallowtail dart get the nod from me.

Catch a one kilo dart on 6 kilo line and see how long it takes to land, then think about how some of these bigger fish will go against line class 6 times their weight.

[Poodroo]

After a day out on the water with my uncle I tried something new which was knife jigging which resulted in having a few tussles with some huge Amberjack. Now that I have felt the might and strength of these fish I have updated my own thoughts of what I think is the hardest fighting fish that I have done battle with. A 30kg Amberjack is extremely hard to pull up from 60 meters down let me say. :o

Poodroo

[scubajay08]

GT's for sure. whiting for their size as well. and maybe large aussie salmon i reckon..

[blaze]

Good to see the old aussie salmon getting a few mentions, one minute they go down deep and next they are teking line as they do arials and tail dancing. I big fish from the deep is going to cause some hurt to the fisherman but I dont think its a fair way to rate a fishes fighting ability. So if all the fish were 10lb where does that lead the contest, I dont know but the old aussie salmon is going to be up there.
cheers
blaze

[beerboy]

pound for pound it would have to be 15 kg plus yellow tail kings in shallow water , for me anyway keep your back straight and hang on '' love it''

[brrbear]

surprised some one hasn't mentioned some of those large cod.
probably not pound for pound but thats like comparing heavyweights to flyweights.
I've stopped most species mentioned and I,ll allways have a soft spot for the yell.king a/j & samsom, in open water.The groper and pig around the stones for there dirty tricks,the speed of the mackeral allways amazes me.
A large bass groper out of 300 +m well that is hard work.very hard to pick a winner there all fun from mullet to marlin.I just hope the passion doesn't wain!

[jm82]

yellow tail kings and cobes are tough fish. some of the grassy sweetlip and spangled emperor that we get from currimundi in 10 meters of water go real hard aswell

[BLOOEY]

Longtail tuna for me,Have had a couple of drawn out fights on 6 kilo.Knackered by the end of it.

[manchild]

I have already answered to this thread but forgot about mako sharks .This things are pure crazy ,dirty fighters and in my opinion outright dangerous.They not only fight but fight back big time, damaging boats and ready to take on anything in site .
cheers
George

[moondancer]

No glory, but pound for pound, specially on the lightest possible line (i am using one of the new 1 pound B/Strain lines) GARFISH!!! Go the mini marlin!!

Lawry

[snelly1971]

Stripey Trumpeter or Harpuka...

[Dingle]

The baracuda on my avatar was a mission to land. Chased it all over the reef for a good 10 minutes in the tinny before it was landed. Hardest fish I have caught by far - fast, strong and big!!

[yorty]

Black Jewfish gets my vote!

[tunaman]

Its really hard to say, pound for pound, whats the hardest fighting fish is, but I know one thing. Fish are allway full of surprises, and thats fishing. Top thread.



signed tunaman

[Hot_Snappa]

For mine its a tossup between Kingies, Drummer or Aussie Salmon!
They all go like the clappers!

[sea-rash]

AJ'S and Sambo's

Rob

[scuze a me]

I have to agree with Black_rat pound for pound a Chinaman for sure!

[Black_Rat]

Here is the offender ;D (released)

[Poodroo]

Awesome fish Damo... have yet to tackle a beauty like that.

Poodroo

[zealot]

anything in the right line class

[insideout]

The hardest fighting fish to date i've caught would be a Chinamen #;) followed by a Kingie #;D

Im with you blackrat, the larger chinaman fish makes you think you have hooked a shark!

[bballfisho]

what ever i hooked up to yesterday on the baitrunner out from rainbow beach. most likely a huge aj or cobia. not happy when the 70lb leader broke after 10minutes thats for sure. didn't gain any line in 10 minutes and it was pulling bloody hard.

[scuze a me]

Black_rat I did a lot of fishing out from Cairns some years back, Nanigi and red emporer would always be in the same area 12 to 20lb would put up a good fight but common to also get a chinaman amongst them... You always knew it was a chinaman... they go totally ballistic!!!

[Les]

happy moment A.K.A Black Trevally pound for pound they fight the hardest they have the nickname for being a nutouriously hard fighting fish.

[FNQCairns]

Drummer or Aussie salmon they are great fun.

[Marlin_Mike]

AJ's for mine

Mike

[reel scream]

Reef Jacks and Chinamen off cairn's, followed by 10kg reds in 70mtrs of water on 80lb handlines. One night on them is enough!!

Cheers Scott

[NEWBY]

Pound for pound I would say Triggers or Happy moments.(black trevally in NSW i believe) The happy moments really give you hell on light gear and even more hell if you get jabbed by them aparently. Also, being from WA and having been on many a charter, Sampson fish are back busters too. sheet they can fight.

[roz]

Pound for pound I would say Triggers or Happy moments.(black trevally in NSW i believe) The happy moments really give you hell on light gear and even more hell if you get jabbed by them aparently. Also, being from WA and having been on many a charter, Sampson fish are back busters too. sheet they can fight.

You've had plenty of practice on those trigger fish, ay NEWBS:P !!!!!

[Poodroo]

Pound for pound I would say Triggers or Happy moments.(black trevally in NSW i believe) The happy moments really give you hell on light gear and even more hell if you get jabbed by them aparently. Also, being from WA and having been on many a charter, Sampson fish are back busters too. sheet they can fight.

Actually many moons ago in my younger days I remember vaguely catching a happy moment and it did give a good account for itself. Very disappointing after having such a good fight on my hands with the light gear I was using to see such a puny little ugly excuse for a fish dangling helplessly from the end of my line. Back then I was not wise to the fact that they could give a very unpleasant sting but I was raised to be wary of anything I wasn't sure about especially if there were spines which of course I spotted well in advance. Carefully dislodged the hook and tossed it back. Was a good fight though!!!

Poodroo

[kingyfisher]

Surgeon Fish by a country mile .They only grow to 4-5kg but they outpull a king twice as big.The longest I've ever connected to one is 30sec.......and I've hooked hundreds on gear up to 30lb Braid.NEVER landed one yet!!!!:o