Best fighting Fish Pound for Pound

If we could all catch 5lb mackerel we wouldnt fish for anything else, with the exeption of big wrasse, smoothies, big pollack, stingrays, rough ground conger and in fast rivers the Barbel, such a shame we dont get those here.

Mackerel on light spinning gear now thats what its all about And as your reeling in your fine catch a big bull sea-lion decides to give you a run for your money And you cant beat a scrap off a Smut as it plays with your bait and decides to eat it and then BANG a great scrap ensues Bring on the smoothies only weeks away

the best fight i have had from a fish was from a mackeral, mind you it was a spanish mackeral (i think) and it was about 10lbs, if the common mackeral grew to that size then it would be a hell of a prize fish

I'm not so sure this topic asked the right question. In my experience just about any fish - humble flounders included - will put up a fair fight if you match your tackle to them; none of them want to get caught!

Maybe the real question is: Whats the most challenging fish to catch? Whats the one that makes you think most, makes you study them, their habits, their habitat, their food etc, and makes you ponder most about your tackle, your methods, bait, tides, weather etc?

I suspect thats why bass are commonly regarded as top of the tree, they might not be the best fighters overall, but if you're catching them regularly you've put in a lot of intellectual effort that sets you apart from the chuck-it-and-chance-it angler. Much the same can be said about mullet and sea trout....

I'm putting on the hard hat and retiring to the fall-out shelter now....

mullet there like torpedos fantastic

mackerel on light fly gear... cant beat it..

mackerel on light fly gear... cant beat it..

I believe it's brilliant Steve, a mate of mine uses this technique in the summer to catch mackerel just for the challenge instead of the more popular methods people tend to use such as using the float or chucking out a set of feathers and he says the kick/fight you get is really good. I must try it sometime - although I'll have to practise my fly fishing abit more first

If mackerel grew to 5 or 6lb them i`d go for them but cos they dont i`d say Ballan Wrasse hit harder that any other fish in the sea but give up to quick
For pure strength and determination i`d have to say Thick lipped mullet....

a good pollack on light spining gear thats a good fight

there was a pic put up in feb last year by "timbo" of a 4lb mack caught in kerry by a trawler(bottom pic)

and another one put up by "john1" of a 5.5lber caught in cork(top pic)

you'd have some scrap off these fellas on an ugly stick lite rod with 10lb braid
these are the pics put up by the lads, not my own.

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Mullet are the business.

Bass on plugs are great.

Hounds and Tope both shore & both.

Mackeral are great wee fighters but you need to match ur tackle...

2 Best fights of my life were a 2.5lb Sea Trout this year, and a rather large blonde ray in Ballycastle....
Though in honesty if I had to pick one of the 2, I'd say the Sea Trout was best.

Do any of the tackle companies still make 1lb line?

Yes Maxima, Henry's sells it Try land a Mackerel on that

Do any of the tackle companies still make 1lb line?

Yes Maxima, Henry's sells it Try land a Mackerel on that

That's the plan. Set up the lightest rod i can find with 1lb line and ... not too sure what kind of end tackle you could cast without breaking the line. Also as one of the lads said above, congers on a trout rod are mighty craic. Pure accidend the first time it happend but i'll be trying the same again.

im with most of the lads hounds all the way

I have had good fights with wrasse.Even small wrasse 25-30cm long can put up a good fight.

i would have to say the conger eel for pure strength ,if you take a 15lb conger wrapped around a rock pulling against a 200lb angler who is going to win,most of the time the conger will

tope, smoothies no contest,,,esp big tope from the shore, oh man

a big ballan wrasse caught of the Atlantic drive in really deep water.a fish with attitude, built for a fight!

Wrasse :- simply unbeatable.

light line on a quiver tip rod.