The Fight

[BrianMDTX]

14 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

I'd say without a doubt a smaller fights much harder than a largemouth lb for lb. That said I'd say a bluegill for the size is tougher than both of them. In my lifetime I've caught lots of river smallies in the 12oz to 1lb range and thousands of dink largies that size...all the bluegills I've caught that size would put both of those fish to shame. The bluegill may not be flashy and jump but the low end torque of a 1lb gill on appropriate tackle is something to behold.

Could you imagine hooking a 5 lb. bluegill? 
 

I truly believe that, pound for pound, bluegills have more fight than any other freshwater fish in North America. They never give up. Big 1 lb. bluegills on a ML or L rod are extremely fun to catch. And they are excellent table fare! Way better than bass! 

[Zcoker]

A big fat lazy lady off the bank lol Almost pulled me into the water! These big girls are expecting the fisherman to underestimate them! This one just happen to be waiting around for a thirsty rabbit lol 

 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

3 minutes ago, Zcoker said:

An big fat lazy lady off the bank lol Almost pulled me into the water! These big girls are expecting the fisherman to underestimate them! This one just happen to be waiting around for a thirsty rabbit lol 

 

 

 

They have an extra gear when they get toward that size. When you set the hook it’s a speeding locomotive. You can hear the fishing line cry out in agony 

[gim]

45 minutes ago, Zcoker said:

Those fish are brutal to bring in off the beach

Are you able to bring a tarpon onto the beach?  When I was in Florida they wouldn't even allows us to lift it out of the water, per Florida state law.  We could reach over the side and grab the mouth for a photo, that's it.

[Zcoker]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

Are you able to bring a tarpon onto the beach?  When I was in Florida they wouldn't even allows us to lift it out of the water, per Florida state law.  We could reach over the side and grab the mouth for a photo, that's it.

 

In general, I go out into the water to de-hook them and then swim them off with a kiss lol  

[Blue Raider Bob]

1 hour ago, BrianMDTX said:

Could you imagine hooking a 5 lb. bluegill? 
 

I truly believe that, pound for pound, bluegills have more fight than any other freshwater fish in North America. They never give up. Big 1 lb. bluegills on a ML or L rod are extremely fun to catch. And they are excellent table fare! Way better than bass! 

Shellcrackers have a pretty good pull to them as well!

8 hours ago, GreenPig said:

Zero experience with SM, sadly. IMO a Spotted Bass at 4 lbs will out pull a 10 lb LM and fight you all the way through the release.

It's bittersweet to hook a big Spot on a crankbait just for the reason you stated. They fight all the way through release. Those crankbait hooks are deadly when that Spot is going psycho while you are trying to unhook. When I leave the Tennessee River after a day of cranking, my hands and fingers are in sorry shape!

[1984isNOW]

FIshing with light gear makes every fish feel like a monster haha, I'm currently dealing with an internal struggle between medium light and light for my finesse fishing. The light stuff keeps'em hooked and makes every fish a blast to catch, medium light affords more control in the battle but some of the runs have pulled hooks when trying to keep fish away from rocks or weeds or dock pilings. 

 

I feel like I'd be compelled to agree that sunnies put up a ferocious fight for their size, and I've pulled dink smallies that I thought were decent spots before I saw them.

[TOXIC]

I was once told by Bassmaster Classic winner Woo Daves that if Redfish would jump he would never fish for bass again. ?

[Mobasser]

I'm not surprised at the comments on sunfish. I use a soft action ultralight rod for bluegills here. It seems like they're always hungry, and easy to catch also. For they're size, they put up a good fight. Whenever I fillet a mess and fry them up, people always say they taste good too. I agree.

[MassBass]

I don't think it is really that black and white to what specie fights harder. I always respect the battle with a largemouth, because of their tendency to run for cover, and the headshake, it is not usually a full jump, but they just stick that bucket mouth out and shake, and sometimes that is enough to escape.

 

I think waterbody is important to, big lakes, strong rivers, the fish will be stronger than in a still mudhole or farm pond, (where there are mostly just largemouth). I have not fished Erie, but I am sure an Erie largemouth will be strong and fight hard, just differently than a smallmouth.    

[Woody B]

Speaking of Tarpon, I had relatives that lived on the beach when I was a teen.  They said "the Tarpon are running".  (do Tarpon run?)   I put a hopkins spoon on my brand new Garcia Ambassador 5500/Ugly Stick combo.  I heaved it out into the ocean.  A Tarpon (I guess) grabbed it and proceeded to run all the line off my reel, without any thought of slowing down.   That's pretty much the extent of my saltwater fishing experience.   

[Scott804]

I agree with what AJ said. Most of the time I am using a fairy wand to fish for smallmouth. There have been multiple times where I literally felt like I could not move a big smallmouth. That being said, my second biggest largemouth I was convinced was a massive catfish or something. He took me on an absolute ride rivaling my longest smallmouth fights, on casting gear no less. Made me rethink some things about fighting fish. An angry largemouth is nothing to laugh at... it seems like smallmouth are predisposed to just be "angry"/fired up fighting, but I feel like most of the fish I have lost have always been largemouth with a vendetta to not get caught. Something interesting I think is that big smallmouth are very old fish yet they don't seem to try to hang you up the way a big largemouth does. I have hooked good sized green fish and they have immediately hung me up in ways that make it seem as if they are totally aware of the fact that when hooked they can get out by doing something specific to get out, or are familiar with their nearby environment enough to use it to their advantage. Obviously, one would surmise this is more likely in fish that stay within a range, like year round dock resident fish. I started to formulate this theory while fishing the James River, which has lots of industrial areas on the river and I had a spot that held some decent fish and every time I would hook one, they would immediately fly around this sharp jagged edge of a metal pylon and cut a hard angle and keep pulling until my line was frayed and snapped. I have had smallmouth try to wrap me up in rocks and turn broadside in hard current, but it has always seemed like they were playing it by ear. Maybe it has to do with the way they move/inhabit areas, maybe it is body of water specific, or maybe (and probably) I am looking too far into it. But it is fun to think about! Either way, smallmouth are most definitely spunkier on average. All I know is I love fighting any black bass! 

[slonezp]

13 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

Could you imagine hooking a 5 lb. bluegill? 
 

I truly believe that, pound for pound, bluegills have more fight than any other freshwater fish in North America. They never give up. Big 1 lb. bluegills on a ML or L rod are extremely fun to catch. And they are excellent table fare! Way better than bass! 

Bluegills are fighters but they are predictable which takes away from the excitement. 

 

Both my PB largemouth and PB smallmouth were roughly 6.5lbs. Both caught on live bait. Both caught during the spawn. The largemouth was a female with eggs and she got mounted. The smallmouth was released, don't know if it was male or female but, if I had to guess, it was a large male. 

[roadwarrior]

7 hours ago, slonezp said:

Bluegills are fighters but they are predictable which takes away from the excitement. 

 

Both my PB largemouth and PB smallmouth were roughly 6.5lbs. Both caught on live bait. Both caught during the spawn. The largemouth was a female with eggs and she got mounted. The smallmouth was released, don't know if it was male or female but, if I had to guess, it was a large male. 

Males don't get that big, 5 lbs might be a record.

[TnRiver46]

23 hours ago, Woody B said:

Speaking of Tarpon, I had relatives that lived on the beach when I was a teen.  They said "the Tarpon are running".  (do Tarpon run?)   I put a hopkins spoon on my brand new Garcia Ambassador 5500/Ugly Stick combo.  I heaved it out into the ocean.  A Tarpon (I guess) grabbed it and proceeded to run all the line off my reel, without any thought of slowing down.   That's pretty much the extent of my saltwater fishing experience.   

Sounds like that tarpon was a runnin’

[PaulVE64]

Largemouth fight like walleye

 

[slonezp]

7 minutes ago, PaulVE64 said:

Largemouth fight like walleye

 

Are you propping up walleye or putting down bass?

I do fish for walleye and I will say my PB which was 7.5lbs fought more like a catfish than a walleye. My PB largemouth was 6.5lbs, caught in cold water, and fought like a lazy walleye.

[WRB]

23 minutes ago, PaulVE64 said:

Largemouth fight like walleye

 

Walleyes fight like crappie, don’t run or jump and give up quickly imo.

The fastest fish that swims is a Wahoo-Ono followed by Marlin 40+ mph. Strongest is the Board Bill Sword fish.

Strongest fresh water fish is the Sturgeon, runs hard and jumps. 

The lowly Carp can out fight most bass pound for pound.

Blue gill run in circle and don’t run.

Lake Havasu is producing WR Red Ears over 5 lbs (6 lbs 3 oz) if interested.

Tom

[TnRiver46]

On 12/16/2022 at 9:39 PM, PaulVE64 said:

Largemouth fight like walleye

 

Oh come on Paul, that’s typically what people that haven’t caught a big largemouth say 

[N Florida Mike]

If we’re talking ANY fish now, I’d have to say a crevalle jack is the hardest fighting fish I’ve caught.  Even a small one will have you shaking your head when you pull it in that a fish can pull so hard.

The hardest fight I ever had of any size fish was a 25 pound amberjack. It’s like hooking a small submarine! That’s why we call them reef donkies !

I caught a 40 inch tarpon once while surf fishing for redfish. Redfish that size fight much harder.

And hook a 5 pound sheephead and they will nearly pull the rod out of your hand!

[Mike L]

On 12/14/2022 at 11:13 PM, WRB said:

The tackle you are using has a big affect on how a fish fights. I was using standard MHF bass rod with 10# mono line. Same fish in Heavy 8’ swimbait tackle with 25# test line the fight is very different.

Tom

Reading through all these posts I kept thinking, yeah but….Then I read this and glad somebody said it. 
 

First off I’ve never caught a smallmouth so you can say I’m talking out of my az and don’t know any better and you’d be right, I may not. 

 

But If I hooked a small mouth on what I perceive as the “average” type tackle from reading posts on here….

Med/Lgt spinning rod with 6# mono, and the same weight LM in the same water using the “average” type tackle used…

MH/F casting rod with 15# flouro or 40# braid, yeah I would say a small mouth would give me a better fight. 
 

To me it’s all relative. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[Deleted account]

6 minutes ago, Mike L said:

Reading through all these posts I kept thinking, yeah but….Then I read this and glad somebody said it. 
 

First off I’ve never caught a smallmouth so you can say I’m talking out of my az and don’t know any better and you’d be right, I may not. 

 

But If I hooked a small mouth on what I perceive as the “average” type tackle from reading posts on here….

Med/Lgt spinning rod with 6# mono, and the same weight LM in the same water using the “average” type tackle used…

MH/F casting rod with 15# flouro or 40# braid, yeah I would say a small mouth would give me a better fight. 
 

To me it’s all relative. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

No, not really, the fish is fighting just as hard. 

[Mike L]

3 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

No, not really, the fish is fighting just as hard. 

Make’s sense, but isn’t the resistance you’re feeling be enhanced by the lighter equipment you’re using??

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Choporoz]

I agree that the gear makes the fight different.   A 2.5# smallie in a river on ML spinning rod is much 'better fight' than a 5# LMB in a lake on a HF casting rod with 50# braid. 

 

But mostly, I am saddened at the thought that a number of you haven't had the opportunity to catch a SMB.  

[Mike L]

6 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

 

But mostly, I am saddened at the thought that a number of you haven't had the opportunity to catch a SMB.  

Me too!

It’s at the top of not only my fishing related items on my bucket list, but in the top 3 overall. 
 

Hopefully One of these days I’ll get the opportunity 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike