Favorite, most over rated, and most under rated.

[GAMBELL]

Here is a question that was asked on another board I frequent.  It will be interesting to see how people answer it here.

1.  What's your favorite freshwater fish to fish for and why?

2.  What do you consider the most overrated freshwater species out there and why?

3.  What do you consider the most underrated freshwater species out there and why?

Here are my answers:
1.  King Salmon and trout in Lake Ontario -  Awesome fighters and large fish.  Lake Ontario is minutes from my house.
2. Largemouth bass -  you can catch the same fish day after day under the same dock on the same lure. 
3. Lake trout - everyone says they do not fight good.  I really enjoy fishing them.

[Reel Wet Ride]

1. Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass: I love catching Smallies out of Erie cause they're huge! Grew up on a lake with no real predators except Largemouth Bass, so I just kinda fell into bass fishing, wouldn't trade my passion for anything.

2.Walleye under 5 lbs are a waste of my time. Not much fight when they're smaller, not that great to eat when they're bigger....but they do offer a challenge which I respect.

3. Carp, Most everyone has easy access to decent carp waters. The fight is amazing on light tackle and it costs next to nothing for a few small hooks and split shot and crawlers or corn.

[HOS]

1) Channel Catfish, they're large here (Lockport, Manitoba) almost guaranteed to catch a few 20 lbs to 30 lbs. or over everyday. Not much of a fighter more like dead weight but the power behind them when they do move is tremendous.

2) Couldn't think of one 

3) Freshwater Drum! HUGE fighter and awesome power    and plenty of them. Use light tackle and hold on! Have never caught one icefishing though... 

[Hood]

1. Wild Brookie...colors, fight, and most important...DELICIOUS
2. Bass...nuff said
3.Lakers...so they may not taste great..I have a ball with them in the spring.

[billybono]

1 and 3 really dont strike my eye as much as 2 BASS!!!  just open up the livewell, turn on the areator, and the bass just jump in ...i stop fishing at the end of spring walleye, and wont fish again untill there are salmon staging



                billybono

[rumblefish_1]

Favorite- walleye   I enjoy the challenge of trying to figure out the mood swings

Over rated- Bass    great fighters but not that bright and too easy to find on most days

Underrated- Carp  on lighter tackle 6-8 lb test  these huge powerhouses will give you all you can handle

[northdease]

1. Pike- just love to catch them especially in winter (tip ups)
2. Bass- sick of turning on TV to watch 300 different fishing shows dedicated to bass fishing
3. Pike- if people would take the time to properly fillet them they are awsome table fare.
    Carp- as others have said fun to hook onto some of the big boys in a river with some current.

[Grimace]

1. Walleye-  everyday is a new puzzle.

2. Bass and Panfish.   i just dont understand why anybody would want to catch a bluegill.

3.  Whitefish-  can be finicky and hard to catch and they put up a surprising fight.

[Pasquatch]

1-Trout, they live in some beautiful environments, and are challenging to target at times, but very rewarding with their good fighting ability, beautiful colors, and great taste.
2-Bass- although fun to catch, they can be awfully easy to target, and get kind of boring. Good for kids, and when the topwater bite is on, are among the most exciting fish to catch.
3-Bowfin, carp, drum, and other roughfish. Although they have no respect here in the US, these fish are very fun on the right tackle and are often as easily spooked as trout in some conditions.

[fishingking]

1- all species Lakers/walleye in the summer lakers/pannies in the winter
2-BASS BASS BASS
3- Another vote for carp

[Waubay Fisher]

Here's my take:

1.  Walleye - Grimace summed this one up!
2.  Bass - like several have said - too easy to catch...
3.  Bowfin - I have caught several big carp (approx 5-15lbs) and a couple decent northerns b/w 5-8lbs.  However I have snagged bowfin at a lake in MN on the same tackle and pound for pound, they put both carp and northern to shame in terms of fights, at least in my opinion.  Very UGLY fish, not good tablefare... but EXTREMELY fun to catch!

[grumpymoe]

#1 Walleye....one of the best eating overall.....and always a challenge to find....not much of a challenge for fight though                                                                                                                 #2 Lake Trout....scrappy.....s ometimes hit like a freight train....one of the easier fish to catch in spring....not the best tasting as its generally cooked in manners that don't bring out the true fish                                                                                                                        #3 Burbot.....has to be near the top of the list as one of North America's most maligned fish due to its appearance and snake-like manouevers when landed....consider it as high if not better tasting than walleye, perch and other panfish........Grump

[shark]

Man the bass are sure getting beat up

  1 Walleye....love em........
  2BASS You can catch them on a dog turd
  3 ?

[icejunky]

1) Smallmouth...Im a bassjunky I just cant help it...great fight and beauty blowups

2) largemouth bass....These things get more TV airtime then the President. (But come off more Intelligent  )

3) Bass....No offense but some of you Walleye and Trout guys give bass an unfair pass on them due to their over popularity, and over abundance....don't hate...This is a great species that is tough as nails and always willing to fight.

[Waubay Fisher]

Icejunky - I definitely do not hate the bass!  They're certainly awesome fighters!! I've caught a few 4-5lb LMB's that were AWESOME reeling in on light tackle!  From what I recall Pikeguy mentioning, LMB's are also decent tablefare!!!  I just think they can be too easy to catch... IMO .

[Tip-UpTommer]

1. Lake trout(ice fishing)- fight pretty good, run realy far on tip-ups, and make it a challenge to get them in a hole
                                   after they have rolled around in the water and twisted the line around themselves.
2. Largemouth Bass - anyone can catch them on any lure under any condition.(big ones are a different story
                             though)
3. landlock salmon - difficult to figure out and catch and good fighters that take lots of line and hardly anyone  
                            fishes for them(around where I fish anyway).

[fishingonly2002]

1.amur carp on the flyrod, you can fight them for ever and still not land them

2. bass are stupid

3 mayan cichlid

~Neal

[walleyeslayer]

1) ahem, that would be walleye
2)largemouth bass, i could catch one in a mudpuddle, and they taste worse that whiting
3)crappie, as easy to catch as bass, well, not quite  exciting when you hook a big one, good eatin (i catch more crappie than anything through the ice)

[seaweed01]

1.  Smallmouth bass - They fight terrific, especially in a river with current.

2.  Largemouth bass - They are to easy to catch and the same fish can be caught day after day in the
                               same place with the same lure. No fight at all.

3.  Channel Cats       - Large cats with the proper tackle (bass gear) they can really give you a good fight.

[busler15]

1. Pike- Give a great fight on rod-n-reel or on ice! They make you think a fish will be 28" when its only 14"!
2. LM Bass- Definately the easiest to catch, but I still love pulling in a bigg'n
3. SM Bass- Give a great fight, and they are very rare in my home lakes!

[Sax_]

1.Lake Trout - my favortie fish , I live on one of the best lake trout fisheries in NY ,Owasco lake they are always challenging and when you hook into a big one you better hold on !!! the little ones aren't bad tasting either

2.largemouth -I think the most over rated fish is Lmb not because their easy to catch, but I think they fight like a log. smallies are a different story.

3.Landlocks-I think the are the best freshwater fighter there is . they are extremely difficult to find and really smart you have to use light tackle and that is a challenge because the way they fight .Also hardly anyone i know targets them .

[Flagstealer]

1. PIKE! Love to catch 'em on ice and open water, and they taste great I don't care what anyone says.

2. Bass. They're just a nuisance fish that hit when you're trying to catch pike. There isn't much challenge catching them (caught a 23" 6+ lber on a bobber and 1/4inch of worm meant for 'gills), no chance of catching a 10 lb fish (as with pike) and are decent at best on the table.

3. Carp! Drop some corn on a hook to the bottom of the Oswego River and hold on! If you can still move your arms at the end of the day then you did something wrong. Wouldn't recommend eating them though...               

[bigdave1018]

any fish as long as you match your line test to the fish. what a rush catching 2 lb bass on 20 lb test NOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT TTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[HOS]

BASS? I just love having a fish on the end of my line no matter what kind. 

[ifishhi]

1.brook trout

2.bass

3.togue

[unkymer]

1. Without a doubt my favorite are muskies. I looooove to catch musky. They are big. They fight like hell. They are hard to locate and in some case real hard to get to bite. Plus they are just plain mean. Did I mention they are big?

2. Walleye. Sorry guys, but I've always found walleye to be pretty easy to catch (could be as much a product of where I live and fish, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula after growing up on Wisconsin's walleye factory, Lake Winnebago) but a 15 to 20 inch walleye isn't much of an angling challenge. They eat great, but ...

3. Northern pike. I'm not talking about small pike. Those are the ones that I think bring the appreciation of northerns down. They would hit in a nuclear winter. I'm talking BIG northern pike. Those baby's are every bit as good a figther as anything in the water, and as challenging to find and catch.

[cstolp]

1.  Yellow perch.  Fun to catch on jigging rod, great to eat.
2.  LMB I don't eat them and I hate that most of all the fishing shows are about LMB.  Its like a broken record SSDD.
3.  Burbot, good fight great eat.  Too many people tossing them out on the ice. What a waste.

[Reel Wet Ride]

Everyone's a bass hater.....Well not everyone, but it seems to me that they clearly win as the most overated fish on this thread.  I'm starting to think that maybe you guys aren't fishing for the right fish. Yeah, anyone using any type of lure can catch the dinks in the shallows, but catching bigger bass is a bit different.

Just my 2c

[hali-man]

1.  What's your favorite freshwater fish to fish for and why?
2.  What do you consider the most overrated freshwater species out there and why?
3.  What do you consider the most underrated freshwater species out there and why?

1- River Smallies! They fight like demons...
2- Catfish! I hate sitting around and watching my rod for a bite. It is good for a party, that's about it.
3- Pike! A lot of people consider them trash fish. I love catching them.

I'm with RWR- I really don't understand some people's aversion to bass fishing.
It is by far the most popular angling sport on the water.
Easy? If it was so easy why aren't we all making money doing it? Going to a small local lake or pond is one thing. Try a large body of water right after a cold front...

[Auger]

1. River Smallies!  There are tons of stretches where you'll find huge fish that fight like mules and you won't see another angler all day.  Beautiful!

2. Walleye. Going to get blasted for this, especially being from the upper midwest.  They are great on the plate, but they fight like turds.

3. Carp on the fly.  I know it's one of the latest fads, but you can't beat it.  Bonefishing of the north.