Favorite species (outside of bass) 2024

Big-Bass reply :

While I have grown up bass fishing for both large and smallmouth bass being mentored by my dad until his passing and still keeping his memory alive every time I am on the water, I also have taken a fond interest into catching multi species through a variety of techniques. In particular, the last five years I have spent gaining a true love for fly fishing. In some cases, I would prefer the quiet and the challenge to bass fishing. What I love the most though (outside of bass) are catching wild trout. There are a few streams near me with wild and beautiful brook trout, but also a few rivers that produce true monster native brown trout. My biggest so far has been just under 23" and was caught using a fly during the early summer. I have caught many others in the 17"- just about 20" range and to be honest, that is a rather common size in this river. Whether is be fly, or spinning, fishing this river (which my dad also tried for trout with me right before he passed) holds a special place in my heart. It's close to where I grew up, almost all the brown trout are native (in almost all sections I fish) and there are rumors of native browns being caught upwards of 30". I also love simple dock fishing for panfish and ice fishing for whatever takes the bait (either tip-up or jigging rod). Because I tend to like new things, I also try to fish and catch as many new species as I can and try new waterways to target fish species that are new to me. No one fishing experience is the same and that's part of what I love. So to you, what are you favorite multi species fish to catch and why? Thanks for sharing...

davecon reply :

At heart I am a bass fisherman having been born and raised and still living in west central Florida. I truly love bass fishing, have been three times in the last nine days. That being said, my favorite fish to catch are :

1 - Snook

2 - Tarpon - usually 40 to 60 pounds

3 - Bass

4 - Bluegills (I know that doesn't fit with numbers 1 through 3, but what the heck)

5 - Sea Trout

6 - Redfish

Siebert Outdoors reply :

Walleye

Musky

Pike

Trout

Crappie

Catfish

mrpao reply :

Anything that swims and is biting.

I like them all.

Jar11591 reply :

Pan fish! For bass, I am strictly catch and release. But I love frying up some bluegill, pumpkinseed, crappie and perch!

Scott F reply :

On 12/16/2016 at 1:22 AM, Big-Bass said:

There are a few streams near me with wild and beautiful brook trout, but also a few rivers that produce true monster native brown trout. ...... It's close to where I grew up, almost all the brown trout are native (in almost all sections I fish) and there are rumors of native browns being caught upwards of 30".

Not trying to be too picky but brown trout are not native fish anywhere in the Americas. They were introduced from Europe to the US and Canada in the late 1880's. Your fish may reproduce without stocking which could make them wild fish, but they are not native to the waters you fish.

IndianaFinesse reply :

I know i'm gonna be the odd one out on this, but I really love white bass fishing. I probably spend almost a quarter of my time fishing pursuing them. They fight harder pound for pound than any other freshwater species I've ever caught, they just go nuts when they're hooked. Plus they aren't usually picky eaters, white bass will eat almost anything thrown at them. White bass also tend to be in large schools, so it's easy to catch a bunch in a hurry. In the average four hour trip, I usually end up with around 40 fish, and occasionally over one hundred fish are caught.

I enjoy fishing for anything that swims though, catfish, carp, white bass, crappie, bluegill, pike, bass, trout (trout and pike aren't hardly in central Indiana, so I have to fish outside of the state to catch those), I target all of them at some point during the year.

scaleface reply :

I like channel cat fishing a lot . Summer night in my boat anchored on a large flat , a cooler with shad on ice . I know how to catch the cats on Mark Twain .

My dad wasnt much into bass , catfish was his favorite . This is one of the last times we fished together . Hes still alive , just unable to do anything now .

Big-Bass reply :

On 12/16/2016 at 6:45 AM, Scott F said:

Not trying to be too picky but brown trout are not native fish anywhere in the Americas. They were introduced from Europe to the US and Canada in the late 1880's. Your fish may reproduce without stocking which could make them wild fish, but they are not native to the waters you fish.

Oh I completely know Browns are not native to the Americas. In fact, aside from Germany where they are native, there are distinctive Icelandic populations that have genetic differences from those in mainland Europe that go back close to 11,000 years ago. Browns are a unique and very wary species of trout that are more predacious than other species that are located in the New World (aside from Bull Trout which live in the Rocky Mountain west region in Montana, Idaho, and a few other remote locations). The Browns in the river I fish have been naturally reproducing for many decades, therefore I call them native (or should label as wild) since their entire lives have been spent in the river without being a hatchery fish, their lineage is from wild fish, and their offspring will be wild fish. Thanks!

Gundog reply :

Pan fish on the fly rod. You can catch just about one every cast and on a light weight fly rod they are a blast. Plus there is usually a chance of catching a bass in the mix.

Jagg reply :

Bluegills, Redears, Redbreasts, Warmouths... Love the panfish, but especially the sunfish.

Big-Bass reply :

Never caught a Redear or a Warmouth...here in PA I don't think we have them.

crypt reply :

bream,warmouth,catfish,snook,redfish,tarpon.

Dwight Hottle reply :

I have lots of favorites outside of bass. Pike, lake trout, steelhead, walleye, muskie & big perch are just some of my favorites.

WIGuide reply :

I like fishing for just about anything that swims. Bass are by far my favorite and I spend probably 98% of the time fishing for them, but I enjoy catching everything else as well.

SJex reply :

Pumpkinseed, crappie and trout (rainbow and cutthroat).

Lucky Craft Man reply :

Besides Smallmouth Bass, I would say Musky are my next favorite. After that fly fishing for Steelhead and wild trout are next. I like fishing for a lot of other fish, but those other species are a distant 4th.

N Florida Mike reply :

Freshwater:

Bass

Bream:( all varieties )

catfish.

Saltwater:

Redfish

Flounder

Sheephead

And Whatever else I catch.There is no kind of fishing I've done I don't like.

3 main areas I fish:

Lakes/ponds

Inshore saltwater

Surf fishing

In that order.

The only kind I'm terrible at is freshwater trout fishing.( unless I use corn lol )

TnRiver46 reply :

On 12/16/2016 at 7:04 AM, IndianaFinesse said:

I know i'm gonna be the odd one out on this, but I really love white bass fishing. I probably spend almost a quarter of my time fishing pursuing them. They fight harder pound for pound than any other freshwater species I've ever caught, they just go nuts when they're hooked. Plus they aren't usually picky eaters, white bass will eat almost anything thrown at them. White bass also tend to be in large schools, so it's easy to catch a bunch in a hurry. In the average four hour trip, I usually end up with around 40 fish, and occasionally over one hundred fish are caught.

I enjoy fishing for anything that swims though, catfish, carp, white bass, crappie, bluegill, pike, bass, trout (trout and pike aren't hardly in central Indiana, so I have to fish outside of the state to catch those), I target all of them at some point during the year.

+1. Where I live you can keep 15 of them regardless of length so I usually target them for fun and food

tholmes reply :

When I'm not fishing for black bass, I like to go after stripers, wipers and catfish (especially blues and flatheads).

Tom

bigfruits reply :

bluefish and striped bass

Yeajray231 reply :

I like all species....

JustinJ reply :

striped bass and bluefish

stream trout on an ultralight

Yakalong reply :

Fished for sharks before, that was fun

but outside of bass it would be trout

Bluebasser86 reply :

I enjoy fishing for lots of different fish. Some of my favorites are wiper, muskie, striper, trout, and catfish.

burrows reply :

I like trout it's fun and I love to eat them I like them better than crappie or catfish I also enjoy some striper fishing.

scaleface reply :

On 12/16/2016 at 7:04 AM, IndianaFinesse said:

I know i'm gonna be the odd one out on this, but I really love white bass fishing.

Me too . One hundred fish days are not uncommon then you usually have other fish mixed in also . Cats , walleye , drum but strangely not crappie . I guess the whites are to aggressive for crappie .

Ratherbfishing reply :

Outside of a bass, a trout is a man's best friend. Inside a bass, it's too dark to read.

Gundog reply :

On 12/18/2016 at 3:11 AM, Ratherbfishing said:

Outside of a bass, a trout is a man's best friend. Inside a bass, it's too dark to read.

My candidate for quote of the year ^^^^

AC870 reply :

Bluegill/shellcracker. Love em. My wife enjoys this kind of fishing and we spend some fun days pursuing them.

whitwolf reply :

I'll say strictly to eat I love to fish for spots and speckled trout. Now for fun I like to fish for big drum on the outer banks of NC. They're good eating also but .........

Justin J, Bluefish are fun to catch and If you've never smoked a bluefish you don't know what you're missing!

Red Bear reply :

i love to night fish for catfish(all types), maybe just as much as bass. I have no qualms tying on a sinker and hook, baiting up a nightcrawler, tossing it out and just fishing for whatever bites, its probably 75% of my fishing right there. If i catch some panfish, they become either live bait or cut bait a lot of times. But i really enjoy just relaxing, waiting and drinking some nice cold budweisers while wetting a few lines, its just so peaceful and refreshing...

MassBass reply :

Stripers and carp.

I could be happy never catching a lm all season if I was catching carp and/ or stripers. I used to be committed to pike fishing but not so much lately. There are so many fish and so many methods, thats what makes being a multi-specie angler exciting. There is always something new to try to figure out.

Looking for the big one reply :

Smallmouth Buffalo is the most difficult freshwater fish to catch on artificial lures that I have ever tried for, and they fight as hard as bonefish. They are spooky, making them more difficult to catch, and have small mouths. For them to eat your lure, it must be placed right in front of their face and they might eat it.

Chris at Tech reply :

Anything that swims in the salt!

Redfish, speckled trout, tarpon, kingfish, jack crevalle, bluefish, striped bass, amberjack, red snapper...

TnRiver46 reply :

On 12/20/2016 at 10:00 PM, Looking for the big one said:

Smallmouth Buffalo is the most difficult freshwater fish to catch on artificial lures that I have ever tried for, and they fight as hard as bonefish. They are spooky, making them more difficult to catch, and have small mouths. For them to eat your lure, it must be placed right in front of their face and they might eat it.

You are spot on about those things. I wish you would come up here and catch them all!!! They are super thick and don't bite. Not my cup of tea

ol'crickety reply :

To eat, it's walleye.

For furious fun, it's white bass on the surface.

For achievement, it's musky.

For nostalgia, it's bluegill.

For the thrill, it's 20-pound pike on six-pound line while fishing for smallmouth.

Afishionado reply :

Redfish for me..

Osceola Bassin reply :

CRAPPIE

Megastink reply :

During the dog days of summer, I like to chase deep crappies. It helps me learn to use my electronics effectively, which in turn helps me catch more bass.

i like fishing for trout in spring, but I hate crowds. Also fish upstate NY for Salmon in Fall.

i also enjoy catching bluegill on ultralight gear with small floating rapalas.

I live in PA, but my wife and I honeymooned in hilton head, SC in april and I talked her into a redfish trip. If I lived down south, I believe I would chase reds quite often.

gimruis reply :

I would like to say muskie but since I have so much trouble catching them with any regularity, I'll list walleye as number 2 behind bass. On the flip side I'll also say that I dislike northern pike the most.

RoLo reply :

In saltwater, the long list would include Striped Bass (sea-run) , Bluefish (slammers) & Weakfish (tide-runners).

In freshwater, I question my own sanity but I'm hopelessly attracted to Northern Pike (north of 40").

Roger

fishwizzard reply :

I am a big fan of white perch and before I got into bass fishing they were all I wanted to go out for. They are pretty aggressive feeders and if you find a good sized school of them you can get a fish every other cast. My record is 13 perch in 14 casts, it would have been a "perfect" score but I got all excited around fish number 9 and threw my lure into some branches. They pull hard on light tackle and make some decent runs. I have a little 5' UL/M rod and a 10" perch will double it over.

I fish for them in brackish rivers so there is also a good chance to get a pickerel or striper as bycatch, which adds some excitement to the day. This summer I was so bass obsessed that I only really spent two days after perch but I am going to devote a lot more time to them in the coming season.

Darren. reply :

I'll go with whatever bites. But I do love going after

bluegill and kin with long poles (no reel). They are
a blast to catch.

Bankbeater reply :

Besides bass I would have to say Crappie, Muskie, and Catfish.

Ohio Archer reply :

Muskie, Crappie, Saugeye. Muskie are stocked (but also reproduce) as are Saugeye. Saugeye are a hatchery-produced hybrid made from a cross between a female walleye and a male sauger that are particularly well-suited for Ohio reservoirs. Each year, the Division of Wildlife stocks more than 7 million saugeye in more than 70 reservoirs. (ODNR website)

tander reply :

I love to vertical fish for crappie with jigs. To me it is a lot like worm fishing for bass. I think crappie is the best eating freshwater there is. Might give them a try today.

scaleface reply :

Smallmouth Buffalo are so difficult to catch because they mainly feed on algae and other vegetation . I catch quite a few in a creek that dumps into a river during cold , flooded conditions on worms . I guess there is not much green stuff to eat so they settle for worms .

NavyTom reply :

From Colorado. Fish mainly for trout but sure do enjoy all kinds of panfish.

13094

Favorite species (outside of bass) 2024

related Other Fish Species topic

previous topic

next topic

most viewed Other Fish Species topic