04-17-2003, 05:33 PM
[cool]I have been blessed to fish throughout the US and Mexico, for a whole bunch of species...fresh and salt water. For pound for pound slugging ability, I would vote for the "lowly" triggerfish...scourge of anglers fishing for more exotic species in the inshore waters of the Sea of Cortez. An average two pounder can pop ten pound line if you don't have your drag set.
For a combination of beauty, flashiness and sheer fighting ability, I think I might say west coast steelhead (rainbows). Perhaps the most memorable fish I ever had hooked was a steelhead about six or seven pounds, in the American River, above Sacramento. It grabbed my glowbug fly, at the end of a long cast and jumped three times...so fast that it almost looked like three separate fish. Each jump was several feet from the last one, with the chrome bright steelie coming clear out of the water on each jump.
I so enjoyed the show that I lowered my rod, gave the fish some slack and allowed a "long line release". That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Actually I simply forgot I was a part of the program and blew it. I remember my knees trembling in excitement for several minutes afterward. But, I snapped a lifetime picture in my mind.
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For a combination of beauty, flashiness and sheer fighting ability, I think I might say west coast steelhead (rainbows). Perhaps the most memorable fish I ever had hooked was a steelhead about six or seven pounds, in the American River, above Sacramento. It grabbed my glowbug fly, at the end of a long cast and jumped three times...so fast that it almost looked like three separate fish. Each jump was several feet from the last one, with the chrome bright steelie coming clear out of the water on each jump.
I so enjoyed the show that I lowered my rod, gave the fish some slack and allowed a "long line release". That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Actually I simply forgot I was a part of the program and blew it. I remember my knees trembling in excitement for several minutes afterward. But, I snapped a lifetime picture in my mind.
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