Marlin (tough scale: 9.7)
Black, white and striped marlin are all worthy adversaries for sure, but my vote for toughest of the marlin is the mighty blue. It is often coaxed by natural sewn baits or lures dragged via outriggers on 16- and 20-pound tackle, but to me, that’s definitely on the light side. Blues in the 800-pound class and 1,000-pound blacks have been caught that way, but only because these fish are of open water, and the boat handlers and anglers were supremely skilled and aggressive. It’s the 50-, 80- and 130-pound-class tackle that seems right to meet the challenge of the true monsters.

Their rapier bill is no nose ornament, either—many of my guide friends sport puncture scars. Just last July a blue marlin estimated at 800 pounds flew across the width of a boat, impaling Bermudan mate Ian Card below his collarbone and taking him 15 feet below the surface as his father watched in horror. The 260-pound Card wrestled free, with a fist-size hole in his chest, and somehow managed to survive the ordeal.

If a marlin in the air doesn’t bring a shout of primal joy from you, there’s something wrong with your wiring. Or perhaps it’s just that your throat’s dried up from fighting the beast.