Greatest Gamefish
Question: What is the most popular of all gamefish? Largemouth bass? Walleye? Trout? Steelhead? Dolphin? Tarpon? Now’s the time for...
VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE GAMEFISH IN THE COMMENTS SECTION FOR THE CHANCE TO WIN A NEW ROD, REEL AND MUCH MORE! The prehistoric sturgeon might be an unconventional pick as the best gamefish swimming, but Virginia Commonwealth University making to it to the NCAA Final Four would have been, too … before this year. What's your favorite gamefish? For the next couple of weeks, we'll be putting the spotlight on the most popular fish that swim in both fresh and saltwater. Vote for your favorite in the comments section for a chance to win great new fishing gear! Click here for more details. ****.
By John Burgman At times, I’m darn-near convinced that sportsmen like to argue simply for the sake of arguing. That’s not a bad thing–it actually keeps things interesting. But sit around the fire at any hunting camp, or lean on the gunwales of any fishing boat, and you’re bound to eventually get an earful about the best new product or technique, the best buy, the best swath of land or corner of a pond, which is bound to be met with disagreement and contention from others in the group. Squabbling will ensue. Tempers might flare. There’s often little resolution, and you’re left feeling somewhat embattled, none the wiser and a little worse for wear. However, there is one point that seems to be universally accepted among outdoorsmen, whether they’re hardcore saltwater fiends or flyfishing streambums, and that is that walleye is one heckuva delicious fish. What’s more, slide a plate of sizzling, butter-and-seasoned salt-fried walleye onto any sportsman’s table and you’re bound to end any arguing–at least temporarily–in an instant. So, because I find no aspect of fishing more satisfying than enjoying the flavor of the meat that I worked so hard to catch, and because they’re the tastiest of all fish, I consider walleye the greatest gamefish. Is it a popular opinion? No. But think about it the next time you take a bite of a perfectly cooked, tender walleye fillet after a long day on the water or in the woods. Life really doesn’t get much better than that.
Walleye are freshwater fish, and they tend to stay concentrated in Canada and the northern U.S. They’re usually mature by age 4, and lay their eggs–which can number in the hundreds of thousands–in rocky stream areas, which the northern United States (Minnesota, particularly) are full of. Like other fish found in similar habitats (northern Pike, particularly), walleye will eat anything from worms to mayflies to frogs or crayfish and other fish. –Mykl Roventine
The name of the fish is a reference to the way a special layer (“wall”) of tissue covers their eye and improves their low-light visibility.
The walleye’s closet relative is the Pikeperch. It’s also known as a Zander fish, and is extremely popular in Russia and other parts of Europe. Like walleye here in the states, it’s popular because of its incredible flavor when cooked over a flame. Photo: texas_mustang
But, on a rather funny note, there’s no fooling Americans when it comes to walleye. In 2004, some restaurants in America were busted when it was discovered that they were serving Zander and trying to pass it off as walleye to patrons. It’s extremely difficult for the casual eater to tell a difference in the taste, but that didn’t stop the U.S. government from launching a full-blown investigation of the restaurants’ sly switch. Photo: dlkinney
When I was young, we used to say a walleye could be judged by whether it took two hands to hold him. If it took two hands, it was probably a keeper. On a more precise level, walleye can weigh over 20 pounds and measure over 30 inches in length. To most fisherman, however, anything over 10 pounds is considered a trophy. Photo: corinne68
Over the years, I’ve had success landing walleye with a number of different baits and techniques, likely because their natural diet is so diverse. Some anglers prefer to jig and go simply plastic, while I’ve also known many northern Pike fishermen who “accidentally” caught sizable walleye on spoons. Trolling from a canoe is also a popular way to catch them. Walleye will bite mainly during the sunrise and sunset–and also feed throughout the nighttime–and remain somewhat lazy during the long hours of midday. If it’s particularly hot, they’ll head to the cool and calm of the deeper water, and most likely seek further shelter under rocks, logs and piers. Photo: Mark Susinno
Walleye are not the most colorful fish. Because much of the water in their natural habitat is browned or darkened to do the excessive ore deposits in the lake rocks, walleye’s coloration tends to be somewhat “bland” when compared to bright saltwater fish or even more vibrant freshwater species like a rainbow trout. A walleye’s coloration will vary from different shades of yellowish brown to more gold or even green (again, depending on the color of the water). But, after all, when I’m frying them up, it’s what’s inside that counts! Photo: gbishop
Cabela’s makes a diverse assortment of walleye jigs, which includes fatheads and shad diggers, among other heads. Most fishermen, myself included, enjoy sticking a floating lure that will dive to below the warmer topwater (10 feet or so in big, open water).
Many people assume that walleye are related to pike and perch, given their similar coloration and geographic regions. This, however, is false. Walleye are sometimes referred to as “Yellow pickerel,” but they’re not, in fact, pickerel at all.
If you’ve made it this far, your mouth is probably watering recalling all the times you’ve fried up walleye on an open flame in a campsite in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area or in Canada’s Quetico Provincial Park. Let’s start with the most basic walleye recipe, which is to remove the small bones from the fillets, cut into 3-inch slivers, fry in hot butter and season with salt and lemon pepper. I’ve enjoyed walleye cooked like this in the backcountry countless times over the years, and never heard a single complaint.
If you’re in the mood for a little fancier preparation, take along a plastic bag filled with equal parts flour and breading or batter mix. Add a healthy dose of pepper and tabasco sauce, along with some liquid of choice–and egg or cooking oil works great. Drench the fillets in this batter mix before frying…cook until the breading on the outside of the fillet is browned and crispy. Season with a touch of lemon juice at the very end. Again, never a single complaint.
Walleye, eaten as straight up fillets, get a lot of attention, but you can also spice up your next shore meal by bringing along some hard-shell tacos or soft tortilla shells. Fry your walleye in butter, seasoning with chili pepper and taco sauce instead of lemon pepper. Put the fried fillets into the taco shell, and add additional touches like lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, shredded cheese and onions. Again, never a single complaint (Are you beginning to see the pattern here? Essentially, walleye is delicious any way you fix it.)
By: Alex Robinson
If you consider yourself a bass fisherman, then stay away from redfish, because they will ruin you. Skeptical? Imagine casting an a spinner or plastic crayfish into shallow, bassy looking water and suddenly a wake forms behind your bait. Half a second later it feels like you’ve hooked a dumptruck as your rod doubles and line screams off of your reel on the fish’s first run. Finally you stop him and work him toward the boat, but he takes another run, spooling off all of your handwork. After about 15 minutes you finally haul your fish to the boat, but instead of a six-pound largemouth, you’re looking at a 30-pound bull redfish. Welcome to redfishing. Redfish are hard-hitting and incredibly hard-fighting fish. During the right time of year they feed readily and they taste great (think cajun food). Redfish are the best gamefish on the planet.
Redfish range from Massachusetts (according to biologists, though not really) down the east coast to the Florida Keys and throughout the coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. They grow fast; it takes a red about three years to grow to eight pounds. In comparison, a largemouth will weigh between one and two pounds at three years. It takes a muskie about twice as long as a redfish to grow to eight pounds. The world-record redfish weighed 94 pounds 4 ounces.
The redfish’s blunt nose and mouth that’s located lower on their body and their coloration gives them a carp-like appearance to northerrn anglers who have never seen one up close. But anyone who has ever caught a redfish knows that they’re beautiful in their own way.
The tackle required for redfishing is pretty simple. You can use medium action spinning or baitcasting gear with 15 to 20-pound line. Live bait options include shrimp, crabs, finger mullet and cut baits. But there are also a variety of ways to catch redfish using artificial baits …
One of the most exciting fishing experiences you can have standing up is casting soft plastics to a school of tailing reds. Redfish cruise mudflats that are so shallow you can often spot their backs or tails slicing through the surface. When the water is deeper you can still spot their wake as they chase baitfish around. The trick is casting to these wakes and fins without spooking the fish. It sounds a lot easier than it actually is. To be good at sight fishing you have to be quick on the draw as well as be capable of casting long distances accurately. I’d argue that it takes the same amount of skill as casting to rising trout in a crystal clear stream. But when you make the perfect throw to a big bull redfish, you’ll often hook him a second after your bait hits the water.
Watching a 30-pound redfish explode on a topwater bait is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen on the water. A redfish hits a topwater bait with malice, as if you have personally insulted him. In cloudy water this can be a frustrating exercise as reds will hit a bait multiple times (sometimes punching it clear out of the water) but never hook themselves. Both buzzbaits and Zara Spooks work well for topwater redfishing.
But redfish don’t have to be hard to catch. A popping cork rig is one of the easier ways to hook redfish, although some purists consider this method cheating. The rig is what it sounds like. Tie a bobber-like cork six to eight inches above a live bait or soft plastic. Pop the cork on your retrieve, reel up the slack, wait a second or two and do it again. The action mimics the commotion a redfish makes when he’s chasing around baitfish, and it drives real redfish crazy. You can experiment with different cadences to figure out which one works the best for you.
To me, the most important aspect of a great gamefish is how much of a fight it puts up once hooked. Some fish will fight hard at first but tire themselves out in a few seconds. They will smash a lure and cartwheel into the air but then “dead stick” their way to the boat before the fight truly starts. This is not how a redfish fights. Battling a big bull red is like stepping into a heavyweight boxing match. They typically don’t jump or do anything flashy, but from start to finish they pour on the muscle (think of a smallmouth on steroids). A good red will go on at least three runs but could take far more.
Redfish are mostly a southern species and they’ve become a popular cajun cuisine. If you’re looking for something more flavorful than the typical fish fry, redfish are your game.
By: Gerry Bethge If you’re ever looking to incite a riot among fresh and saltwater fishermen, toss this question into the discussion: What is the greatest gamefish of all? Freshwater guys will quickly bring up largemouth bass for their international popularity, or smallmouths for sheer fighting ability. Walleyes? Not great battlers, but they sure taste good. Trout? They might qualify as the most cerebral of fish. However, for me, one fish has every one of them beat hands down and that is the dolphin a.k.a. mahi mahi or dorado. Why? Well, dolphin is the perfect gamefish.
Question: What is the most popular of all gamefish? Largemouth bass? Walleye? Trout? Steelhead? Dolphin? Tarpon? Now’s the time for you to decide.
