07-24-2008, 09:20 PM
I think the biggest thing here is you're not comparing apples to apples. You can't compare a 40 pound warsaw grouper to a 1200 pound Pelagic fish like a Marlin. I mean, lets be serious about this for a second. The marlin is much more difficult, by about 1160 pounds. OK, so there are Jewfish, try only an hour, maybe, for a 300 pound jewfish. Oh, and it takes two to land a Really big one.
So you want to know the "hardest" fish to land? I rate that not by brute force, however, but by the percentage of fish you actually land versus how many you hook. I would say tarpon, and not because it's my screen name either. More tarpon are lost, after being hooked, than any other species of fish. It takes pure skill to land a tarpon of any size, not to mention flawless rig construction and well maintained gear. A true test of angler and equipment.
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So you want to know the "hardest" fish to land? I rate that not by brute force, however, but by the percentage of fish you actually land versus how many you hook. I would say tarpon, and not because it's my screen name either. More tarpon are lost, after being hooked, than any other species of fish. It takes pure skill to land a tarpon of any size, not to mention flawless rig construction and well maintained gear. A true test of angler and equipment.
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