If l had to say it would be northern pike.Jumping,diving hitting your lure like a freight train.For size it would be smallmouth.Northern pike are pound for pound and inch for inch the gamest fish that swim.Whats your opinion?

hi mate, yes your right what u say, put as a course fisherman l reckon that the river barbel on a fast flowing river are a good fight, and enjoyable, but northern pike as u say are the best fighters.

Smallmouth

try a great white shark or a bluefin tuna

If you are sticking to freshwater the northern pike is a top contender for the fight. If you are including saltwater l would have to say it is a toss up between the jack crevelle and a blue fin tuna. These two fish come from the same family and are nothing but runners. l have hooked into a 10 inch crevelle and thought l had a 25 - 30 inch red drum on the hook.

In salt water try a good size stingray. They suck down to the bottom and fight a good long while.

l am sure in a poll of two hundred fisherman from all over the world each would have a great memory of a local fish still fresh in memory when they were (stick a fork in them) done after boating one or more of a certain fish. But hypothetically speaking of course and to make it a little more fair what line class and what pound fish is of a more ( l think) realistic top of the list, as best fighting fish in the world?

I've never salt water fished so l dont know how it feels to catch a ''Monster shark'' smallmouth bass are VERY tough . i've thought l had 3 or 4 pound smallmouth and actually it was a 7 incher . yea .
do not underestimate bluegill. they may be small but they have a strong fight.
l think bluegill is fight MORE than the 1 trout ive caught
it was around 12 or 13 inches long, and those bluegill had tougher ones.
:)

here in cali it would have to be between sturgeon salmon or striper it really depends on were u live

DEfinatley the 5 inch bluegill dude. LOL they rock.

you no iv fished all my life and caught many many fish and northern pikes l dont think really fight they are hard but they really just tug and tug on ur line but they still are hard but there not really the fighting kind now small mouth bass those are the best and funnest fish to catch by farrrrrr they are big fighters theres nothin better than catchin small mouths.

try hanging a 19 lb steelhead thats so chrome it could pass for an old bumper off a buick on 6 lb test in a flooded river system and you watch it get airborn 2 to 3 feet out of the water 7 times as its peeling out line like no tommorrow and then it stops and runs right back at you so fast you cant gain any line while reeling then it stops and goes the other way in the blink of an eye. now thats a rush. big sturgeon are fun to catch also they do the same thing only larger scale.

Bluefish.

For sure Albacore or Bluefin. Albacore although not that big can pull HARD. Really fun on light tackle like 15 lb test, shimano calcutta, and an 8 foot pole.

In open water, yellowfin tuna. They pull harder pound for pound than a bluefin, stronger than any other tuna, marlin, etc. I've heard that swordfish r even tougher, but I've never seen one, much less hooked one.

Big sharks have the advantage that they're big, but in my experience, they r not as strong, pound for pound. Same with big groupers & the like.

Around structure, in my experience it would be a California yellowtail. In open water they're nearly as strong as a tuna, but they will go into whatever structure there is -- rocks, kelp, anchor ropes, whatever, which can make them very difficult to land. (These r a close relative of the amberjack, & basically the same fish as the ''Kingfish'' they get in Australia & New Zealand.)

If you're fishing for the fight in freshwater? Carp.

They're disgusting but strong, and if you can catch one you can catch a hundred, and all you need for bait is a hook and a can of corn.

Amberjack fight pretty well. They do not jump out of the water, or laterally like the yellowtails, they pull straight down. l do not think I've caught a stronger fish.

Sure all the gamefish will get good reviews.

How many of you have caught a big carp - at least 7 pounds or more? They fight like there is no tomorrow!!!

As for the ''show'' l am onboard with the Pike !!

Red Drum they jump, dive, shake, run and seem to go one forever once it took me about 15 min to bring in a little 3lb redfish

In freshwater l would have to agree on carp as the strongest pulling fish with Hybrid bass a close second. If you're looking for acrobatics then l would have to say small-mouth or trout.
Saltwater, pound for pound l agree with the amber-jack. You catch a 40lb jack and let me know what you think.