Fish Preferences??

KDM · Dec 28, 2017

I was sitting in the spear house discussing fish preferences with another spear fisherman and the question posed was this...."Would you rather have ten 2 pounders come in or two 10 pounders?" Which got me thinking about fish preferences in general. Now I would rather have the two 10 pounders myself when it comes to spearing, but just the opposite when it comes to angling. I'd rather catch five 2 pound walleyes over one 10 pound walleye any day of the week. Anyway, our discussion went on for quite a while and I found it interesting, so I thought I would put it to you's guys in NDA'ville. What say you????

LBrandt · Dec 28, 2017

I would like to have a good eating supply in freezer than a plastic one on the wall.

shorthairsrus · Dec 28, 2017

An 86 degree day light breeze and a cold cold can of Busch light. I don't care how big or small they r. Open water cannot come soon enough

Twitch · Dec 28, 2017

That’s a loaded question. I’m not to far away from my 38th birthday, and have been fishing for a good portion of those years. I’ve been fortunate to catch a lot of different species in a lot of different locations. For the purposes of making a long story short, I’ve caught a good number of walleyes in my life, but never been lucky enough to crack whopper status. I would never want to if it meant that’s the last walleye I’m ever going to catch but wouldn’t mind trading one day’s fillets for a big one once.

dukgnfsn · Dec 28, 2017

I have always been a number over size angler overall, especially when fishing around my home area. I remember the days you could go out on the river and catch between 100-200 fish days, at times 2-4 lbs. average. Those days seem to be gone. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy hooking into a big fish when it works. The time that I long for big fish is when I spend the money on trips away from home such as to MN and Canada to specifically fish for the big fish. dukgnfsn

Sub_Elect · Dec 28, 2017

2-10 pounders for me. I can tell 20 stories of getting 10-2 pounders but I can only tell you 1 story of catching 2-10 pounders.

cooter00 · Dec 28, 2017

I have been fortunate enough to catch a Whopper in allot of species in the big sak I do have a slight advantage never living farther then 10 miles from her I do fish more then most I so I usually pick the days some I Target a limit of 2lbers others I Target that trophy depends on the mood and who I'm fishing with my preference is big fish nothing beats that feeling when you land a monster of any species

NDSportsman · Dec 28, 2017

Interesting question, for me if we are talking pike I want the two 10 pounders because pike get pickled or canned. Not to mention I hate cleaning the slimy bastards so cleaning 1 or 2 is better then 10. For walleye it'd be the ten 2 pounders cause they are better tasting IMO. But who am I kidding, I'm lucky to catch one 1 pounder. Give me 20 perch anyday!

Bowhunter_24 · Dec 28, 2017

im the exact opposite of you. For spearing I would take the numbers of fish over size. Unless you changed it to 2 twenty lb pike than I would take the two.

And I would way rather catch a 10 lb walleye then a limit.

But I think your numbers are unfair. A 10 lb pike is not the same as a 10 lb walleye. A 10 lb pike is just a pike. A 10 lb walleye is a beast.

Retired Educator · Dec 28, 2017

Catching big fish are fun in any species. A 14" perch is a trophy, a 14" pike isn't. I do have a problem with boredom and I like action to keep me interested. So my choice would be more fish vs big fish. Now from the other end, there was a day when I caught roughly 300 perch, not a one of them made 6", by the end of the day it got a little boring taking fish off the hook. So, too many smaller fish isn't the answer either. those are the days that are fun for youngsters. As long as their bobber goes down they don't care what's on the other end.

Captain Ahab · Dec 28, 2017

Some days it's a meat run day, other days it's trophy hunt day.

Bfishn · Dec 28, 2017

I'm a quality over quantity type guy for pretty much everything in life, Fish, Deer, Women, Alcohol etc.. I'd rather sit on a lake all day without a bite knowing there are 2 lb+ perch in there instead of sitting on a lake catching 7"-10" all day.

luvcatchingbass · Dec 28, 2017

Well I suck at catching walleye so if I get two 2lb eyes I am happy, normally because hopefully I am also probably keeping a few nice perch to go with.
The last few years I have been fishing, especially ice, with people new to the activity and people that maybe don't get out as much as myself so I like targeting species with bigger limits and those that are more prone to school. This way we can decide what we want to keep and should be able to have more action for them to fill up a day and spread my additction. No matter the species I would prefer catching multiple fair sized fish than just one whopper a day while using a hook and line. Spearing I would take the two 10lb pike over multiple 2lb.

SDMF · Dec 28, 2017

1st thing I thought of after reading the OP was an OLD George Carlin bit. Carlin being Carlin, I'll clean it up a bit:

"I never made it with a 10, but, one night I made it with 5 2's."

Sluggo · Dec 28, 2017

My preference has changed over the years. When I first started fishing, the goal was to just catch fish. Then as I got good at catching fish, I started targeting BIG fish and didn't care so much about the numbers. Now I am kinda in the middle, I enjoy the numbers but I prefer to fish on a body of water where there is at least a chance for a big one.

Retired Educator · Dec 28, 2017

Sluggo said:
My preference has changed over the years. When I first started fishing, the goal was to just catch fish. Then as I got good at catching fish, I started targeting BIG fish and didn't care so much about the numbers. Now I am kinda in the middle, I enjoy the numbers but I prefer to fish on a body of water where there is at least a chance for a big one.

I'll bet this answer is true for most of us.

Allen · Dec 28, 2017

I too would prefer to fish somewhere that a guy at least has a chance of catching a variety. Places like Sibley, where I can go and catch 30 fifteen inch eyes is fine when I'm in the mood to fill the freezer, but my desire would be to fish somewhere where I can catch five fish spread out between 15 and 30 inches.

A number of years ago I went out on the river during the Big Muddy tournament. I ended up catching only 3 fish. One was 27", another was 30" and a keeper of a 21". After tossing back the big two, I ended up giving away the lone keeper of the morning to a fella at the boat dock on my way home. Funny part is I was fishing an area with tourney boats that weren't doing so well. Guess I just had the mojo for being a tourney fisherman that morning even though I was after filets.

DirtyMike · Dec 28, 2017

I'll take one ten pounder every time I go out in lieu of a limit. Fish stories weren't started about your limit of eaters.

SDMF · Dec 28, 2017

DirtyMike said:
I'll take one ten pounder every time I go out in lieu of a limit. Fish stories weren't started about your limit of eaters.

They were if you fished alone and can lie, which is what a "fish-story" is mostly.

Sluggo · Dec 28, 2017

DirtyMike said:
I'll take one ten pounder every time I go out in lieu of a limit. Fish stories weren't started about your limit of eaters.

I think you just crossed over from pike to walleyes

Fish Preferences??

Founding Member

★★★★★ Legendary Member

Founding Member

Founding Member

Founding Member

Founding Member

Founding Member

Founding Member

Founding Member

★★★★★ Legendary Member

Founding Member

Founding Member

Founding Member

Founding Member

Founding Member

★★★★★ Legendary Member

Founding Member

Founding Member

Founding Member

Founding Member

Similar threads

Friends of NDA