Favourite fish

What would you say is your favourite fish?

Whether to catch, to look at, or because of its behaviour.

I'd say my top 3 were:

1) Grayling - a truly beautiful fish. The lady of the stream puts up a good scrap owing to being solid muscle, aren't the easiest of fish to catch and all of these combined make them my number 1.

2) Barbel - there is nothing quite like the first run of a barbel. Immensely powerful, pure muscle.

3) Pike - the perfect predator, everything about the look of a pike says 'I mean business'. Another that put up a terrific fight, aggressively take your bait and are also a very aesthetic fish owing to their colouring and pattern.

Honorable mentions to tench, perch, trout, chub.

My favourite would be the Perch , they are a great looking fish , put up a good fight , love float fishing with worms and spinning for them .

Tench would be my second .

You're right they are a fantastic looking fish, and big ones in particular are stunning, though big perch are a rare commodity wherever I fish.

Sea trout - you can catch them in a variety of places using a great variety of methods (in particular dibbling about in the salt), I have fished for them in stunningly beautiful places, you can fish for them late at night, they are spooky so you can always be pleased you've caught one, they are invariably wild, they are migratory fish so they don't hang around in the river feeding all day - you've got to catch them in the right place at the right time, they are absolutely beautiful - whether a bar of silver or more like a brown trout, they can grow big, they fight hard, and they are delicious to eat.

Has to be pike for me just an menaccing presence imo

They really are menacing.

I remember once when I was spinning I was dragging my spinner through the water as I was moving location, just to watch how it acted, and a pike came charging from the depths, hammered my spinner clean out of the water, but didn't hook itself. It gave me the fright of my life!

Remember as a young lad absolutely captivated by a pike attacking my tiny perch that I was catching, thought it was a monster at the time, probably only a 2lb fish, but captivated me none the less as a young un

Captivating is the word for Pike - this summer when dry-fly fishing for trout my 5-yr old son saw a pike in the water. I'd guess it was about 8-10lbs and it looked menacing as ever. He has not stopped talking about it.

I think there is something about predators that just grabs kids attention

When you see them sitting still on the surface they really do look impressive. Quite often see it with jacks.

It's that feeling when a pike slams into your lure or bait that i love , then you have the big teethed grin as you try getting it out

1. Brown Trout/Ferox
2. Perch
3. Chub