Favorite fish to catch

So I read the forum a lot and fish enough to know enough. What I’d like to know is why Spanish mackerel seem to be a popular as they are? When pompano and redfish and trout and flounder are available. If it’s the catching and not eating that is key then why not go for ladyfish. They bite and fight and are great jumpers. Or is the challenge? Not taking a position but would love to hear what fellow fishers think. To me it’s about catching and eating.

So the question is what is your favorite fish to catch and why?

Most definitely, pompano. The fight is great and the filets are also great

King Mackerel because they smoke that drag!!

+1 for king mackerel.
They smoke the reel drag and are fine table fare too.

For me, either in boat or on pier speckled trout/flounder has always been my target, and its not as much the fight as much as it can be a battle of wits. Seen some of the biggest trout I've ever seen on the pier but getting them to eat a bait is a whole different ballgame. With the new creel limit changes in the past couple years, have definitely seen both fisheries improve tenfold as well.

Redfish!! It's not so much the fish..but the environment you can catch them in. I love being in the marsh/way back in a bayou..just observing mother nature and being around it all :D

Runner-up..throw another +1 for Kings. I caught a 35lb King off the boat last year and what a fight that was. We all know the sheer speed of these fish but boy oh boy does it really set in when you're seeing that 20lb mono being stripped off at lightning speed and there's nothing you can do but hold on!! I couldn't imagine what it's like to hook one of those 50lb class fish.


And I would say the reason a lot of people target Spanish is because they are very easy to catch, they provide a good fight (especially on light tackle), and taste pretty good.

I like catching them bigger Spanish good fight fast fish lots of action but kings are my next fav

Trout on a huge ly in the middle of the day It’s kinda my gig!

I love Spanish. More abundant, can keep more than 3, easy to catch, taste great and simple to clean.
Pomps, Kings taste fishy and oily to me unless like a lot of people soak in buttermilk, smoke over with spices so they don't taste the fish.
Flounder is great too.

Flounder is number one for me. I also enjoy Pompano, and I like the Whiting when they are running good size. I will fish for the Spanish with a live LY drifted down current when there is not a big crown of people slinging hooky lures at them because I do not want to get in their way.
I have had some fun times with speckled trout in little lagoon. Slot size reds are ok but I have gotten too old to wrestle with the bull reds. When you see an old man sitting back with a rod in his hand waiting for the fish to come to him that might be me. I eat fish 2 or 3 times a week year round so I try to stock my freezer when I get the chance. Thank goodness for a vaccum sealer.