# Smallmouth vs. Hybrid Stripers



## hoosiertransplant (Apr 20, 2009)

What's your vote on the strongest pulling fish pound per pound - the hybrid or the smallmouth?

Ignoring the jumping and dancing that smallmouth do - which is great - I'm asking which fish do you think is simply puts the most torque on your drag?


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

I&#8217;d go with hybrids on this one HoosierT, not knocking smallmouth one bit. These two of my favorite targets.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

5 lb. smallie will hit a pocket & sit on the bottom & force you to pry it up... a 5 lb. hybrid will take off like a rocket.

I vote hybrid, hands down. If they were as plentiful as smallies I'd be out of a job & wife.


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## www.fishinlog.com (Jun 30, 2004)

Hybrid for sure, I have caught a lot of 8 -9 pounders. I can not imagine what a 20+ pounder would pull like.


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

It's not even close. Smallies are my favorite species, but compared to hybrids they fight like one of Mike Tyson's early opponents.


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## BMayhall (Jun 9, 2011)

Largemouths.


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## KWaller (Oct 3, 2010)

Yea, id say hybrid as well. But could you imagine if bluegill got as bick as hybrids, wow you would be fighting and oven sheet with rockets on both sides haha
Kyle
HPT
CP

_OutdoorHub Mobile, the information engine of the outdoors_


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## LMRsmallmouth (Jan 10, 2006)

.....I second the bluegill vote.....


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

Bluegill give a valiant effort, but they really just turn sideways & swim back & forth.


Carp & hybrids both head off the other direction like a freight train! In my opinion, hybrids also fight much harder than true striped bass.


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## mastercatman (Jan 30, 2005)

My vote goes 110% to hybrids! In my opinion, they are the hardest fighting fish that Ohio has to offer. To those who posted bluegills and largemouth....maybe you have never caught a decent hybrid? Those two species are not even in the same category. I have caught hybrids that are close to the size of a large bluegill and there is no comparison..period! Even small hybrids are a drag ripping good time! I still love the smallies though too!


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## Hillbilly910 (Jan 6, 2009)

common carp, although they dont get as ticked off as hybirds and stripers, they just dont know any better and keep swimming away, regardless how hard you pull against them.
a 10lb bluegill would require a shotgun or chuck norris to land, period.

HB


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## BMayhall (Jun 9, 2011)

Ill stick with largemouths


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## lordofthepunks (Feb 24, 2009)

im going to give a vote for the spotted bass.


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## hoosiertransplant (Apr 20, 2009)

There isn't a fish that swims in fresh water that competes with hybrids in my opinion.

The bluegill and carp comments I do find interesting. 

I caught this on the Whitewater a couple weeks ago and it gave my 8lb. test all I could handle for what seemed like an eternity. It ran every direction but straight away more than a few times!


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

BMayhall said:


> Ill stick with largemouths



I hope you're kidding.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

hoosiertransplant said:


> There isn't a fish that swims in fresh water that competes with hybrids in my opinion.




There's really not, at least in Ohio's waters. Steelhead & carp are definitely the only two that come close. It's not a matter of opinion so much as "which fish actually pulls harder". 

All three of those fish actually pull line off your reel... in large amounts... that is literal strength that you can quantify, just like tractor pulls.


Sunfish for the most part, do not. Even our beloved bronze will only rip off about 10', maybe 20'... then dive (or jump). A hybrid or carp is taking 100' with it and BOLTIN'!


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## bgrapala (Nov 1, 2008)

another vote for hybrid. I caught a small hybrid while fishing for skipjack at meldahl one time on a sabiki rig and thought I had two skipjack hooked.


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## small talk (Feb 13, 2009)

Hybrids, no question. I love smallies, my bread and butter, but I've never had my spinning gear out-matched by one. I've been "spooled" twice by wipers.


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## BMayhall (Jun 9, 2011)

fallen513 said:


> I hope you're kidding.


I really dont fish for Hybrids maybe once a month I might target some like yesterday no luck..I'll stick with the Largemouths


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## KWaller (Oct 3, 2010)

I've caught 2 FO wipers in the past 2 years, I know what a good one feels like and the bluegill comment was more a crazy unique fight type
Kyle
HPT
CP



mastercatman said:


> My vote goes 110% to hybrids! In my opinion, they are the hardest fighting fish that Ohio has to offer. To those who posted bluegills and largemouth....maybe you have never caught a decent hybrid? Those two species are not even in the same category. I have caught hybrids that are close to the size of a large bluegill and there is no comparison..period! Even small hybrids are a drag ripping good time! I still love the smallies though too!




_OutdoorHub Mobile, the information engine of the outdoors_


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

BMayhall said:


> I'll stick with the Largemouths



The question was which fights harder, hybrid or bronzeback.


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

I catch an occasional flathead while fishing for bass; Im surprised no one has brought them up. As far as drag peeling brute strength goes, they're right there.

I've never caught a blue but I would imagine they're in the same league.


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## BMustang (Jul 27, 2004)

Smallmouth are by far my favorite species to fish for and to catch, but I too admit that a striper or hybrid striper is far and away the more powerful of the two.


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## zuelkek (Jun 8, 2011)

Can't answer because I've never caught a striper, but smallies are a blast and are my favorite. Many people don't like drums (sheepheads), I guess, but whenever I hook into one, I'm amazed at their power. Pound for pound I think they're up with the toughest fish out there.


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## boonecreek (Dec 28, 2006)

u tie a 5 pound smallmouth tail to tail, to a hybrid. smallie,ll win ever time.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

boonecreek said:


> u tie a 5 pound smallmouth tail to tail, to a hybrid. smallie,ll win ever time.


them's fightin' words!


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## boonecreek (Dec 28, 2006)

hybrids are like a trout, they,ll fight them selfs to the death in a short time. kind of like cinn. football. hahaha.


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## KeithOH (Mar 26, 2010)

Hybrids by far. Once they get 20"+ they pull line like crazy.


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## boonecreek (Dec 28, 2006)

now; now, smallmouth live long, take some years to produce a 5 to 6 pound smalle. there harder to suduce to strike bait or lures. have a much higher release rate. and don,nt need state natural resoures to replenish the water ways. i,ve caught my share of hybrids my self, they are a blast don,t get me wroung. but it takes more game to catch a nice smalle.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

You tie a 5 lb. smallie to a 5 lb. hybrid & the smallie is going water skiing.


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## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

fallen513 said:


> You tie a 5 lb. smallie to a 5 lb. hybrid & the smallie is going water skiing.


hahahaha:T


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## boonecreek (Dec 28, 2006)

hybrids are to girl,ish u might say. catch and release 10, 5 go BELLY UP fight,in for the right to live. small,ies on the other hand don,t need team of scienist and million of dollars of research to exist in a natural world. u don,t hear of the state HAVING TO STOCK small,ies all the time. DO U,A


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## boonecreek (Dec 28, 2006)

fallen513 said:


> The question was which fights harder, hybrid or bronzeback.


4 of the 6 state hatcheries( hebron,senecaville,kincaid and london ) raise hybrids. none of the 6 hatcheries raise smallmouth. fish such as hybrid striped bass, whitch are hybrids. rarely reproduce naturally, must be stocked annually to maintain fisheries. pull the funds on the hybrids and THERE GONE. small,ies still be swimm,in around on there own. they don,t need no funds from fish,in lic. sales to exist. LIKE ME, NO HELP NEEDED, don,t need gov. welfare programs to be. producers for evers. goverment funded programs never! all i have to say about that.....


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

I love my delicate little welfare fish.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

boonecreek said:


> hybrids are to girl,ish u might say. catch and release 10, 5 go BELLY UP fight,in for the right to live.



The problem is...you're fishing with smallmouth tackle. If 50% of the fish you are catching are dying, you're not ending the fight quickly enough..


Try using more appropriate gear next time, they're not smallmouth, after all.


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## boonecreek (Dec 28, 2006)

ok; thanks fo the info. where oh where has my sportmen ship gone.


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