Pound for pound, what is the hardest fighting fish in the world?

[Gfish]

Man that Bonita got some teeth. Can even see a baitfish hangin out it's mouth. How they fight? We got the Barrilete out here.

[conchydong]

Here in Baja, white SkidJack is called it Bonita or Bonito and black skidjack is called it Barrilete.
Bonita has dark-pink meat but its good on ceviche, meatballs, poke and smoked.
Barrilete has pretty dark and oily meat, too strong flavor, normally used as bait, but still, some local eat them as ceviche or meatballs

this is one Bonita that I prepared as poke (at least my version of poke)

that poke was made with Bonita and Scallops

Alex, we also have a true  Bonito very similar to yours called the Atlantic Bonito. Like yours, pretty good eating but not as good a a true Skipjack IMO.
Here is a photo guide that pretty much sums up our "Bonitos" on the East coast.
Scott

[RowdyW]

Scott, the photo of the dog really sums up a "Little Tunie" dinner any way you make it.          Rudy

[Squidder Bidder]

In my own experience (almost all offshore) any of the small tunas are pound for pound the hardest fighting (combination of speed and power). 

I'd go with blackfin tuna on light spinning tackle. I can't really rate the fight versus larger fish on much heavier tackle, but it's certainly a blast and a test of both angling skill (to effectively fight the fish moreso than getting it to bite) and stamina.

[steelfish]

Man that Bonita got some teeth. Can even see a baitfish hangin out it's mouth. How they fight? We got the Barrilete out here.

on light or medium gear they fight like bulls, bonitos of 8#-10# fight as strong as YT, they are pretty fun to catch while casting 1oz -1.5oz jigs with a swimbait 8ft rod and the abu garcia toro beast or the calcutta 400TE or even using a 40# setup

Alex, we also have a true  Bonito very similar to yours called the Atlantic Bonito. Like yours, pretty good eating but not as good a a true Skipjack IMO.
Here is a photo guide that pretty much sums up our "Bonitos" on the East coast.
Scott

hmm the one on my picture is pretty similar to the atlantic Bonito on your guide, too bad we have more Barriletes than Bonitos, you will catch 3 barriletes per 1 Bonito, either one its not a targeted fish, you will catch them while trolling or jigging for YT

[Ron Jones]

Every now and then at Cedros you will fill your sabiki with 6 2#+ bonito instead of half pound mackerel. Makes a mess out of everything, but what a ride!

The Man

[wailua boy]

I would have to vote for the ulua or giant trevally(Caranax ignobilis)

[JasonGotaProblem]

I have not fought the variety of fish many here have seen, but I vote for the young red grouper. An 8" puppy fights like a 20" snook IMO.

[Gfish]

Ha!🤣. Love that picture conchydong. I've eaten several pounds of those Little Tunny(Kava Kava or Barrilete)over several years, and haven't hurled-up any yet🤪! Perhaps the key is only consume small amounts at a time. Wonder what they's like smoked?

[jurelometer]

OK, this is driving me nuts.  Common names are not so useful for a worldwide forum.

For example, a kingfish can be  a croaker, a whiting, a trevally, a jack, and probably lots of other species depending on where you live.

Bonito is not as bad, but it still gets abused. I did some interwebbing on the possible species.

Where  Alex and I fish (Baja California peninsula), there are three species of "skipjack" and two species of "bonito".  Even in Baja, the local common names vary a bit.

Euthynnus lineatus  - Black skipjack - temperate waters of the Easten Pacific.  Horizontal stripes mostly on top half.  Black blotches behind the gills.  Called barrilete negro, or just Barrilete in Baja.   Maybe the worst eating, but still, I have had some local preparations that were palatable, but these are not regularly kept by sport fishermen.

Katsuwonus pelamis -  Skipjack, aku, striped tuna - worldwide.  Horizontal stripes  mostly on the bottom half.  Called barrilete blanco, barrilete  listado,  or bonito into baja.  Good table fare.

Euthynnus affinis - Kawakawa - Western/Indo Pacific with a rare stray in the Baja area.  Spots like a black skipjack, but wavy irregular diagonal bars on top.  Related to and similar in appearance to the Atlantic little tunny/false albacore (Euthynnus alletteratus).  Called bacoreta oriental in Baja. Opinions on table fare vary.

Sarda chiliensis - Pacifico Bonito - Easterrn pacific.  Thin diagonal stripes.  Called bonito in Baja. Not my first choice for eating.

Sarda orientalis - Striped  bonito - Indo Pacific.  Thin horizontal stripes.  Called bonito blanco,  bonita, bonito mono in Baja.  Tasty, but a bit  soft flesh.  Best eaten soon after capture. 

Hope this helps,

-J

[Gfish]

Yup. Thanks. Forgot about the pronunciation, here like in the German language,  "w" can sound like an English "V". So we have the affinis species here.

[jurelometer]

Yup. Thanks. Forgot about the pronunciation, here like in the German language,  "w" can sound like an English "V". So we have the affinis species here.

Piper methysticum  - Kava Kava   Medicinal plant in tropical western pacific. The root is ground  and  soaked in water. The strained (sort of)  liquid is  served at social events and religious ceremonies.  You can get hammered on the stuff.  Pretty common in rural Fiji.

Some medical concerns about liver damage, some studies on possible benefits for treating anxiety.   Or something like that.

Don't know how common it is in Hawaii, but I would venture to guess that if somebody invites  you over for some kava kava, it will not be a fish feed

Nice Kawakawa BTW.  I quit the whole punch list thing for catching fish species, but Kawakawa was on it back in the day.

-J

[MarkT]

Skipjack... good table fare.  Were you smiling and winking when you wrote that?  They always go over the side, kicked out a scupper or get used as bait on my 10 days!  I don't think I've ever seen one kept!

They fight pretty good but it's like hooking a Mackeral... you know what it is immediately!  Oh damn, another skippy!

[Ron Jones]

OK, this is driving me nuts.  Common names are not so useful for a worldwide forum.

For example, a kingfish can be  a croaker, a whiting, a trevally, a jack, and probably lots of other species depending on where you live.

Bonito is not as bad, but it still gets abused. I did some interwebbing on the possible species.

Where  Alex and I fish (Baja California peninsula), there are three species of "skipjack" and two species of "bonito".  Even in Baja, the local common names vary a bit.

Euthynnus lineatus  - Black skipjack - temperate waters of the Easten Pacific.  Horizontal stripes mostly on top half.  Black blotches behind the gills.  Called barrilete negro, or just Barrilete in Baja.   Maybe the worst eating, but still, I have had some local preparations that were palatable, but these are not regularly kept by sport fishermen.

Katsuwonus pelamis -  Skipjack, aku, striped tuna - worldwide.  Horizontal stripes  mostly on the bottom half.  Called barrilete blanco, barrilete  listado,  or bonito into baja.  Good table fare.

Euthynnus affinis - Kawakawa - Western/Indo Pacific with a rare stray in the Baja area.  Spots like a black skipjack, but wavy irregular diagonal bars on top.  Related to and similar in appearance to the Atlantic little tunny/false albacore (Euthynnus alletteratus).  Called bacoreta oriental in Baja. Opinions on table fare vary.

Sarda chiliensis - Pacifico Bonito - Easterrn pacific.  Thin diagonal stripes.  Called bonito in Baja. Not my first choice for eating.

Sarda orientalis - Striped  bonito - Indo Pacific.  Thin horizontal stripes.  Called bonito blanco,  bonita, bonito mono in Baja.  Tasty, but a bit  soft flesh.  Best eaten soon after capture. 

Hope this helps,

-J

Thanks J.
Growing up, I caught maybe 100 tons of bonita, took forever (and some 3/4 day trips) to figure out that there was a difference between bonita and bonito. I really enjoy bonita smoked and as ceviche. Did a couple Chinese style, prefer maceral or parrot fish (yum.)

The Man

[oc1]

Ha!🤣. Love that picture conchydong. I've eaten several pounds of those Little Tunny(Kava Kava or Barrilete)over several years, and haven't hurled-up any yet🤪! Perhaps the key is only consume small amounts at a time. Wonder what they's like smoked?

I will never eat skipjack again unless it is smoked.  They have a strong taste raw or seared, but the smoke mellows that out.