dumbest fish...

A better topic might what's the dumbest fisherman you ever encountered. Ha!

IMO trout as a species have to be the dumbest fish. Largemouth bass probably the smartest. People think of trout as being cagy and wily and they talk about "outsmarting" them, but the truth is that trout in streams are just very easy to spook, and people mistake that for intelligence. Trout in lakes are not as spooky and so you get to see how dumb they really are.

The dumbest individual fish I ever met, however, was a pike. One night in deep twilight I was standing on a dock at German Lake, MN casting a spoon over and over again just so I could enjoy the night and the stars, and I caught the same pike 4 times. I could tell because of the hook wounds, but he just would not go away and stop biting.

At P-xing, I'll hold my line w/ a fly on it over the water (from kayak). The bluegill will leap out of the water and hit it. I haven't hooked on that way yet, but pretty close.  

hahaha, I have never known anyone to catch a fish out of the air, keep trying on those flying bluegills, I would love to hear about it if you ever get one.

I've got to agree with you about trout, walking eagle. some of these guys think that trout have supernatural powers.

on a different note; I was fishing my local little reservior/ pond last week and there was a guy fly fishing (i was spin fishing) he asked me what bass like for lures...I said anything that looks like it's from mars and moves. He laughed, and I'm not sure if he believed me or not (I was catching a ton of little bass on a shallow shad rap). I don't know if the fact that bass and pike are like garbage disposals makes the smart or dumb, but it does make them fun to catch.

We used to hover a fly about 2 inches off the water in New York. The little perch would jump at it for hours without stopping! One time we hooked one maybe 2 inches out of water! Only one out of billions!
The fish always outsmart me so I am going to say that all fish are geniuses! i also think trout are teh stupidest. i can catch them teh easiest so they must be!

Iv'e had perch get hooked on a bare hook hanging over the boat at Cass Lake Minn.. Thought it was kind of funny so we let our lines down with no bait and sure enough caught several more. Didn't need to waste any worms. LOL.

I had a carp jump into my lap while i was fishing off the bank at a local city pond in AZ. Scared the **** out of me. lol

had a flying fish hit me and ended up in the boat while of shore san diego i let him go but should have rigged him up and trolled it o well next time

The dumbest fish ever caught for me would be a bullhead. I caught one 3 times one night in a span of 20 minutes. How do I know? He was taking nightcrawlers off the bottom and he was gut hooked. So I cut the line as close to the hook as I could. (this was before I became knowledgeable about circle hooks) released him. a while later another bite, gut hooked. As I looked down its gullet I could see the line left from earlier. Cut the line and released again. A while later, when you get the picture. Now this fish has 3 hooks in it and is still feeding. I figured if he wanted to get caught that badly, it has had its 3 strikes it went home us.

Dan

I went up to Wild Basin once and was fishing below Ouzel Falls.  These greenbacks were in a small pool right off the trail.  I was literally standing right at the pool and dragging my rod tip in the water, with a spinner about six inches behind the tip.  These moronic greenbacks were not spooked at all, and on top of that they kept hitting my spinner!  No wonder they were endangered.

Hey, I probably fished the same pool below Ouzel falls. Aparently you must have tought them well 'cause I could pull one or two fish out and then nothing. I'd return again several hours later and they'd be biting again.

I've encountered many dumb fish in my life. All of them were huge fish and refused to bite my lure/fly/bait/finger even though it was obviously a good meal! ;D

About 10 yrs ago I was flyfishing a pond just west of Pocatello ID in a belly boat. I was brand new to flyfishing and my fly was hitting the water during the back casts. I caught a large rainbow when my fly tapped the water durning the back cast. This happened twice! This pond was stacked with large uneducated rainbows,it was a pay pond by the way. I dont think they were stupid just unexperienced in the ways of the world.

Spudman,

Maybe it wasn't the fish who were dumb. Obviously you weren't casting where the fish were! (just kidding!) ;D