BLOG: What's Australia's best sportfish?

Now here's a conundrum - I'll bet if I asked Aussie fishos what they thought was the BEST sportfish in our waters I'd get a pretty mixed response.

I’m sure boys on the east coast and north of the NSW border would say any of the grander billfish they catch off Cairns. Fishos further north in reef country would probably nominate a barrel-sized dogtooth.

I bet the boys in the NT would have a handful of logical selections with the GT figuring highly on the list. The diehard barra anglers would probably have their say as well, tipping in with a wild-caught "metrey". I’m sure some might even select the cobia.

WA fishos would have a few to pick from, seeing as their state is one-third of Australia’s landmass and covers tropical and temperate waters. The species would no doubt be an eclectic mix of what fishos target in their local waters. In the north of WA my guess would be sailfish and in the south, Samson fish.

In SA the boys - in the past - might have said great white sharks, but these days thumping big bluefin tuna out wide or Whyalla’s mind-blowing 40lb reds would be my guess as the fish of choice. If I lived there I would probably select the 40kg plus kings that turn up around Coffin Bay.

In Victoria my guess is your guess. If I had to speculate I think the overwhelming popular choice would be makos or XOS snapper. I’m sure the gummy might rate a mention but is it Australia’s best sportfish? I highly doubt it.

In Tassie, the boys would in all probability say southern bluefin or the hard pulling striped trumpeter.

In my local NSW waters the only choice would be a beakie of some description. There are some decent fish lurking in our backyard but none can truly match the class of the northern species other than our beaked friends. Sorry diehard mulloway anglers!

So I put it back in your court. And the answers can be for a variety of reasons as well. What do you think is our BEST sportfish?

I’ll start. Tally one point up for a GT the size of your front door!