burbot advice

[bisonhunter]

i've been ice fishing for years, particularly since i moved to yellowknife 6 years ago from calgary. i have never specifically targeted burbot with rod and reel, but have caught them incidentally whilst fishing for other gamefish. i know they like the dark which we have plenty of this time of year, but are there any special baits? techniques? places to look that could be more productive?

i got married in june and the wife will take "poor man's lobster" over any of the other offerings we have around here. so i feel a bit obligated to give it a fair shot.

your 2 cents are much appreciated,
bh

[slingshotz]

I personally love eating Burbot and their liver is a delicacy. I find it amazing that some people will throw a burbot away but will gladly sit down to a plate of cod and chips. The burbot is actually the only freshwater fish from the same family as the cod and haddock.

I seem to rarely have any luck catching them in the day as they generally like the cooler and darker nights where they find most of their food from smell. So anything stinky generally works well, ie sausages, bacon, a couple of smelts, even powerbaits work. However, if bait is banned in your area then you'll have to resort to jigs and slower moving targets. I always target Burbot with bait so you'll have to ask others if you are using artificials. My rig is very simple, a big size 0 hook with bait at the end of the line, and a rubber lead sinker placed a few feet above the bait, then sink the bait and wait.

Good luck!

[laker]

You can't beat poor mans lobster.I fish for them solely during the winter months. Get my fill and then back to pike and trout in open water.
Cut a cisco in 3 pieces,put one piece on a heavy 2-3 oz jig(white works best for me) and sink it to the bottom. jig it quickly right on the bottom,enough to stir up the bottom.And keep it up till you get one. Generally right at dark and into the night. In Yellowkinife that is basically all day I suppose!
you will have to experiment with depth.........the deep lake I fish the fish are usually on humps and 40' down on the bottom.
Good Luck!!

[moosehunter3-0]

try to target them before the spawn, the 3-6 pounders come in first but the bigger ones follow within a couple weeks. I caught them on maggots, shinners, herring, smelts, anchovies and even artificials. They arent picky, location and time of year is the key. In january I would fish at dark but during the spawn you will catch them all day.

[bisonhunter]

thanks fellas,
i'll end up trying everything you guys said, but will start with the ciscoes as i have a freezer full. up here we just scoop them out of the river in october to get our yearly supply, they work good for everything except the small mouths on the whitefish. that's what i've caught the burbot on before but they are a fairly big bait and the burbot is usually around ten pounds that bites. cutting them into pieces makes total sense. so does the whole fish by scent scenario. i'll keep you posted as to what works the best.
thanks again,
bh

[bisonhunter]

well i finally got out today. i fired up the sled ('04 bear cat) and hooked up the 'boggan at 2:30 pm rode right from the driveway to a spot on great slave lake about 12 miles out just as yellowknife bay heads into the north arm. the wind was nothing shy of wicked, i didn't even take my helmet off to drill the holes. i set up two rigs with 1/2 oz jig heads and a chunk of ciscoe and then went in my new ice cube to jig the same with ciscoe belly. it took all of fifteen minutes to get into burbot, first fish i ever caught actually jigging....pretty cool. fought hard, but i landed him on the 6lb vanish i use, he was about 8lbs. in the next hour i caught five more all identical except one 4 lber which went back. only fished an hour and caught 6 fish not bad for the first time i ever targeted burbot........thanks again for the tips fellas i couldn't have done it without you.
bh