Burbot cleaning vid

[Jack&7]

Just thought I would post it as I don't believe I have seen anyone post before...

On a related note, I am not sure I would be eating the belly fat from a Burb...

http://youtu.be/4zWORf4OEVE

[sportman]

Have never kept a burbot before but now can't wait

[Kim473]

Very well done video. Thanks.

[wags]

Must.....


Catch.....


Burbot....

*drool*

[edmhunter]

Great post. I would not freeze the meat though, after the salt bath and a quick rinse it would go straight into a beer batter then my deep fryer! lol

[slivers86]

The belly on larger burbot is actually a lot of meat left that goes to waste - one thing beeguy taught me that I retained. lol

[catnthehat]

I've decided to try and catch a few for my fish soup that I make.
Haven't had any burbot for years!
Cat

[edmhunter]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

I've decided to try and catch a few for my fish soup that I make.
Haven't had any burbot for years!
Cat

They have a lobsterish texture to them, would be great in soup! Lots of them in Manitoba and lake Dauphin

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by edmhunter

They have a lobsterish texture to them, would be great in soup! Lots of them in Manitoba and lake Dauphin

Always just coated them or deep fried, but yup, they have the perfect texture for a soup or chowder!
Cat

[Richmuiz]

Perfect vid thanks I have to do up ten of them going to be delishious

[Jack&7]

Oh I am not saying that they aren't delicious....cuz they definitely are!

I am just a bit iffy on eating the belly as they are bottom feeders and while the majority of the toxins is most definitely in the liver, I would bet a good chunk of mercury is collected in the belly fat.

Unless I am just making this up? Has anyone got any facts or other insight on this?

[rafhone]

Originally Posted by Jack&7

Oh I am not saying that they aren't delicious....cuz they definitely are!

I am just a bit iffy on eating the belly as they are bottom feeders and while the majority of the toxins is most definitely in the liver, I would bet a good chunk of mercury is collected in the belly fat.

Unless I am just making this up? Has anyone got any facts or other insight on this?

this is from wikipedia "As adults, they are primarily piscivores, preying on lamprey, whitefish, grayling, young northern pike, suckers, stickleback, trout, and perch.[4] At times, burbot will also eat insects and other macroinvertebrates, and have been known to eat frogs, snakes, and birds."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burbot

this is from Journal of Great Lakes Research "lake trout diet consisted mainly of alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), whereas burbot utilized a much wider prey base including round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), rainbow smelt, alewives, and sculpins. Using the Schoener's diet overlap index, we found a higher potential for interspecific competition in 1932 than in 2006–2008,"
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...80133010000365

Personally I view them as predators and not bottom feeders. Watching on cam a few early springs ago cemented it for me.

[mattpreat]

There's somebody that asked the same question on the comments in that video actually, in case you haven't seen it. Coming from them I'd say it must be pretty safe. Here is the reply that person got from the maker of the video:

"Hi Mike,

Contaminants can be an issue with any fish flesh depending on the waters from which they are taken. Contaminants tend to concentrate in fat and organs such as the liver. Typically, belly meat tends to contain more fat than other muscle tissue, so in that sense, it might contain higher levels of contaminants than the back fillets. That said, with burbot, the liver is the primary fat storage organ, so the muscle tissue (including the belly meat) tends to be very low in fat. So, burbot belly meat is probably less prone to accumulating contaminants than other fish bellies. If there are warnings about contaminants in the waters where you are fishing, then we recommend staying away from eating any of the burbot flesh, otherwise, if it’s safe to eat the flesh, it’s probably safe to eat the belly meat. Thanks for your question, Mike.

– Matt Evenson, ADF&G Fishery Biologist IV"

[man of steel]

An easier way to do burbot is to hang the fish by the head. We used a cut off nail in a tree. Skin and pull the fins as shown in the video. Next cut around the head then work your fingers between the fillet and the backbone. When you get your fingers in there you just slowly pull on the fillet and it just cleanly tears loose from the bones. This is WAY faster and easier than the video. It takes a little practice but takes WAY less time if you have a few of these guys. Watch the fillets for round hard cysts that contain worms. I don't know if the worms are present in Alberta fish but we used to find them here in BC when we fished for "ling" in the day. You can cut out the worm cysts if there are only a few.