Species › North America · Freshwater › Burbot

Freshwater

Burbot

Lota lota · Eelpout, Ling, Lawyer

Water temp
36–50°F
Peak season
Dec–Mar
Best light
Night
IGFA record
25 lb 2 oz (11.4 kg)
Burbot (Burbot (Lota lota) (52880431837).jpg)

Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

OverviewWhere & WhenHow to CatchGearRegulationsRecordsForecastCatches

Overview

Burbot have a long, tapering body, a single chin barbel, two dorsal fins with the second running most of the back, and a mottled olive-brown-and-yellow pattern that looks like camouflage. They are slimy, wrap around your arm when landed and can top 20 lb in the best waters. Native across the northern US, Canada, Alaska and Eurasia, they live in deep, cold lakes and large rivers from the Great Lakes and Missouri reservoirs to Flathead Lake and the Idaho panhandle.

Burbot spawn under the ice in January–March, gathering in writhing balls on shallow gravel and sand, and they feed aggressively at night during that period on perch, ciscoes, sculpins and crayfish. Through summer they retreat to the deepest, coldest water available and are rarely caught. Ice anglers target them after dark with glow jigs and cut bait, and events like Minnesota's International Eelpout Festival have turned a once-despised bycatch into a winter tradition.

Typical size1–4 lb (0.5–2 kg); 16–26 in
Trophy8 lb+; 12 lb+ is exceptional
Table fareExcellent — firm white meat; boiled chunks are 'poor man's lobster'

Where & when

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Peak fishing is January through March when burbot spawn under the ice and feed at night; open-water catches come mostly in late fall and early spring from deep water below 50 °F (10 °C).

Leech Lake, MNHome of the Eelpout Festival; Walker Bay in FebruaryLake of the Woods, MNNight ice fishing for big burbot alongside walleyeFlaming Gorge Reservoir, WYIllegally introduced and now a trophy fishery; burbot bash tournamentsLake Sakakawea, NDMissouri River reservoir ling in winter and spring

How to catch

Night ice fishing with glow jigsSet up over 10–40 feet of sand or gravel near a drop-off after dark, drop a glow-in-the-dark jigging spoon or a heavy jig tipped with a minnow or cut bait, and pound it on the bottom to stir up sediment. Pause, lift a foot and repeat; burbot pin the bait to the bottom.
Dead-stick set linesRig a second rod or tip-up with a 1/2–1 oz sinker and a 2/0 hook baited with a whole dead smelt, cisco or chunk of sucker lying right on the bottom. Burbot find it by smell; check lines every hour and set hard.
Open-water bottom fishingIn late fall and early spring, anchor over deep flats and fish cut bait on a slip-sinker rig after dark from shore or boat. Tailwaters and river mouths below dams concentrate pre-spawn fish.

Gear

Rod28"–36" medium-heavy ice rod; 7' medium-heavy spinning for open water
Reel2500–3000 spinning or an inline ice reel
Line10–15 lb braid with a 12–15 lb fluorocarbon leader

Lures

Glow jigging spoonsHeavy glow jigsRattle spoonsBlade baitsJigging minnow baits

Baits

Dead smelt or ciscoesCut suckerLive minnowsChicken liverNightcrawlers

Regulations

A freshwater license is required. Burbot are a game fish with modest bag limits in some states and unlimited or even mandatory-kill in others where they are invasive, such as Flaming Gorge; rules on the number of lines allowed through the ice also apply.

Records

IGFA all-tackle world record: 25 lb 2 oz (11.4 kg) — Lake Diefenbaker, Saskatchewan, 2010 (Sean Konrad). State and regional records are kept by each fish & wildlife agency.

Frequently asked

Are burbot good to eat?

Very. The flesh is white, firm and mild, closer to cod or haddock than any other freshwater fish, and the liver is rich in vitamins. Boiling chunks of fillet in salted water and dipping them in butter is the classic preparation. Skin them like a catfish; the skin is tough and slimy.

When is the best time to catch burbot?

After dark in late winter, especially the two to three weeks around the spawn in February and early March in most northern states. Fish feed heavily from dusk to midnight on sand and gravel flats near deep water, and the action usually dies off by dawn.

Bite forecast — Burbot

Recent catches

Posted by anglers on the live map, filtered to Burbot.

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