Burbot, also known as ling, are easily one of the most interesting fish that swim in U.S. lakes and rivers. If you’ve never heard of them, it might be because you’ve never caught one — even if they live in bodies of water you fish frequently. These relatives of saltwater cod behave a little differently than gamefish like walleye, pike, and smallmouth bass that share their waters, so they’re not as easy to luck into as bycatch on a warm summer day. But come winter, that changes.
With the heaviest populations across the northern part of country, burbot are underdogs much like gar and bowfin. Of course, all underdogs have their cult followers, and they all come out when lakes lock up. Burbot are most active during the coldest months, which also coincide with their annual spawn. They’re especially fired up at night, which is when my friend, guide, and Montana resident, Rick Matney, gets after them most often. Yeah, it’s cold after dark in Montana. But once you’ve dialed in the bite it can lead to hours of fun and one heck of a good fish fry. Here’s what you need to know.
Locating Burbot
Burbot are deep-dwelling fish, which explains why they thrive in large reservoirs more commonly than smaller lakes. During warmer months, they’re staying down well below the thermocline where they’re not as easy to target. In winter, they’ll move shallower to feed and spawn. Matney says he’s typically fishing water no deeper than 30 feet on the ice, but will catch them as shallow as 6 feet, especially where there is good spawning gravel, sand, or mud. If you’re unsure of where to set up, Matney says to split the different. Post over a sloping edge that falls away to deep water. Most importantly, he says nothing points to a pile of burbot better than a single burbot.
“If you’re jigging for walleye during the day and wind up pulling in a stray burbot, that’s where you want to be after dark,” he says. “It’s not uncommon for some fish to slide in shallower during the last few hours of light, but it’s not usually a huge pile. But if that area is attractive to a few fish before lights out, it’s a good bet all his friends will show up after dark.”
Though Matney points out that it is possible to catch burbot on tip-ups, setting a perimeter of them is not as a reliable a search tool as it would be for other species. Though they will attack a live bait, you’ve got to get a little stinkier and more aggressive to really catch a mess of them.
Heavy Hitting
As nocturnal hunters, burbot key in on sound and smell when looking for a meal. According to Matney, years ago all he dropped was a heavy, saltwater-style jighead tipped with sucker meat. But these days, as burbot grow in popularity, companies have begun producing burbot-specific jigs, such as the Big Nasty Tackle Punisher Jig. They often feature rattles, multiple hooks, and glow-in-the-dark paint to ramp visual appeal in the winter blackness. Although these fish will eat suspended in the water column, Matney says targeting them off the bottom is not usually the best move.
“You want a heavy jighead so you can really pound the bottom,” he says. “You want to stir up the silt and mud, which can help attract more fish to the area. You also want a bait that smells as stinky as possible. I like a strip of sucker meat on my jig, but guys in the Midwest use a lot of cisco meat. Any legal baitfish you can cut into strips will work.”
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Matney says, however, that it’s not worth fretting over jig colors, as there are many available nowadays. Even if you’re targeting burbot before sunset, white painted jigs and white jigs that glow are the go-tos he drops most of the time. He also cautions anglers not to get lazy about recharging your glow jigs with your head lamp or a black light flashlight. After 10 to 15 minutes on the bottom, he recommends giving them a boost, as the glow effect can make a huge difference in the number of bites you’ll score.
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