Next time you hook into a burbot, throw it back for another angler to enjoy – or throw it in your bucket and try some “poor man’s lobster”.
February 21, 2025
By Matt Breuer
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Ling cod, eelpout, lota, lawyer… these are all names associated with the Ice Belt’s most misunderstood fish: the burbot .
The burbot is a long-body fish that looks like a mix between a catfish, an eel, and a salamander. With a dorsal fin that stops just shy of the tail and an anal fin that does the same, it gives the appearance of an eel. Its circular tail makes the burbot a powerful swimmer and fighter. Its lone whisker is unique, distinguishing, and is called a barbel. The barbel helps the eelpout navigate and find food.
Color varies depending on water clarity, depth of the fish and time of year. The main colors can be anything from tan to dark brown, usually with yellow blotches scattered about the body.
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Burbot are the only member of the cod family to live in freshwater. They like cool waters and are most active in the winter. During late-February to mid-March, while ice still covers the lakes in the North, burbot move up onto humps or near shorelines in search of a good area to spawn – a single female can lay up to 1 million eggs. Those eggs are often prey to swarms of perch and tullibees, so the success rate of their eggs isn’t as high as one would think. Once spawning ends, the fish become a bit harder to find and target, and as the water warms in the spring, the fish become even scarcer. By summer, they are almost impossible to find in any decent numbers.
The burbot is a ferocious feeder in the darkness. Like many fish, the burbot is an opportunistic feeder. They’ve been known to eat anything from small invertebrates to mice and shrews. Their main forage is fish, and the burbot is a ferocious feeder in the darkness. Like the walleye, the eelpout relates most often to the lake bottom; however, when chasing food, the burbot often rides high in the water column, even breaking the surface. Young-of-the-year perch, tullibees, crawfish, and various baitfish are the primary forage for bloated-belly “burbs.”
Since burbot are most active in the winter while packing on pounds to get ready for spawning , this is also the most common time of year to catch the delicious urchins. Through the ice I’ve caught burbot in depths ranging from 2 feet all the way down to 60 feet. Researchers have found burbot as deep as 1,000 feet in the Great Lakes. But depth isn’t the key – structure is. Shallow flats or deep holes that hold large pods of bait during the day can be productive, while shallow bars, breaks, or humps adjacent to deep water reign supreme after dark. Explore steep breaks, drilling some holes from the bottom of the break to the top. Some nights, the deeper holes at the base of the break will produce. The next day, the top of the break might be the key.
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Simple walleye gear is sufficient for burbot. A 32- to 40-inch medium-powered ice rod teamed up with a light to medium reel is perfect for the midwinter beasts. For line, 8-pound-test monofilament is usually sufficient, but many hard-core burbot enthusiasts tie on braid and tip the setup with a swivel and a fluorocarbon leader. Large jigging baits such as the Clam Leech Flutter Spoon or a Big Nasty Trout-N-Pout Spoon or Pout Pounder Jig are great choices if you’re targeting them after dark. The amazing water movement and vibration made by these big baits teamed with the weight to help stir the bottom makes them deadly. Adding in the fact that you can get the baits in a mega glow color makes them even deadlier. Tipping your baits with shiner minnows on each treble is a proven tactic. Any extra scent you can get down to the bottom is a plus.
Young-of-the-year perch, tullibees, crawfish, and various baitfish are the primary forage for bloated-belly “burbs.” Electronics are a major advantage when chasing ’pout. While the majority of the eelpout you encounter are close to the bottom, some of the larger fish come through suspended. I don’t know how many times my Vexilar FLX-28 has shown me suspended ’pout that I would’ve missed if I hadn’t been using electronics. The 28 is sensitive enough that it can aid you in telling when your bait comes dislodged from your hooks, as well. Watching them on Humminbird’s Mega Live is also a treat, and can teach you a lot about how the fish move and react to jigging.
Jig often and be aggressive. Calling in one burbot with aggressive jigging often leads to small flurries. Banging the bottom to stir things up and make some noise is a good way to get their attention. When you mark a fish on your Vexilar, slowly lift your bait and keep it moving. Most of the ’pout you mark are going to smack your bait, and when they do, hold on. Others may hit when you’re tapping bottom, and you won’t know you’ve hooked one until you start to jig and feel their mass – it’ll feel as if you’ve snagged the bottom.
A good burbot population is the sign of a healthy fishery. As the burbot’s popularity grows, the fish is more susceptible to overharvest. States like Minnesota now recognize the burbot as a game fish. So, next time you hook into a burbot , throw it back for another angler to enjoy – or throw it in your bucket and try some “poor man’s lobster”.
A good burbot population is the sign of a healthy fishery.
