Burbot

[dmichaelm]

Heading to a lake in February that has some burbot. Lot of structure. Rocky bottom. Deepest is 70+fow. Looking for some tips on how to get at them.

Thinking about a tip up with circle hook, heavy mono leader. The question is what for bait? And, what structure to target?

[JBMasterAngler]

Fatheads, rainbows, or shiners work just fine. They are a sucker for glow jigs too. Thumping the bottom is a popular tactic to draw them in.

[Mudcatman]

To increase your odds, try night fishing. Burbot love to feed at night. Glow Buckshot rattle spoons tipped with half a fathead or shiner head work great. Electronics help too. Eelpout roam the entire water column sometimes in search of food, so the graph helps a ton with locating those suspended fish.

And a rock pile or sharp drop-off would be an excellent place to start looking for them.

[dmichaelm]

So, fish them like an aggressive walleye bite...

Thanks

[Cthulhu]

I'd look and see if your lake has any rocky reefs topping out in the 15-30FOW range surrounded to deeper water. Fish the sides and right on top. Jig and run a tip up. Dead smelt or ciscos are ideal if you can get them. Deeper mud, sand, and gravel flats can be really good too - if bait is around. Dusk is the best time but they'll bite all night and sometimes during the day too.

[Cthulhu]

I tried to send you a PM with more info but you are over your limit.

[RK]

Catch them at the right time (pre spawn) which it sounds like you might, and pout are 10x more aggressive than walleyes. Glow spoons, rattle spoons, or pounding a glow stand up jighead tipped with a minnow off the bottom can all work. As another poster said, you can catch the odd one during the day but they really crank up at night. Get in the right area (I like the top lips of bars or humps with access to deep water) and you'll get groups of them moving through throughout the night. When a schools comes in they mean business. Can be hard to keep two lines down. Great fun...

[dmichaelm]

Thanks guys. Great additions. The lake has a lot of lips, shelves and access to deep water.