any species worth fishing in the dark ?

[zymguy]

Iv been getting done working around 4pm . Is there any species that you pursue hours into sundown? I know eel pout will strike all night. Ive slept in sleeper shacks and picked up very sparse walleye throughout the night. What species would you fish after work?

[MnCatGuy]

Walleye, crappie and pout. Also channel cats if you have the option up that way. Usually lakes with clear water are better at night but not always.

[pikerliker]

I did pretty good with Crappie after dark last week. Didn't get set up until 7:30 PM or so fished until about 11:00 PM. Depends on the given bite and the lake. I've also done well here and there with the walleye's after dark.

[paceman]

Yep walleyes, crappies bite well after dark....

[Cthulhu]

I think Crappie, Walleye, Cats, and Burbot cover the likely customers after dark. Every lake is different though. For me, ice fishing after dark Burbot (eelpout, lawyer, whatever) is my 1st choice. I'll target other species until dark and then switch to Burbot if the waterbody has a decent population.

If I were in the Ely area looking for after work fishing I'd try and figure out what nearby lake had the biggest Burbot - but that's me.

[Steve Foss]

Around Ely, you've got crappies, eelpout, walleyes (especially on clear lakes with the 'eyes) and lake trout, to some degree.

[20lbSloughShark]

just wanted to add bass will hit at night too

[highlife4me]

Not many people think of pursuing sunfish after dark. Lately I have been doing quite well on them after dark. The ones that do bite then are usually the bigger ones too.

[zymguy]

well pout being most likely and walleye being best case scenario I can fish with a Big rainbow or shiner on bottom ,,,,right?

[Stick in Mud]

Eh, walleyes aren't the best case scenario. Clean up and boil a 'pout, and soon you'll be disappointed to see a walleye head come through the hole.

[Cthulhu]

Ditto carmike. Pout>Walleye

That said, live minnows and/or bouncing a glow spoon on bottom will catch both. Watch your electronics for fish riding high. Pout and Walleye will both suspend at times. The same kinds of locations will work, I'd focus on shallower structure surrounded by deeper water

[traveler]

not so much in Ely:)... but I've caught the majority of my salmon afrer dark, or at least in very low light periods.

[Vitreus]

Pout>walleye? You're joking right?

[Cthulhu]

Nope not joking. Pout is better than walleye, in my opinion anyway. You are welcome to your own though - assuming you've tried it and gave the Pout an unbiased assessment.

Most of the people I know who have tried Pout agree that they taste similar to or better than Walleyes. In the right lakes they average bigger in size than Walleyes and they tend to fight slightly better. In all fairness Walleye are less slimy and smell better - walleyes are bit easier to clean too (mostly due to the slime).

[ib_jigged]

In my younger days, I used to troll for the female species at the local watering holes!

[Vitreus]

I've always considered them a rough fish and thrown them back. The smell and the slime have turned me off, but maybe I should give it a chance. Are the fillets boneless?

[Cthulhu]

Yup, fillets are boneless. Burbot (Pout) are the only freshwater member of the Cod family. So it is a bit like cod, white and flaky but denser than walleye (which I like). A lot of people boil them poor-mans-lobster style but you can do anything with them that you can do with cod. The most important thing with any cod is to not over cook it. Over cooked cod gets rubbery.

The easiest/least messy way to clean them is to skin them first. Tried to embed a vid but it didn't work for me. If you search for "Alaska Burbot Cleaning" you'll get a good video on the Alaska fish and game site right away

I'm confident most negative opinions about Burbot are based on the smelly slime and the eel-like look of them

[Vitreus]

Interesting. Closest I've ever come to eating one was at eelpout festival, but I'll just stop there... Thanks for the tip.