Got a decent burbot among the lakers today. Never tried it. Anyone have any good recipes for them?

I was told boiled and dipped in garlic butter they make a passable substitute for lobster.

I think we just got em wet and dusted with corn meal last winter, Interested to here other other folks, got a few last week too.

Fried them I meant to say.

Had them boiled in salt/sugar water and dipped into garlic butter. Pretty high up there on the “to die for but there wans’t enough” list.

We used to deep fry them in a beer batter. Havent had any in years but they are good. You set lining or netting??

I eat them boiled in salt water with butter,a bit of sugar and Lawrys. Served with rice.
don't forget the liver.

Boiled or fried, can’t go wrong. Very moist meat frys very nicely wihlthout drying out.

Ageed, hard to mess up up something that is good to start with.

One more thing...they don't freeze well and get rubbery no good then. IMO
Best eaten alive/freshly dead just like blackfish.

Here is a 36" I caught the other day in the net.

Thanks for the replies guys.

We got it as an incidental laker fishing.

How do you guys normally fish for them? Like what are the normal fishing methods?

We fish them with set lines through the ice. Bait (whitefish heads or chicken livers) on bottom with plenty of weight. In eddy's on the river. Often with 2 single hooks on one line. Hooks spaced about 2 feet apart. Get a lot of "doubles" when burbot are moving through.

Pete

They are most active at night. I've had the best luck on moonless nights. In lakes they can move from deeper to shallower water. The biggest I ever caught was in about 2 feet of water under 3 feet of ice. It was 20 lbs. We like airplane jigs with one main j hook and one stinger treble with strip of whitefish, or lead head squids with a strip of whitefish, skin attached. Glow in the dark work but not necessary. We will arrive at the spot and drill 6, 8 10 holes over an area from 6 to maybe 30 feet of water then move around hole to hole fishing. If you've got a really good spot you can load up in one place. Drop your jig down to the bottom, reel up the slack and jig it a few times as high as you can reach then let it sit right off the bottom of couple inches. They have big mouths and you'll feel a bump when they grab it. Most likely they've got it all the way in their mouth. Like Jeff says, fresh. We keep a couple nice ones to batter up and deep fry and let others go.
Or like Pete says, set line. You get better sleep that way lol.

Call them lush here. Set lines are the norm for us.



I run about a dozen hooks between two poles. The line is parachute cord with large hooks off of picture wire. Catch a lot of pike as well and use pike guts or black fish for bait. I did try a new method late last fall. A line tied to a post at the waters edge and the other end of the line has a weight tied to it that I simply throw out. I give quite a few away. Good way to make friends!

I haven't seen them here like we used to. When I was young the mink ranchers, like my Dad and Grandpa used fyke nets and hoop nets to catch them. Grandpa always stunk up the house with fried burbot liver.

Soak em in buttermilk overnight dip in egg and roll in flour/cornmeal. Fry in hot grease. Oh yeah.

1/4 c sugar to a pot of water. Dip in Garlic butter

You can jig them with/without bait on jigs/spoons day or night. Plastics outfish spoons for us. If i get lazy i will set a few set lines.

Sure wish i could convince ak to allow smaller circle hooks with bait on pout setlines. The 3/4” hook gap equates to a 15-20/0 circle hook (depending on make) ! I hate j hooking and killing the little fish with a passion on set lines!!!! Theres not enough meat to warrent killing them.

Les, its pretty rare mud ducks eat pout. They generally toss them on the ice for the birds. Quite a shame! I saw that as a kid, apparently its still going on. Little do they know!!!

I set hook lines here once with a buddy, Just like Bfschch we had a fish on every hook.

The best bait is chunks of eel.

The Burbot feed on the eel run in October and November here and get real fat and oily from them, they are especially good eating after feeding on them.

Another note : they taste terrible in the summer and even stink. I don't eat them then.

Spring is comming the Sheefish are starting to run. I got seven of these in the past few days.

Nice. Tried it last night. Boiled and dipped some in garlic butter. Was good but not phenominal.

The rest I battered and fried. With tartar sauce was delicious! I dont think ill try the boiled again, but ill fry them any time!

Good eating

I have eaten quite a few, but, I live on a walleye lake and not many folks eat them. I'd like to attempt to smoke a pile of backstraps with the skin on, some time. Just to see how it would turn out .

Mud ducks, that's what Wisconsin calls southern Minesotans, lol.