Burbot bait flaming gorge.

[duckhunter5034]

I have fished burbot several times at the gorge and have done fair to poor 15-5 fish a night. I’ve used dead minnows and sucker/chub meat as everyone suggests. But I’ve always wondered if anyone has ever tried crawdads??? Every burbot I have caught has been full of them. Thought about trapping some through the ice (on the gorge) and using them for bait. Seems like it would work to me. Let me know your thoughts or experience.

[appleye]

I'm sure it would work fine. Not sure if it's legal to trap for them in the Gorge. WY GF seems to have quite a lock on bait trapping and such. Otherwise I'm sure it would work for everything. I've used them in KH in the summer and caught everything on them (rolled rocks over to catch plus I have a seining permit for KH). Might try some crawdad power bait with crawfish sent. When around crawdad eating walleye I will use a small crawdad plastic on a crawler harness and craw fish sent catches a bunch of fish.

[musclewhitefish]

Carp is a better bait than sucker, because it stays on the hook better.

You just can't find carp in stores.

Uncooked salad shrimp can also work in lieu of crawdads.

You can soak the bait in anise fish smelly jelly as well.

Probably gone are the days of 100 burbot nights at the gorge, unless you get very fortunate on a particular evening.

First safe ice at Firehole is a good bet to get into high fish nights.

Other than that you have to find them.

Places like firehole or lost dog get hammered during the winter and the fish can get a bit thin or shy the longer the season goes.

Sometimes, fish refuse to hit a dead stick and want it jigged.

Sometimes, fish are attracted by your jig and hit the dead sticks.

Sometimes, fish hit it after a reglow or hit the tube jigs with glow sticks inside of them.

Sometimes, the fish hit the non glow jigs.

You are allowed up to 6 poles and I would have six different combinations on the pole.

Until they lock in onto one of the lures or one of the depths.

We have had 24 poles in a grid pattern before and it seemed like only 3 of them ever got bit.

The other thing I would recommend is to be careful with your lantern / light.

A lot of time, the ones on the outskirts of the light source are the ones bit.

It is fishing, so the more times you venture out the more that you learn.

The more you learn, the more you will have to try things to adapt to what the fish want on that particular night.

[MasterTrout]

Good info, thanks for sharing.

[fishall30]

I have had excellent success with Crawdads. If I happen to reel one up or if a Burbots belly is full of crayfish a tail goes on the hook. Trap in summer and freeze for POUT action when its Hard water. CRAWFISH YES.

[rgwaldron]

Are these legal to use in FGR? I'm also curious about using dead minnows? Is the fact that they are dead good enough, or do you need a receipt saying you bought them dead. I only asked because I heard someone talking in a Scheels about getting a receipt stating dead minnows for lakes where live bait isn't allowed.

[POk3s]

Are these legal to use in FGR? I'm also curious about using dead minnows? Is the fact that they are dead good enough, or do you need a receipt saying you bought them dead. I only asked because I heard someone talking in a Scheels about getting a receipt stating dead minnows for lakes where live bait isn't allowed.

To put it simply, “live bait” isn’t allowed. “Live bait” is only live fish. You are allowed to use any dead NONGAME fish for bait.

To make it more confusing, you can even use “burbot meat” for bait on Flaming Gorge. But you can’t use burbot meat for bait on Boysen or anywhere they are considered a game fish.

As for live crawdads being legal, I guess I really don’t know but I don’t know why they wouldn’t be.

[Dorado]

To put it simply, “live bait” isn’t allowed.
As for live crawdads being legal, I guess I really don’t know but I don’t know why they wouldn’t be.

Live crayfish are definitely not legal, unless they are collected from the water you are fishing!  Non-native crayfish are a huge problem all over the country.  I believe there was a guy busted trying to use Rusty Crayfish (a nasty invasive species) in the FG Burbot derby a few years back?

[POk3s]

Live crayfish are definitely not legal, unless they are collected from the water you are fishing!  Non-native crayfish are a huge problem all over the country.  I believe there was a guy busted trying to use Rusty Crayfish (a nasty invasive species) in the FG Burbot derby a few years back?

I was going to add that “unless collected from the water you are fishing” part too, but frankly I didn’t want to talk too much about a topic I knew nothing about 😂

[locomotive1594]

Good crayfish scents don't hurt either.

[taxi1]

Does anyone catch big brown trout in FG anymore?

[POk3s]

Does anyone catch big brown trout in FG anymore?

We are catching more and more browns on the gorge. But those giant 20+ lb browns have basically been replaced by the lake trout. The biggest one I’ve heard of in recent memory is 11 lbs.

[taxi1]

We are catching more and more browns on the gorge. But those giant 20+ lb browns have basically been replaced by the lake trout. The biggest one I’ve heard of in recent memory is 11 lbs.

Interesting.