burbot

[gillagain]

do all the reservoirs in the south have burbot? Im new to the lethbridge area and want to start fishing for burbot .  Just trying to figure out where to start. I normally go after pike and don't want to go home when it gets dark. Any nudges in the right direction would be appreciated.

[Shotgun]

Most all the so. res. have burbot,

Just do a search, you will see a few post from Jensen res. as well as Chin and a few others.  \most times where there is pike the regs will also show burbot.


SHOTGUN

[albertatrout]

There's a few in just about every lake but the best fishery has a bait ban. Pine Coulee by Nanton used to have plenty but they have been fished out. They are pretty much a bi-catch unless you can locate spawning areas. Drill lots of holes near coulee inlets on the big reservoirs and you may find some. Nicolas Sheran in Lethbridge has a few as well, I've seen them while out walking (I don't fish the lake, too many people). I have caught far more burbot during daylight hours down here as well, I've caught more pike and walleye at night than anything.

[gillagain]

thanks guys. pike at night ..... cool -that's a new one to me. I guess its worth my while to stay longer  and just hope to catch the odd stray during the day.

[albertatrout]

Hey Gillagain if you're wanting to do some exploring the burbot are running in the shallow lakes towards Taber/Grassy. I went out last night, set up around 6 and fished till 8:30. Managed 3 burbot and some pike. Just male burbot with the biggest being just under 10 pounds, not ripe yet but they look close to spawning. This is the first night trip on those lakes I've managed some burbot, took a lot of trying to find a spot. The next 2-3 weeks should be good fishing/ the best opportunity for finding active burbot. I caught the big one in 4 feet of water (3 feet if you take away ice depth) and the others were in 5 feet of water. I will not name the lake but I know they all have a similar pattern, if you can find oxygenated water there will be fish. They were feeding in thick weeds and were plump full of scuds. No big pike last night though, just hammer handles. Finally some night burbot though, I was beginning to doubt they fed at night down here after so many evenings of just pike. Hint of finding oxygen, look for areas where water enters the sloughs from ditches and canals.

[rolling hillbilly]

Ive caught quite a few pike after dark too, it was new to me.

[#1fisherman]

This Pike at night thing is shocking to say the least. Having done a ton of night time fishing, I have to say, I would have to see it to believe it. Unless you are calling the last hour or so of sunlight ,night? The older I get the less things surprise me. I hope to one day add my name to the people who list this as an accomplishment. Good on you if your one!

[albertatrout]

Definitely dark for us, after 7 pm. Trick is movement as they seem to come in after active lures rather than still baits.

[albertatrout]

No pike for us this weekend. Fishing slowed down with the wind and its miserable out there today with the stiff breeze. Lost a monster burbot at the hole yesterday afternoon (head tough fit for 9" hole), no other bites. Hoping for a real big one still, this one dwarwed the 10 lber from last week. Hopefully the wind/ cold front lets up for next weekend.

[gillagain]

right on, thanx for the heads up, but  I have a bunch of family coming down. None of them are as crazy as me, so I probably wont get out in this cold but maybe on Monday I can start exploring again. 

[gillagain]

so I got out and found a coulee channel into a large reservoir set up at about 5:30 hoping for a couple of pike. 8-13 ' deep not a thing till 8:30 and I caught a beauty 40 cm walleye. he went off to warn the burbot I guess. Per haps I need to fish the mouth of the channel instead of further up. any ideas? these burbot spawn / swarm in the shallows right? If there are multiple coulees, do they pick a specific one to spawn or do they spawn all over? any way its fun trying. keep the hooks sharp!

[albertatrout]

Sounds like a nice eye. I would try further out from the coulee mouth's in 15-20 feet as well, they can show up almost anywhere. I'm not convinced they necessarily spawn in really shallow water, more so wherever the substrate it best. They will cover a lot of ground and if you find a "burbot ball" look out. They seem to prefer gravel/coarse gravel areas closer to the spawn but we were still catching them over mud/ weeds last week. They are not super picky spawner's but they will key in on good sites (like on Pine Coulee where it appeared they congregated over an old gravel road bed before they were fished out). The other thing about burbot is if you find them note the date and conditions as they are creatures of habit and follow a very similar routine from year to year. We have caught them in 2 to over 20 feet of water. I actually got skunked my last trip out here, I attribute it to the weather as we didn't even catch pike and they are normally very abundant (little guys mostly). We will do some more exploring this weekend too, see if they haven't moved a bit deeper again.