Gorge ice update.

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ok question from a pittsburgher is a ling the same as a burbot

[WYIfish]

ok question from a pittsburgher is a ling the same as a burbot

Yes.   freemansfossilsales.co m has a ling page and last years burbot bash pictures.

[Moose-51]

I am glad they are doing so well in fg     You can hate me for it but at least I'm helping "get rid of them".  From the ice to my tummy.  Yum.

[bbkyle35]

Learned something interesting in population ecology today. I know the circumstances are different, but this might be applicable to the ling situation.

  http://dieoff.org/page80.htm

[mallardmuncher]

basically once they eat them sleves out of house and home they will crash.  But till then tight lines

[Moose-51]

I don't know if they will ever "crash".  I would assume there will be a peak, and then a decline.  But not a crash.  The gorge is too big and too full of food.   They'll put a hurting on the trout species and bass, probably the catfish too. (Crayfish as well - but i doubt they could dent the crayfish pop. in the gorge).  I don't think the koke fishing will ever return, it is probably done.  The burbot are very productive feeders, they eat anything and I imagine there will always be plenty to eat.  (Trout, eggs, bass, crayfish, chubs, ect (other burbot too).  Even if their numbers do decline though, there will be bigger ones in the coming years.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the state record come from there eventually. 

I saw a post on BFT by fishley he said he found a 22" burbot in a big mack he caught.  To me, I can't see how that isn't good news for the big lake trout.  Tons and tons of burbot that size in there to feed the big macks.... I bet they like the taste as much as we do:P

I just can't help but laugh though when I see everyone talking about "getting rid of them" by fisherman.  It just isn't going to happen.  All we are doing is harvesting some so that others can fill their place.  I read somewhere that ea. female has up to 3 million eggs.  No way in hell fisherman can get rid of them.  They are there to stay.

I wish someone who manages the res. would post info and opinions here though.  I am not a biologist.  Just my opinions.

[WYIfish]

I don't know if they will ever "crash".  I would assume there will be a peak, and then a decline.  But not a crash.  The gorge is too big and too full of food.  (snip)

I wish someone who manages the res. would post info and opinions here though.  I am not a biologist.  Just my opinions.

You are very correct.

Much of what I have posted in the past on last years ling threads came from the lips of game and fish biologists.

Two will be on hand to speak about the gorge fishery in general and how the ling are expected to impact it.

Open hailing fequencies to G&F captain.

[Moose-51]

I don't think I'll be able to make it to the bash.. Might though.  If I do I think i'll fish firehole.  I have a feeling buckboard is going to be a zoo.

[WYIfish]

I don't think I'll be able to make it to the bash.. Might though.  If I do I think i'll fish firehole.  I have a feeling buckboard is going to be a zoo.

I don't intend on fishing, or hard fishing, just doing my public obligation/service to the ice fishing community on that day. The real fishing takes place a number of times a week for me.  That day will be filled with doing noble deeds, just like here on the list.

There are better places than firehole.  Try anywhere south of there. Ling are everywhere. They have been pounded at firehole.

[Z.L.BRAWLEE]

some friends from cheyenne came down to do some mackinaw fishing yesterday. we fished just south of squaw hollow. once again the weather was just fine! the bite was slow for the big boys. some small macks were landed. one big one hooked. long line release?! only one ling right at dusk. i think anvil is sounding good. has any one fished it? how thick is the ice? good luck to all. fish on

[Moose-51]

Must be getting pounded at buckboard too.  Only caught 1 burbot in 7 hours fishing at night.  Did manage a 5lb mack though.

[Z.L.BRAWLEE]

Must be getting pounded at buckboard too.  Only caught 1 burbot in 7 hours fishing at night.  Did manage a 5lb mack though.

i love to smoke those small macks! its better than salmon!!

[Moose-51]

Yeah, I think that might have been the first two lake trout that I've ever caught.  Pretty fish.  Fought well too.  I was surprised because they bit right on the bottom and a good two hours after dark.  I thought they were both burbot until i got em up.  The bigger laker sure did fight well, I can see why everyone enjoys fishing for them so much.  I cooked one up out there and they do taste fairly well for trout.  The meat seems more white than bows.  

I was shocked I only lucked into 1 burbot.  I was only 300-500 yards from a spot I did well at before.  Oh well, learn somethin every trip out.

I'm a die-hard float tuber.  I'm looking forward to trying to catch ling at night out on the tube this summer.

[fishley]

Yeah, I think that might have been the first two lake trout that I've ever caught.  Pretty fish.  Fought well too.  I was surprised because they bit right on the bottom and a good two hours after dark.  I thought they were both burbot until i got em up.  The bigger laker sure did fight well, I can see why everyone enjoys fishing for them so much.  I cooked one up out there and they do taste fairly well for trout.  The meat seems more white than bows.  

I was shocked I only lucked into 1 burbot.  I was only 300-500 yards from a spot I did well at before.  Oh well, learn somethin every trip out.

I'm a die-hard float tuber.  I'm looking forward to trying to catch ling at night out on the tube this summer.

I had 2 buddy's fish buckboard last summer and they spanked'em good for summer like 90+fish in 2 day's!

[Moose-51]

Excellent news to me. 

Thanks for the info fishley, I wasn't very optimistic.

[crawler_II]

In a few minutes ling are flinging all over the place. Not sure how many are caught as I went shallow to fish for the lake trout. Wife estimated that in three hours they caught 30 to 40 ling.

Hey Appleye,
I was curious if these were caught during the day and if so what time. I have caught burbot during the day before but not in large numbers.

BigEnough and myself went out Saturday night on the south end of skunk cliffs next to the channel for burbot. We had been looking at this spot for some time. Only got 14 and most were dinks. I have a Marcum underwater camera and I usually watch the burbot bite. What a blast! On Saturday before dark I watched over a dozen dink macs come out of the deep and head into the shallows. They were about 7"-10" macs and they were terrified of my tube jig! Also saw a tiny burbot come up and lay next to a rock near my jig. It didn't see my jig (laying on bottom as I was still setting up the camera) but as soon as I twitched it he put the bite on it. The jig was nearly as big as the burbot.  I've always heard how fish lay on bottom but this was the first time I actually saw one doing it.

Headed for burbot Friday night somewhere south of Holmes Crossing, not sure where yet.

PS
I've never found a good way to eat the bots. I give all mine to BigEnough. Either my taste buds are shot or they have no taste. And... they're nasty to clean!

Go Vikes!

[doublehaul]

Boil up those filets......Poor mans lobster.

[appleye]

Everything in the daytime. Wife didn't like the ice when it started to get dark

[WYIfish]

Hey Appleye,
I was curious if these were caught during the day and if so what time. I have caught burbot during the day before but not in large numbers.

BigEnough and myself went out Saturday night on the south end of skunk cliffs next to the channel for burbot. We had been looking at this spot for some time. Only got 14 and most were dinks. I have a Marcum underwater camera and I usually watch the burbot bite. What a blast! On Saturday before dark I watched over a dozen dink macs come out of the deep and head into the shallows. They were about 7"-10" macs and they were terrified of my tube jig! Also saw a tiny burbot come up and lay next to a rock near my jig. It didn't see my jig (laying on bottom as I was still setting up the camera) but as soon as I twitched it he put the bite on it. The jig was nearly as big as the burbot.  I've always heard how fish lay on bottom but this was the first time I actually saw one doing it.

Headed for burbot Friday night somewhere south of Holmes Crossing, not sure where yet.

PS
I've never found a good way to eat the bots. I give all mine to BigEnough. Either my taste buds are shot or they have no taste. And... they're nasty to clean!

Go Vikes!

Nasty to clean, but if you can catch the bigger one's, so there's some meat, they are not bad at all.   My favorite way is to boil 4 minutes, dump on a plate, pour melted butter and lemon juice on them, pie-hole 'em...problem is, I can eat the good remains of five if they are 20 inchers to start.


As good as a walleye, I haven't found one yet nearly close to that in taste.

[Dorado]

Nasty to clean, but if you can catch the bigger one's, so there's some meat, they are not bad at all.   My favorite way is to boil 4 minutes, dump on a plate, pour melted butter and lemon juice on them, pie-hole 'em...problem is, I can eat the good remains of five if they are 20 inchers to start.


As good as a walleye, I haven't found one yet nearly close to that in taste.

I find they pretty much taste like what you fry, boil or bake them up in--that is they really don't have much flavor--just like walleye

The key to burbot is that you do not need to clean them.  Their guts are really stinky, avoid gutting them if you can.  Instead, just cut around the back of their head with a knife and grab the skin with pliers, peel it back to the tail.  Cut down the center above the ribs and filet the "backstrap" off (don't bother trying to get any of the rib meat, there is not enough to mess with).  Once you are past the ribs, filet it just like any other fish .

They have so much head, you really don't get that much meat, but what you get is good.  Firmer than walleye, not as flakey...

[WYIfish]

The fried skin is so tastey!   Like fried seaweed.
Just kidding, they smell funny to me.  Like algae eaters.

[MountainMan]

Fished near Buckboard last night. Only eight burbot in a couple hours. All came in less than ten feet of water. All were caught jigging. Tip-ups and dead sticking didn't produce anything. Good luck next weekend.

[WYIfish]

Fished near Buckboard last night. Only eight burbot in a couple hours. All came in less than ten feet of water. All were caught jigging. Tip-ups and dead sticking didn't produce anything. Good luck next weekend.

The more I learn about ling the more I see that left alone they nibble. If you tip up fish them, they nibble and steal baits. Sometimes I can catch them on a tip up but they steal a lot of crawlers. I hope to tempt them with a chunk of sucker meat with a good share of skin to meat ratio like some belly meat.  
 If you jig them with a small spoon and sucker meat, they will get a frenzy going at times.   I like a 1/4 oz gold little cleo with a larger hook installed, and a bit of sucker meat.  They get savage if a school happens by.    Glow in the darks jigged work very well.

I think that although a bottom feeder and a somewhat of a scavenger or crayfish feeder, they revel in the grabbing a moving bait, it excites them more than eating dead stuff hanging on a string.
To repeat a previous post:  I caught two bigger ling in 70+ feet of water using a 3/4 oz gold colored little cleo spoon, larger hook and a 1" x 1 1/2" chunk of sucker meat.  29 and 24 inchers...so much for shallower places.  These guys were suspended 4 feet off the bottom in lake trout country. We may find ling are some of those lakers that don't take when we think they should, or that is what I believe I saw when a school came through one morning.  I know it was what I marked the day I got the 28 incher in my favorite new rainbow hole a month ago.  No fish around,no bites~no marks on finder.  Finder marks large fish in a school.  with in a minute or two, a 28 and a 24", see the pictures on the ling page with the three rainbows.  Slimey wolf packs.

It is great news that lakers have found them  edible!

[GRFD]

Wish I could have made it with you guys.  Maybe next time I won't be working.  

[WYIfish]

Wish I could have made it with you guys.  Maybe next time I won't be working.  

Try to get down to Buckboard on Saturday. It should be a lot of fun.

During the day I wouldn't hesitate to hit them in 50+ feet of water a foot or two off the bottom even. As it gets dark they will come in toward shallower shore rocky points for a dinner of crayfish and minnows. Although  I have not fished it, and there is open water near the pumps/docks on the right, the bay and rocky shoreline temps me to fish that bay next to the campground. It's 60 feet deep there so they would have daytime lurks and food for evening.  Worst could happen where the ice is good would be a stray laker or nice rainbow would beat a ling to the bait.

Where the ice is not so good, bring your boat.

[FGRfisher]

I don't know if they will ever "crash".  I would assume there will be a peak, and then a decline.  But not a crash.  The gorge is too big and too full of food.   

I just can't help but laugh though when I see everyone talking about "getting rid of them" by fisherman.  It just isn't going to happen.  All we are doing is harvesting some so that others can fill their place.  I read somewhere that ea. female has up to 3 million eggs.  No way in hell fisherman can get rid of them.  They are there to stay.

In their native range, there are actually conservation measures in place to protect burbot.  Their numbers have been decreasing for a long time and some of the research points to angler exploitation.  I would agree, it's difficult if not impossible to rid a species through angling, but at this point it's a start.  They are here to stay.  The goal is to soften the blow of burbot on a fishery that's already forage limited.  Like you stated, they are extremely opportunistic, eating predominantly crayfish but also other food items.  While cleaning my catch this weekend, I found a 12-inch kokanee in a 28-inch burbot and even a 12-inch lake trout in a 22-inch burbot.  Scary....  They've also been documented feasting on both kokanee and lake trout eggs, smallmouth bass, and rainbow trout.  Kokanee in Flaming Gorge, don't need another predator in any life stage.  They're numbers have been at all time lows for the last few years. 

If an 18-inch female burbot can produce up to a million eggs, then removing that one fish may have an impact.  It may be localized, but it's something.  With some of the catch reports you see on this forum or another, you would have to think anglers are having an overall impact, but more specifically at certain locations.  Lost Dog doesn't seem to be producing the big catches it did one or two years ago, which might be a result of this effort and anglers should be applauded for that.  Now anglers have started to move around the reservoir to find more fish.  The way I see it, icefishing for burbot on Flaming Gorge is a "win-win" all around.  They're fun to catch, good to eat, "unlimited" for a limit, and while you're harvesting them you're actually doing the resource some good!

Hope it helps....

[MaineWyofishslayer]

That is a landlock salmon that was in this one. Also had a decent size white perch and some smelts in him. This was caught in Maine and is my primary objective when I am in the area. I love fishing for these critters!

[MountainMan]

Wish I could have made it with you guys.  Maybe next time I won't be working.  

Would have been fun to have you out. One of these days. I'll be sure to give you a heads up whenever we come down! Glad to see you on here!

[WYIfish]

(Image removed from quote.)

That is a landlock salmon that was in this one. Also had a decent size white perch and some smelts in him. This was caught in Maine and is my primary objective when I am in the area. I love fishing for these critters!

This is one of the creepiest ling pictures I have seen.

[POk3s]

How are the big lakers hitting on the gorge? Any reports? How's the ice holding up at Anvil and such??