Creatures of the Night: Burbot Smackdown

So my buddy Carl finally convinced me to go out chasing some Walleye the other day. I actually hadn't targeted them in a few years so it was about time, especially since one of my goals is to eventually catch a 28 incher. I haven't been going out of my way for one, but I'll take it if it ever shows up! Anyway, we headed east from Montreal to an area we had fished many years prior in hopes of finding some decent fish.

We showed up at the spot around 1:00 and fished for a few hours without getting a single bite, and marking very few fish on our graphs. Finally, as the sun slowly started to set, I had a fish shoot up off the bottom and hit my jig! Finally got my first fish of the new year :)

Not long after, another small-ish Walleye shot off the bottom and hammered my jig. The evening bite was on! These weren't big fish by any means, but that's kinda the name of the game around Montreal. Soon after, another fish came up in similar fashion and, after a short fight, I iced the second species of the day: a Sauger.

Now it really starts to get interesting. The sun had basically completely set but the marks kept coming on the graph. I hooked up and noticed a different fight on my jigging rod, with more head shakes than the previous few fish. As it turns out, the roughfish that many fishermen dislike (hate is a strong word lol) seem to have followed me. The fish that came out the hole was one of my favourite wintertime targets: a Burbot. I came here for classic gamefish but I was catching roughfish!

The bite continued that way until we got tired and called it quits. Most of the fish were about the same size so I didn't bother to take any other photos. Also, the bites were coming so fast that I didn't want to waste time with photos! We caught about a dozen Burbot that evening.

The bite was so good that Carl and I decided to return the following day, this time with Alex. We had to wait for Alex to finish work but figured we could make it just in time as the sun was setting, mission impossible style. Alex had never caught a Burbot before so I was really hoping she could get her lifer. As it turns out, that didn't take long. In fact, she caught one probably within 5 minutes of sending her bait down.

After that fish, the bite seemingly died. I was relieved she got her fish but was getting worried that they wouldn't show up for some reason. Apparently, all we had to do was wait. Once it got darker, the fish started moving in. They were weren't shooting up like the day prior but were still happy to take a deadstick or lightly-jigged presentation. I'll spare you the details, but we ended with 13 Burbot and 1 Walleye in a few hours. I also caught one that was slightly larger than the others, but still not the 10lb beast I've been looking for.

Needless to say, it was a late, but pretty epic, start to the ice season!