slight tugs on the line.
I removed my gloves to get a better feel on the line and I slowly retrieved the line until it loaded up with weight.
Knowing now that the fish was still munching on the shiners, I gave the line a sharp tug and could feel the shakes of the fish's head 35 feet below the surface.
Hand over hand I pulled the fish towards the surface. The intesity of the shakes increased as the fish approached the hole and the leader came into view.
I use five-foot monofilament leaders, so I knew the fish was close. The fish pulled the line in circles around the hole, but before long its head was in the hole. I grabbed the fish behind the gill plates and flipped it up onto the ice.
The fish's mottled green body squirmed in the snowmobile's light. The fish contorted into a full u-shape, showing me how it can wriggle into very tight places, especially around the rocks and logs that litter the lake's bottom.
The freezing temperatures slowed the fish's muscles with each passing second. Had I planned to release the fish I would not have even removed it from the water.
With two fish iced in the past two nights I wasn't going to be feeding a large group any time
soon, but the meat these fish
would provide will be greatly appreciated by a few.
I checked the traps religiously each hour for the next three hours, but another fish was not to be had. I picked up the traps at 10:30 and headed for bed.
Compared to the action we experienced during the day (when we fished 8+ hours without a flag), the burbot action was much better, yet didn't compare to even a slow night of bowfishing in Wisconsin.
Still, when poking 10" holes in the ice and fishing with 4" min-nows resting silently on the lake bottom, any action is a sign that you're doing something right. Thankfully there are fish like the
burbot to save a fishing trip 1,400
miles from home.
12
March, 2015
Clockwise from above: Burbot have large heads and stomachs. They can ingest relatively large prey with ease. Their serpentine bodies and intense coloration aid them in moving around the lake bottom to search out an easy meal.
Our view from the lakefront camp allowed us to monitor our traps in real comfort, but after dark a quick trip on the snowmobile conducted each hour kept us compliant with state burbot regulations.
Built in 2010, my family's camp has become a site for rest, relaxation and an opportunity to stay in touch with my Maine roots. Bowfishing for example is all but unknown to the residents of the state, although some opportunities do exist.
Burbot are the only freshwater species of the family that includes saltwater cod species. The similarities are apparent and the tasty flesh of Burbot is highly prized.
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