No burbot, but a nice sunset

No burbot, but a nice sunset

By Troutnut on May 19th, 2011

I went burbot fishing last night, checking out a spot I had unsuccessfully fished with my setlines. The problem with those was that my lines got caught on the rock riprap at the end of the dike, so I thought with rod & reel I might have a chance to get out past the rocks. Unfortunately, the current of the eddy kept pulling the bait back into the rocks, so I went through about $5 in tackle and bait before I even found a position where my bait would hold still and I could actually fish.

Then I didn't catch anything.

Oh, well... it was a great sunset!

Photos by Troutnut from the Tanana River in Alaska

Cut herring bait dangles from the tip of a spinning rod... not my usual gear! From the Tanana River in Alaska.

View 4 larger pictures»

Comments / replies

JOHNW	May 20th, 2011, 9:50 pm
Chambersburg, PA Posts: 452	Jason, I'm curious about the burbot are they strictly sport or is there a food value to them? They sort of remind me of Bowfin down here in the Lower 48 very prehistoric looking indeed. JW
	"old habits are hard to kill once you have gray in your beard" -Old Red Barn

Troutnut	May 21st, 2011, 4:41 am
Administrator Bellevue, WA Posts: 2737	Almost all food, very little sport -- at least in the setline fishing I'm doing. Catching them with a rod & reel can be very sporting, but I'm finding that setlining has plenty of its own little challenges. They're not very closely related to bowfin, despite their superficial similarities. They're actually the only North American species of freshwater cod. They taste much better than store-bought cod, though, and even better than fresh-caught Pacific cod from Alaska for that matter. They're filleted in sort of an interesting way, and the different cuts have different textures. There's one normal fillet on each side, which is comparable in both taste and texture to walleye. There's also a belly fillet, which has a similar flavor but a slightly more rubbery texture, more comparable to lobster or really tender calamari.
	Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D. Troutnut and salmonid ecologist

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