These freshwater members of the cod family, most active in winter, traditionally added slime, if not spice, to the lives of ice fishing enthusiasts, who would peer down their ice holes in horror at the sight of the writhing, beady-eyed beauty staring up at them from the depths.
“Lawyers,” some people called 'em with disdain; eelpout, ling and - in Manitoba - “mariah.”
By any name, though, these hard-fighting staples of Lake of the Woods' winter fishery are showing up less frequently, fisheries managers say.
“We don't see nearly as many in the winter creel survey,” said Mike Larson, area fisheries supervisor for the Department of Natural Resources in Baudette, Minn. “We're getting more people asking, ‘what's going on?' It would be nice to know for sure.”
Burbot are difficult to sample, though, because they go dormant and are hard to find in summer, when test-netting gear is most effective. Burbot are cold-water fish, and on the Minnesota side of Lake of the Woods, Larson says, they spend summers in the deepest portions of Big Traverse Bay.
Larson speculates global warming could be a factor for the declining burbot catch. In recent summers, he says, water temperatures on the big lake have risen as high as 77 degrees, a level that might be hampering the species' survival.
That's unfortunate, Larson says, because burbot feed heavily on crayfish and could help control the invasive rusty crayfish that has shown up in northern portions of Lake of the Woods in recent years.
Another indicator that something's not right, Larson says, is the commercial winter burbot fishery, in which live fish were trapped and transported to “pay-to-fish” lakes in other parts of the country.
That fell by the wayside about 10 years ago, Larson said.
“In later years, the commercial operators couldn't catch enough fish” to make it worthwhile, he said.
Despite their appearance, burbot make excellent table fare and have gained favor with anglers in recent years. They also can grow to tremendous size
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