Pike n' Burbot

[vicrider 0]

Let's try to get something straight TIER. Are you talking about Northern Pike and Burbot, also known as Lawyers, eelpout, and a few other things. I'm thinking since you mention them along with Pike you might be meaning Bowfin, otherwise known popularly as dogfish. They are easy to tell apart. When you grab a burbot by the head he wraps his body around your arm like a snake. Bowfin are ugly prehistoric scaled beasts that fight like crazy and DON"T try to lip them like a bass. And Walleys are called Pike in some areas. If you mean, and I think you do, Northern Pike in the Exos family with pickerel and musky, then big flies stripped hard with short pauses are usually the best way to take them.

 

If you have dogfish in the same waters they might hit the streamer you're fishing for northerns but will just swim up lazy and grab it and hold it until you set hook. I've often seen them swim by right next to the boat (I used to live up north) with a bluegill or small bass in their mouth making no attempt to eat until they were sure it was dead and not going to swim away.If you PM me your address I'll send you a couple of flies like we used to use for pike up north plus a few of the newer articulated styles.

 

Nick

 

ps...If you do have walleye in your lakes I used to catch them on black feather streamers that I assumed they took for a leech, one of the popular live baits for them. If you have them let me know and I can include a few flies like I used for them and though I didn't have any then I'm thinking a bunny leech in black or brown would do the job when they're shallow in the evening.

[Mark Knapp 0]

Let's try to get something straight TIER. Are you talking about Northern Pike and Burbot, also known as Lawyers, eelpout, and a few other things. I'm thinking since you mention them along with Pike you might be meaning Bowfin, otherwise known popularly as dogfish. They are easy to tell apart. When you grab a burbot by the head he wraps his body around your arm like a snake. Bowfin are ugly prehistoric scaled beasts that fight like crazy and DON"T try to lip them like a bass. And Walleys are called Pike in some areas. If you mean, and I think you do, Northern Pike in the Exos family with pickerel and musky, then big flies stripped hard with short pauses are usually the best way to take them.

 

If you have dogfish in the same waters they might hit the streamer you're fishing for northerns but will just swim up lazy and grab it and hold it until you set hook. I've often seen them swim by right next to the boat (I used to live up north) with a bluegill or small bass in their mouth making no attempt to eat until they were sure it was dead and not going to swim away.If you PM me your address I'll send you a couple of flies like we used to use for pike up north plus a few of the newer articulated styles.

 

Nick

 

ps...If you do have walleye in your lakes I used to catch them on black feather streamers that I assumed they took for a leech, one of the popular live baits for them. If you have them let me know and I can include a few flies like I used for them and though I didn't have any then I'm thinking a bunny leech in black or brown would do the job when they're shallow in the evening.

No, he's talking about Northern pike and burbot. We don't have snake heads or walleye up here.

 

We fish for northern pike and burbot in the same waters. Although we sometimes catch pike while fishing for burbot with live bait (dead herring), they are most often fished for using very different methods.

 

Pike are fished near weed beds or other structure with generally large, flashy flies or lures in fairly shallow water while burbot are generally still fished on the bottoms of deep slow pools, generally with dead bait.

 

One of the most challenging species to catch on a fly is burbot. I'm sure it can be done, it's one of the things I really want to do.

[vicrider 0]

Okay Mark, I understand Burbot and Pike in same water but there is no relationship between snakeheads and Bowfin or freshwater dogfish (there is a dogfish shark). We caught northern PIke and Burbot in the same waters but mainly we caught Burbot (lawyers) mainly fishing cold, deep water lakes for Lake Trout and in Lake Superior. There is a HUGE Eelpout (burbot) Festival on Leech Lake in Walker MN that brings in thousands of anglers...but let's face it...mainly for the partying. I have caught burbot as shallow as 30' in winter through the ice but don't know if they ever go shallow like that after ice out. If they do I'd think meaty streamer flies might bring them in.

 

I don't know where you guys live Mark but I'm definitely surprised you don't have walleye. Almost all northern waters that support a northern pike population also support walleye in MN and Canada.

[Mark Knapp 0]

Okay Mark, I understand Burbot and Pike in same water but there is no relationship between snakeheads and Bowfin or freshwater dogfish (there is a dogfish shark). We caught northern PIke and Burbot in the same waters but mainly we caught Burbot (lawyers) mainly fishing cold, deep water lakes for Lake Trout and in Lake Superior. There is a HUGE Eelpout (burbot) Festival on Leech Lake in Walker MN that brings in thousands of anglers...but let's face it...mainly for the partying. I have caught burbot as shallow as 30' in winter through the ice but don't know if they ever go shallow like that after ice out. If they do I'd think meaty streamer flies might bring them in.

 

I don't know where you guys live Mark but I'm definitely surprised you don't have walleye. Almost all northern waters that support a northern pike population also support walleye in MN and Canada.

Alaska, there are no walleye here. I've caught burbot in water as shallow as 10 feet but they tend to be in water deeper than that. I remember the eelpout festival from my years in Minn. though I never attended.

[vicrider 0]

Interesting. Have to mark that down. Northern Pike but no walleye in "God's Country" lakes. Also interesting is that most people don't know the Burbot is a close to the Lingcod which is a popular saltwater fish for eating but mostly ignored here. Some friends of mine caught some "cusk" (new word for me) lake trout fishing and cut them up and just saved the livers since they're supposed to be so good for you. Lots of vitamins. Well, a few of us (this was back when I drank) fried them up and tried eating them. I had flashbacks to when our Mom used to make us take Cod Liver Oil by the spoonful. If you can imagine fried cod liver oil you have the cusk livers right there.

[TIER 0]

There is no walleye, catfish, bass, panfish, or golden trout. No brook, brown, or tiger trout.

[Mark Knapp 0]

There is no walleye, catfish, bass, panfish, or golden trout. No brook, brown, or tiger trout.

We have some stocked brook trout, no natural ones though. One large mouth bass was caught in a lake near Anchorage. Fish and Game was having a fit because someone "stocked" it there illegally.

[vicrider 0]

Again, interesting. What is the forage base? Those monster fish don't grow to those sizes you have without something to eat. I know in rivers one of the primary foods for 'bows and dolly vardens is all those drifting salmon eggs during the runs. What about lakes? Ciscoes? Whitefish? Herring? Smelt? Must be some fast breeding minnow base for the pike and lake trout.

[TIER 0]

I don't think we have ciscos. Mark is the one to talk to If you want to know that kind of stuff.

[Mark Knapp 0]

I don't think we have ciscos. Mark is the one to talk to If you want to know that kind of stuff.

 

Again, interesting. What is the forage base? Those monster fish don't grow to those sizes you have without something to eat. I know in rivers one of the primary foods for 'bows and dolly vardens is all those drifting salmon eggs during the runs. What about lakes? Ciscoes? Whitefish? Herring? Smelt? Must be some fast breeding minnow base for the pike and lake trout.

The forage (bait fish) in many of our big lakes is ciscos, in fact if you don't fish with a cisco looking lures or flies, you don't catch fish.

 

However, in my experience, pike will eat and strike at anything.

 

Burbot on the other hand, not so much. I understand that burbot eat a lot of young lamprey eels that spend their first years in fresh water so I intend to use a black eel imitation fly in my attempts to catch them.

 

I once caught a 38 inch burbot while ice fishing that had 5 twelve inch pike in it's stomach all lined up like sardines. So burbot must be quite predatory as well as being scavengers.

[mikechell 0]

Most catfish and other bottom dwellers, become more and more predatory as they get bigger.

There just isn't enough edible detritus to keep 'em fed.

[Mark Knapp 0]

Most catfish and other bottom dwellers, become more and more predatory as they get bigger.

There just isn't enough edible detritus to keep 'em fed.

I bet you are right.

[troutguy 0]

Something that Mark Knapp posted. "We don't have snakeheads."

 

Bowfin are not snakeheads. They are often confused and some people think they are the same fish. They do look similar, but they are not the same. https://www.njfishandwildlife.com/images/fishing/invasives/invasive_snakehead.gif

 

We have both in South Carolina. Sankeheads should be killed according to our DNR. They ask to make sure that you don't kill native Bowfin.

 

In Montana while night fishing I caught burbot. My fishing partner thought I was nuts until I steamed them and served them with melted butter. Burbot taste better than pike IMHO

[Mark Knapp 0]

Something that Mark Knapp posted. "We don't have snakeheads."

 

Bowfin are not snakeheads. They are often confused and some people think they are the same fish. They do look similar, but they are not the same. https://www.njfishandwildlife.com/images/fishing/invasives/invasive_snakehead.gif

 

We have both in South Carolina. Sankeheads should be killed according to our DNR. They ask to make sure that you don't kill native Bowfin.

 

In Montana while night fishing I caught burbot. My fishing partner thought I was nuts until I steamed them and served them with melted butter. Burbot taste better than pike IMHO

I agree, in my Minnesota days we sometimes caught bow fin, but I never caught a snake head. If you ever had a doubt, look at the teeth. The anal fin is another great indicator. We don't have either in Alaska but we do have burbot and you are right, they are very good to eat.

[walpy 0]

I've heard Cusk (burbot) called the 'poor man's haddock'