Burbot

Quick facts

How to identify it

An elongated body, rounded at the front and laterally compressed towards the tail, covered in tiny embedded scales under thick slime. The head is broad and flat with a wide mouth, small eyes and a single barbel on the chin, plus a short pair on the nostrils. Two dorsal fins — a short first and a long second — and a long anal fin run almost to the rounded tail. Colour is olive, yellow-brown or grey with dark marbling, paler on the belly. It can be mistaken for a small wels or an eel, but the wels has six barbels, the eel has no chin barbel and a continuous fin, and neither has the burbot's two dorsal fins.

Where it lives

Burbot live in cool, clean, well-oxygenated water: large rivers and their tributaries, deep lakes, reservoirs and, in the north, brackish coastal waters. In Central Europe they survive mainly in rivers with stony or gravel beds — the Danube and its Alpine tributaries, the Rhine, Elbe and Oder systems, and pre-Alpine lakes — while in Scandinavia, the Baltic states and Russia they are everywhere. They are bottom fish that hide by day under stones, in crevices, undercut banks, riprap, root masses and sunken timber, often in 2–10 m of water, and move onto gravel shallows and the edges of current at night. Warm summers push them into the deepest, coldest holes and springs.

Season and behaviour

Burbot are the winter fish. They feed sluggishly above 15 °C and barely at all in high summer, then switch on as the water cools in October and November. Feeding peaks from November to March, when water is 1–6 °C, and spawning takes place in the depths of winter — December to February, sometimes into March — on gravel or sand, often under ice, where many fish writhe together in a ball. Many countries protect them with a winter closed season, and a growing number list them as threatened. They are almost purely nocturnal: the first two hours after dark and the hours before dawn are best, and dark, moonless, overcast or snowy nights beat clear frosty ones. Rising water after a thaw stirs them into action.

Fishing methods

The classic approach is simple night ledgering from the bank on stretches with a stony bottom: a running lead of 20–60 g, a short 0.30–0.35 mm leader and a size 2–1/0 single hook, cast into moderate current at the edge of the deep water. Burbot take slowly and swallow deep, so use a bite alarm or a starlight and give them a few seconds before striking. Fish two rods close to structure — a weir pool, riprap, a bridge or the tail of a pool — and move if nothing bites within an hour. Ice anglers and boat anglers use vertical jigging with heavy, glowing or rattling jigs tipped with fish or worm, bounced on the bottom to attract fish. Dress for the cold: burbot fishing is a night-time, sub-zero sport.

Baits and lures

Burbot hunt by smell and touch, so scent matters. Fresh dead fish are the top bait: a small roach, bleak, gudgeon, smelt or a strip of fish fillet, fished on the bottom. Big bunches of earthworms are just as effective and easier to keep in winter, and burbot also take fish roe, liver, shrimp and squid. Live minnows and small baitfish, where the law allows, are traditional. For jigging, use compact jigs or spoons with a glow-in-the-dark or rattling body, tipped with a piece of fish or worm — the tip is what makes the burbot hold on.

Tips from the bank

1. 01Fish the darkest, coldest nights — burbot switch on when the temperature drops and moonlight fades.
2. 02Target stony bottoms next to moderate current: weir pools, riprap, bridge pilings and pool tails.
3. 03Give the bite time: burbot take slowly and mouth the bait, so wait for the line to tighten steadily before striking.
4. 04Use a bite alarm, a starlight tip or a bell — you will not see the rod tip at night in January.
5. 05Move every hour if nothing happens; burbot are localised, and a hundred metres can be the difference.
6. 06Rebait often; fresh fish and lively worms give off far more scent in cold water than stale bait.
7. 07Handle them with a wet cloth — the slime is thick, and burbot are protected or declining in many regions, so release them where required.

Where to catch Burbot

Waters where Shoalmap's fishing reports list Burbot.

• Ugrinovački kanal
• Hallingdalselve
• Kuka
• Grbovica
• Mali Begej
• Meleg-víz
• Vágói-csatorna
• Kőris-patak

Related species

• Wels catfish
  Silurus glanis

  Europe's biggest freshwater fish — a night-feeding giant of deep, slow rivers.

• European eel
  Anguilla anguilla

  The night-feeding, snake-like wanderer with the strangest life cycle in fresh water.

• Atlantic cod
  Gadus morhua

  The cold-water heavyweight of the North Sea, Baltic and Norwegian coast.

• Black bullhead
  Ameiurus melas

  The small, spiny, invasive American catfish that bites on almost anything.

Frequently asked questions