Hey! Has anyone that reads this forum ever fished for Burbot? I'm going to be bored out of my gourd this winter, and Burbot fishing could be a fun fishing experience. Can you actually expect to catch any using just one rod and hook? I just moved to central Washington and don't know much about these freshwater members of the cod family. Any Burbot advice or stories would be appreciated! Thanks!

Ask and yee shall receive...

Burbot fishing article

BTW, try using the search box (upper left corner) of WL.com and enter burbot for more reports.

Thanks for the heads up Mike. Now that I re-read it, I recall reading that article back when you wrote it in '02. At that time I was comfy on the westside though, so it didn't really apply to me. Nice burbot!

I've not targeted burbot much since then, briefly on Cle Elum but without success. I hope to get back to Chelan sometime and try again.

Burbot fishing looks interesting. Also, I read about set lines in the article and wondered if that was still allowed. FYI, it is no longer allowed.

Is that right? Another good example of why people need to check regs before heading out to try new things. The set line thing was too messy for me and really, it's not so much fishing as meat lines like crabbing. Interesting but almost too much hassle to be worth it. And frankly, catching only two fish on the set lines at Chelan was disapointing. BUt, I do think Chelan would be great to try with jigs and herring chunks. My guide friend, Anton Jones, is strictly a troller and he does very well, but sometimes it's nice to try a different approach. And jigging will let you catch both lakers and lings.

I checked the regs, and Burbot fishing is open in the following eastern washington lakes. Lost Lake, Cle ELum Lake, Keechelus Lake, Kachess Lake, and Chelan Lake. You might be lucky to even catch one though. People have to look at the "all other gamefish" section of the lakes regs. Some say "closed", and others say "open year round"