Burbot

Burbot look like nobody else in freshwater except maybe a catfish or an eel, and that confusion is exactly why anglers who catch one for the first time often have no idea what they are holding. The body is long and tapered like an eel, mottled brown or olive with dark blotches, and covered in small smooth scales that make the skin feel slimy rather than rough. A single thick barbel hangs from the chin, which is what drives the catfish comparison, but burbot have no other whiskers and a rounded, almost tadpole-shaped head that no catfish has.

The real giveaway is the fin layout. Burbot have a long, low second dorsal fin that runs most of the length of the back and blends into a rounded tail, plus a similarly long anal fin underneath. Eels have a similar low profile but no barbel and a jaw full of small even teeth rather than the burbot's slightly undershot mouth. If you see a scaleless, whiskered eel with no paired fins, that is a lamprey, not a burbot. Burbot have normal paired pelvic and pectoral fins set well forward on the body, which no lamprey has at all.

Cold, deep lakes and large rivers across the northern tier of the country. Look for burbot in the Great Lakes, the deep reservoirs and rivers of the Mountain West, and lakes across the northern Midwest and interior Alaska. They need cold water year-round, so they hold in the deepest parts of a lake or in slow, deep river channels.

Burbot are nocturnal and stay tight to the bottom over mud, rock, or gravel. In summer they retreat to the coldest deep water available and become hard to catch. In winter they move shallower to spawn under the ice, which is when most anglers actually target them.

Burbot are ambush feeders that eat mostly other fish: sculpins, whitefish, smaller burbot, and anything else slow enough to catch along the bottom. They also take crayfish, insect larvae, and fish eggs. They feed almost entirely at night, using smell and a single chin barbel to find food in the dark.

Ice fishing at night is the classic way to catch burbot. Set a heavy bottom rig with a large dead or cut baitfish, or a big minnow, right on the bottom in twenty to sixty feet of water. Burbot spawn in midwinter under the ice, and that is when they move shallow and bite hardest, often right after dark and again before dawn.

In open water, still-fishing with cut bait or a large minnow on the bottom in deep river holes or lake basins works, though summer fishing is slower since burbot go deep and feed less. A simple slip-sinker rig with a stout hook and a heavy leader handles their rough, toothy mouth. Check your state's regulations, since burbot seasons and limits vary widely by region and some waters have special rules to protect them.