Roger's Angling Pages
The Burbot Lota lota		Cod family Gaditae

The Burbot is one of few representatives of the Cod family, which inhabit fresh waters all their lives. It has a wide, flat head with a mouth equipped with small fine teeth and one barbel on the lower jaw. There is one short and one long fin on its back. The body is smooth and slippery with very fine circular scales. The brown-black speckled body is cylindrical in shape and narrows towards the tail. Its sides are punctuated by irregular flecks in black or brown and sometimes even a clear yellow. Its underside is light.

This fish lives a secluded life in the cold waters of northern Europe, in the company of the Trout and the Alpine Bullhead. It is often labelled as a rapacious predator, which voraciously swallows everything alive. This is only true, however, of Burbot living in waters inhabited by Trout or other members of the Salmon family, when they have to compete with these for food and when they eat their fry and spawn. In contrast, in large expanses of lakes and reservoirs it lives on smaller, insignificant fishes. The contents of the digestive organs of a Burbot, living in such an area, revealed a variety of types of less valuable fishes, such as small Perch, Ruffe, Stickleback, Roach and Bream. The Burbot usually weighs about 4 lb and is 50 to 70 cm long; "the most frequent weight in Trout rivers is about 1 lb. It thrives best in the colder regions of the north, where it reaches weights of up to 40 lb. It is worth noting that it is most active in the period when the activity of other freshwater fishes is decreasing, that is at low temperatures below 7°C. It breeds at the end of December and the beginning of January, when the female lays several hundred thousand eggs, though the largest fishes lay up to 5,000,000. Each of these is smaller than a pin head.

In northern Europe it is a popular sport to catch Burbot in holes cut into the ice. This fish can also be caught in flowing water during warm summer days especially, and when there are variable temperatures or changes in barometric pressure, before a storm and in water disturbed by rain. On moonless nights it is advisable to make a fire, as according to Siberian hunters the flames attract this fish. As the breeding season approaches, its search for food becomes most active and therefore the best months for catching it are November and December. In the evening the line should be cast near its daytime haunts, such as a derelict weir or groups of large stones j at night it is best hunted in the shallows, where it comes after its prey. The bait must rest on the bottom or close to it. When one Burbot bites, a catch of many others can be anticipated. It can swallow live or dead bait fishes, a bunch of worms and even get a crayfish's tail deep into its gullet. It does not fight much when hooked. After swallowing the bait it stays a while in one place and then swims slowly away. If it is near the water surface, it may start leaping or somersaulting and at night reveals itself by the splashing. When fishing in the evening a phosphorescent float is used, but at night a small bell on the tip of the rod is more suitable.