Here's what the fish from the above short clips look like out of the water. This beast was about 13-1/2 pounds and was full of ~5" long
tulibee, which were spawning at the time. It took at least 10 minutes to land and just kept taking run after run.
Burbot were considered trash when I was growing up, but they have become my favorite fish to catch in the winter. They have behaviors like no other fish I've seen. One of their common tricks is to approach the bait/prey like they were the Duke boys. The burb will approach quickly and then turn abruptly, sliding sideways like the General Lee on a gravel corner, and intentionally stir up the bottom and completely destroy visibility. They will swim away and then sneak back in and use what I have termed "the ambush cloud" to approach undetected and attack from below.
They are also very tactile and love to rub all over the camera. I always say a pike tries to eat the cam and the burbs try to romance it.
Oh, and they are delicious and easy to clean. Peel the skin off like a tight sock and then remove the backstraps and tail meat. Completely boneless fillets of firm white tasty flesh.
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