Hey everybody. Thanks for all the replies to my ?s on the Big Mac's. I'm looking forward to putting it to use this summer. I fished the Gorge Friday and Saturday this last weekend. Fished it in the same place. Right over the river channel two miles south of the confluence. Didn't do near as well. Graphed very few fish in comparison to last week. Friday I landed 4 pups is all. Later in the day I walked over to a little canyon that cut into some cliffs and nailed two 18" rainbows and 3 burbot in about 1 hour of fishing. I picked the rainbows up supended at 5 ft over 20 ft of water. I couldn't believe how close to the ice they were. Is that normal? I felt good about riding the lake of a few more burbot. I brought my wife and 1 year old daughter on this trip. they were way more interested in swimming at the hotel in Rock Springs than fishing for burbot, so I was glad I caught some during the day. Saturday was pretty much the same results. Caught a few Pups. Didn't catch and rainbows. Did catch a few more burbot though. The ling were small. Probably because I caught them during the middle of the day. Also didn't get any hits from the pups after ten. On days when fishing is good they seem to have a second feeding period between like 11 and 1 but it was OVER at ten this weekend. I know the water is completely open around buckboard, but is there anything frozen enough to fish south of there? I could seem the sun reflecting off some cars way south and it looked like the lake was froze there.
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Nice report fishjon, sounds like a great outing. From my experience it is common to catch trout right under the ice like that but it depend on the lake and the location. I have also caught them right on or within a few feet of the bottom, this included lake trout, rainbow and cutts. I did read a report about ice being at Anvil but the thickness varied. Good to read you caught some of those pesky burbot[
]. WH2
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I hit it this weekend as well. About a half mile to mile south of confluence. Iced 1 19-1/2" rainbow and 9 burbot. Got there at 1 and stayed til 9:30 pm. Most of the burbot came from 6:30 to 7:30. Radical glow jigs in yellow were doing the trick. Jigging helped from what I could tell but they were hitting dead sticks as well. Good time. Hope the weather gets good and cold. I need to hit it again before the ice gets any worse.
Has anyone ever fished for them on open water? Is it best at night then also?
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You can get them during open water too, by using the same times, locations, and tactics. We caught some pre-ice fish in November near Marsh Creek one night and up at Firehole another. Fishley, who also frequents this site, has even pounded them at night during the summer, fishing deeper water (30-50ft if I recall) where the temperatures are colder. They're there, whether there's ice or not! Nice catch, Ryno
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So in the summer what do you use for bait and does it have to be at night? I always go to the FG in july with the fam. Also can you catch them by mustang ridge or by the dam?
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Same gear, tactics, etc. during the summer, just minus the gas auger and deeper where the water is colder . Fishley reported success a couple of times so you might PM him. You have to look at burbot like any other fish, having periods of activity/inactivity. Their behavior is unique compared to other species in that they are more active in temps below 40-45F and also at night. That is why you see catch rates blow-up during the winter and why the bite is best afterdark. They have developed a feeding pattern with a competitive advantage, foraging when other species are inactive. I think burbot are less active during the summer, but can still be caught with less success than you're seeing right now.
Burbot have been documented reservoir wide. They first showed up in nets in the Canyon reach this fall, but no where near what was caught in the Wyoming end of the reservoir. Two fish were caught in Sheep Creek, three in Hideout, and one in Jarvies. You can compare that to 20-30 burbot per net up in Wyoming. Hope it helps, Ryno
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Thanks ryno, I really dont know much about burbot that info really helps.
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