Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Ling Fling

So I went ling fishing for my first time Friday after work. They are technically called burbot ling. They have to be about the strangest looking fish I've ever caught. They look like a cross between an amphibian and a fish. They say they taste really good and have the nick name of "poor man's lobster". I guess I will find out soon. It was a super fun night. The only bummer is I was fighting a cold and it's making me really pay for it today. It was worth it though.


A stringer full of fun.


Special tailgate photo just for fun. Man they are strange looking fish.

I want to catch some of those some day.
What was bait?

Yes strange indeed.

We used cut bait, white sucker meat.

Cool beans Troy!

Very Cool! Burbot is good eating.

How does one prep them for the table?
Skin, scale, fillet?
Cooking method(s)?

Similar to catfish for the knife work.

You can get everything you need off of them without getting into the gut tank. Basically you are after "back straps", some flank meat and a decent amount of tail meat. The back being the thickest portion.

You can cook it many ways, like any other fish I suppose.

For the "poor mans lobster" experience you can get a really good rolling boil of water going and drop the meat in there. Dip the meat in lightly salted melted butter. Texture is firm and almost rubbery when boiled. It's the texture really that is similar to lobster meat, not sure if the flavor is a dead ringer, it's good though.

I have also bread and fried along with walleye fillets and I felt that was good too. I'm sure it can also be baked, I've never tried though.

Best to clean them before they freeze. A popular technique is to jam their head onto a spiked board (or whack a nail through their head) which will kill them and secure them for skinning. A pliers is a nice way to help work the skin off. cut around the base of the neck and peel backwards like a tube sock. cut down the center of the back (slightly off center on each side) down to rib cage, follow that out to the flank, back behind the belly you get a nice cut off each side of the tail as well.

It's a nasty job. The meat is good, the job is nasty.... I almost need to be barley enhanced before taking on the task. It's what I consider an "outside job" so if it's blowing and -15 or colder, it ain't happening. lol!

Good youtube videos on cleaning burbot. Some guys skin them, then take the back and tail meat off. I took the meat off and then filleted it off the skin. The skin is tough though, so you need a sharp knife.

ND is right about the freezing part too. Like pike, once they freeze and you try to thaw them off you have slime city. One thing that helps that is to pull a couple gill sections out if you plan to keep the fish. My grandfather showed me that and it did make a big difference on pike. Seems like they don't get as slimy while flopping on the ice.


SS

Alot of people will cube them and also boil in 7-up or Mtn Dew as well.

Wild looking fish! They look a little like snakeheads. Looks like you had a blast and got a bunch of meat.

Seal Billy I did have a blast. It was a lot of fun.

so, how did they taste? We're waiting. . ;-)

Taste like frog legs? Cause they look like a frog crossed with a fish. I bet they taste like chicken lol.

They taste like cod.

Burbot = eelpout = fresh water ling cod.

I miss burbot. Co-worker and I used to fish them on set lines through the ice when I lived in Fbks. We'd peel the skin, take the meat. Battered, breaded and deep fried. Awesome!

Yet another reason to visit Montana methinks!

We have a member here ( can't remember his handle) from the Yukon who catches monstrous ling!

I caught them for the first time ever this last week when I entered a tourney. I was hoping to get one. I ended up being 6oz out of the money! I hauled home 24 pounds of burbot. I suggest the ADF&G video to show the technique, but I suggest adding cloth gloves to the mix as they REALLY help hold these slimy fish.

Tablefare is excellent.

Picked up 19 in 2 days. The bite was on after the sun went down.