Okanagan Lake prime spot for catching delicious yet elusive burbot

Kelowna resident, and avid fisherman, Kjel Cartier pulled some big burbot from Okanagan Lake recently, a fishing feat that took him a few years to master.

“I started fishing for them less than three years ago with no success, which is what most people experience with burbot fishing here,” he said. “One guy gave me some good information and I built my skills from there.”

Burbot is a long, arguably ugly freshwater fish in the cod family, more colloquially known as lingcod or freshwater ling. They are found in numerous freshwater lakes in the BC Interior where they typically spend time in deep, cold water.

The fish can be elusive and are caught by jigging. They are nocturnal, feeding at night. Cartier fishes for them between dusk and four in the morning.

“They’re as elusive as they are ugly,” he said. “Sometimes they hit hard, sometimes they don’t. They’re a really finicky, weird fish that is just odd in everyway possible. It’s an amazing challenge.”

He said some people set up lines and hooks and leave them overnight to catch burbot, but he hasn’t done that and doesn’t know the legalities behind the practise.

Cartier has been fishing his whole life. His hobby picked up in the past six years, taking him and his rod all over northern BC, the Yukon and on annual ocean fishing trips with friends.

“I go after any fish, especially if they’re good eating,” he said. “Looking at family photo albums, every second photo is of me holding a fishing rod.”

Last month, he and his friend Jadon Lichti pulled up more than ten burbot from Okanagan Lake in one night, and each kept two as per fishing regulations. The biggest in the haul was three feet long and just shy of ten pounds.

Cartier calls Okanagan Lake the trophy lake for fishing burbot.

“Some people don’t know there are burbot in Okanagan Lake, and big ones,” he said. “There are burbot fisherman across Canada that would get a five pound burbot and would be jumping up and down, really happy, where if I caught a five pounder, I’d throw him back because we can catch bigger ones than that here.”

Cartier made beer battered fish and chips with his recent catch, which is his favourite kind of white fish to eat. Burbot is also known as the poor man’s lobster. It can be boiled and dipped in butter, having a similar taste to lobster.

“They tasted amazing and the amount of meat we get off them was fantastic,” he said. “Burbot is slightly sweet, it’s not too firm or flaky, and every time we eat it we can’t believe how good it is.”

Cartier will not reveal specific locations of his fishing holes and will only share tidbits of information on how to catch the fish with those who are really interested. Part of the challenge is to figure out where the fish will be at any given time during the day and season. It’s a challenge Cartier enjoys.

He plans to be out on the lake all winter with a warm jacket, heater and friends, fishing for the strange-looking fish.

“I know these fish are ugly but I find beauty in all fish and I think the patterns on a burbot are beautiful.”