Carp with no scales?

[bgill]

Burbot is wonderful! One of my Favorite fish to eat! We catch them while icefishing on certain lakes. They are superb table fare when taken from ice cold waters. Looks alot like a Bowfin (Dogfish) but its not.

Spearfishing for them (burbot) would be a challenge as the only place I now of where they reside in clear water's is in Lake Michigan...And usually at a greater depth than I can effectively hunt. :head

They often hang around old shipwrecks on LM...But I have no boat or GPS to access them...And again most of the wrecks are deeper than I can effectively hunt. I'd love to try though! I know Jon has seen them on his LM diving adventures...But he did'nt know they were so TASTY! I bet next time he sees one it's gonna feel the steel!

They'd probably fight very hard if not "stoned"...When you catch one on hook & line they fight like crazy...And when you handle them they "WRAP" themselves around you're arm and they are VERY slimey!!!!! Alot of people just throw 'em back, kill 'em, or leave them on the ice for the seagulls! I've picked up far more off of the ice than I've ever caught myself!

Scientific nam: Lota Lota...

Sorry about the long post but - I LOVE BURBOT! :inlove

BTW....I've NEVER caught or even saw a "leather carp" - "mirror carp" or whatever they're called.

 

[Fondueset]

That is a burbot in the second video - in fact there are two - a small one later on and the huge really ugly one.

I've encountered them from 36-50 feet in depth, but I think they are more frequently found a little deeper. They are not difficult to approach and can almost be gathered by hand. (in fact I did pick one up during a night dive)

Here are a few shots of them - the first is at around 50-60 feet in January - dark day, dark bottom and really cold. The second is I think very early spring - really fat burbot. The last is the first one in the video - I video'd the dive than switched to still mode and got some stills.

 

[podge]

That third one looks like something out of the creature from the black lagoon.:martialmartial
Good job they taste good cause they sure are butt ugly.
Nice one Fondueset and thanks for info and for sharing.

 

[apneaboy]

I've heard of a condition where fish lose their scales, its called....

Alopercha rofl

 

[fleshy]

Fondueset, those are some awesome pictures! I am fully convinced that you could sell prints of a lot of your images.