There ya go; how's that? No "guess what's in the bag?" nonsense, just come right out and say it: burbot.
I'm a fan of native fish in the aquarium; my only previous experience with Burbot was with a couple that I hand-caught as 4-inch youngsters in the shallows of a crystal-clear northern Ontario lake and kept for a couple years indoors, before losing them to some backyard predator after moving them outside. I've thought about them many times since then, but they are not a fish I regularly encounter and nothing has come of it. But I never go fishing without emergency bring-'em-back-alive supplies in the truck, just in case...
...and I finally had a case! All of yesterday spent icefishing resulted in a couple nice eating-size Walleyes, a few other assorted fish...and, at day's end, an absolutely beautiful Burbot of roughly 12 inches length. When it came through the ice, I went into full fish-nerd mode, amusing my fishing partner as I dashed around filling a couple plastic pails with icy lake water and rushing the fish to the truck. I dashed off home, 30 minutes away, leaving my buddy sitting alone in the middle of a frozen lake in the dark, surrounded by all of his gear and most of mine.
I had a plastic tub of roughly 80-100gallons capacity sitting waiting, but of course it was empty; it needed to be filled with the coldest well water I could provide, and then further cooled with snow to bring it down to the 35F temperature of the water I brought back with the fish. I added about 20gallons of lakewater, and then floated the fish in its travel container, equipped with an airstone, while slowly mix-acclimating it for about an hour. It was clearly stressed and I was worried.
I have done a mid-winter collection like this several times, always with common fish that I am ashamed to admit were guinea pigs for testing my techniques. It's worked well, and catfish, rock bass, sunfish and a few assorted smaller species have acclimated without incident...but this time I wasn't experimenting or playing around; I was as serious as a heart attack. Fortunately, the Burbot had come from only 12 feet of water; the few I have caught in past years have all been deep-water fish which would have complicated this procedure probably beyond my willingness to attempt it. Additionally, the water parameters tested very close or identical to my well water in terms of pH (7.5) and hardness (300+ ppm). Aside from the stress of capture, hooking, handling and transport, the main issue that concerned me was temperature shock.
The water temperature rose gradually overnight; the tub is on the concrete floor in my basement, which is cool, so heating up was as gradual as possible, and I went out several times during the night in my PJ's to bring in a few shovelfuls of snow to moderate the temperature increase. By 9 this morning, the temp was approximately 40F, and will only come up another 10 degrees or so before levelling off. I plan on adding more snow today, and hope to hit 50F (that's as high as a container of water on the floor will go) sometime late tonight. The fish looks much better this morning, better colour and generally less visible signs of stress. So far, so good.
I chuckle when I think of a recent post here on MFK in which a member stated that he planned to "gradually" drop his tank temperature from 78F...to 77F!
My plan is to keep the fish in this container, with high aeration and the addition of a matured sponge filter, for at least a few more days. At that point he will be moved into a 70-gallon unheated tank on a stand which will sit at roughly 55F, and if all goes well, he will be installed in the 360, at that same temperature, by the end of March. Temperatures by the middle of summer will likely top out at 65F or a bit less.
Sorry, I took no pics yet; when I have stuff to do I rarely consider stopping to take snapshots. Nothing to see anyway; a fish in a dark tub of water in a darkened room doesn't display well, and I don't intend to turn on the lights unnecessarily for now. When he's behind glass in a tank, I will get some pics; or, worse coming to worst, I will take a shot of the cadaver.
In case it isn't obvious by now: I am as seriously invested in keeping this fish alive as any I have ever owned...ever. I will definitely follow up on this post, good or bad; fingers are crossed.
And, yes, before anyone asks...after I did what was needed at home, I raced back to the lake to help my buddy pack up his gear. He had actually hooked another Burbot after I left, roughly twice the size of the first, but lost it right at the surface. He had caught one before in his entire life...and then hooked two on the same evening. He was excited...perhaps even excited...but I was, and am, EXCITED!!!
What’s the legality with keeping native fish in canada? It’s something I’d like to do but haven’t really researched. It seems like it would be complicated with different fishing seasons and what not.
