Burbot | Flaming Gorge

[UTFSHR]

We are headed up to the Gorge on Friday targeting burbot. Has anyone been to Flaming Gorge lately? We are hauling the boat. Are there any "must hit" (or must avoid) places? We usually do okay, just throwing it out, if someone has a hot spot.
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[Charina]

I've only had the boat out there once at night, and that was two weeks ago. The only useful info I could share is that we didn't do to well on the west shore, about 1.5 miles north of Buckboard Marina. We caught a few here and there from 20-50 ft deep, but despite moving around and trying lots of various points, coves, and underwater flats, we just couldn't find numbers. 1 or 2 in each location was about it. Gave up about 11 pm and headed in.

I'll be headed there tomorrow with the boat again to give it another try. I'd be very interested in any report you might have.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]While you can catch burbot all year, they are easiest to catch when they come in to the shallower areas to spawn from late December through January.

That being said, there can be some decent fishing for them now if you know where to go and how to go about it.

Here is a recent post on the DWR website:
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Burbot: Reports are starting to come in of good to excellent burbot fishing from a boat or from the shore. Burbot activity really increased last week and anglers are reporting impressive catch rates. Burbot are most abundant in the uppermost reaches of the reservoir in Wyoming, so anglers should start their search there. They are predominantly a nighttime species and prefer cooler water and rocky main channel structure. Start fishing at dusk and target depths of 20 to 40 feet, then move to shallower water as the night progresses. Use 3/8- to 1/2-ounce glow lures, like Yamamoto grubs in luminous white or Northland Buckshot spoons in glow, tipped with sucker or chub meat. Jig your lures slowly and close to the bottom, and move to a different area if you're not catching fish.
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[Charina]

Dang it was cold out there! And it was miserable since the burbs were few and far between.

Couldn't launch at firehole. Ice at the ramp and out to the channel. There were people on the ice in the cove next to the ramp. But there is far more open water than frozen areas. Possibly could have capped last night as it was near zero and very light winds.

Water temp at sage creek was 36. 38 at lost dog. 40 degrees below the confluence.
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[one8sevenn]

There is ice at Firehole.

Given that it is -2 this morning, the ice should continue to form.
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