Most years we are lucky to get a few days when the weather is right to fish for burbot. This year, there have been few days when conditions have not been right. So get your gear together and head to Erie for the most unusual fishing opportunity northwest Pennsylvania has to offer.

Burbot rival Lake Erie perch as the best tasting freshwater fish in this state, and maybe anywhere.

Rare everywhere else in Pennsylvania, and hardly common anywhere else, burbot move into the water at the mouth of Presque Isle Bay each winter for their annual spawning ritual. The remainder of the year they inhabit the deeper, coolest waters of Lake Erie. Here in northwest Pennsylvania is the southern edge of the range of this cold water fish.

Burbot range from the northern tier of the lower 48 states northward through Canada and Alaska into the Arctic.

The burbot is the only strictly freshwater member of the codfish family. It is unlike any other fish in the state. It has a large mouth and a single chin barbel. The body is long and thin with a pronounced belly. It has two dorsal fins. The second dorsal fin and the anal fin extent about half the length of the body. The tail is rounded. Coloration is drab and mottled brown and gray in various shades.

Maximum size of the burbot is variously listed from 14 pounds to the IGFA world record of 25 pounds 2 ounces. That fish was caught from Lake Diefenbaker, Saskatchewan.

According to reliable sources, it is likely that burbot nearing, or possibly exceeding, that world record have been caught from Lake Erie. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission does not recognize a state record for burbot, nor is it included in the Angler Recognition Program because elsewhere in the state burbot are rare.

Typical burbot caught at Erie weigh 5 pounds to 8 pounds.

Burbot are in the area of the entrance to Presque Isle Bay from around Thanksgiving into, and probably through, winter. A few burbot are caught by perch anglers early in the spring off the point of Presque Isle.

The favorite places for burbot fishing are from the North Pier and the South Pier which line the channel leading into Presque Isle Bay. A few burbot anglers fish from boats just outside the channel.

The most specialized piece of burbot fishing gear is a long handled net, long enough to reach the water from atop the piers.

Rod, reel and line are not terribly important. Often burbot are landed on perch tackle. But if you want to get serious, try a medium power rod and 12 pound-test line.

In past years before minnow bans, we had good luck using chubs in the 5-inch to 8-inch range as bait. But since emerald shiners available at local bait shops may be the only bait that is available, most burbot are caught on relatively small emerald shiners. Some burbot anglers put three, or more, small shiners on a hook.

Since the better burbot fishing often happens when there are stiff currents and stiff wind, sinkers that weigh from 1 ounce to 3 ounces are generally used. Most local burbot anglers use flat sinkers, however, I prefer pyramid sinkers. I rig sinkers on sliders to allow the burbot to take the bait without feeling the weight of a heavy sinker, although I am not so sure it would bother them.

One other piece of burbot fishing gear that will make your time more enjoyable is a comfortable folding chair. This is still fishing, and you can expect to do a lot more waiting than catching.

Check the weather before leaving home to go burbot fishing. When there is a stiff wind out of the northeast, waves crashing against the piers make fishing all but impossible. Never venture onto the piers when they are covered with ice.

Local burbot specialists usually start fishing around sunset. We have enjoyed good burbot fishing during the day under heavily overcast sky.

Most anglers who target burbot fish near the end of the piers. Getting to the end of the South Pier requires a fairly long walk, so pier regulars carry their gear in carts of various sorts. A wagon works fine.

If for no other reason that being able to say you caught a burbot, do not let this opportunity with pleasant weather into mid-December, at least, slip by.