If ice fishing is for only a hardy few, doing it at night is only for an ever hardier fewer.
For those brave enough to give it a try, the payoff can be big, by way of gobs of tasty burbot, ice angler Alex Bakken told Cowboy State Daily.
“Burbot are more active at night,” he said.
And there is no catch limit on burbot in some Wyoming fisheries.
More Risky
Bakken, who is the Carbon County sheriff, says he mitigates the risk of nighttime ice fishing by scouting out the location ahead of time, in the daylight.
“The biggest risk of going in after dark is, you might not be able to see weaknesses in the ice, or patches of open water,” he said.
The ice came late this year, after an exceptionally warm fall and early winter. However, Bakken was finally able to do some night ice fishing for burbot on Flaming Gorge Reservoir.
Fishing guide Ryan Hudson told Cowboy State Daily that the shift in temperature and other conditions after dark can cause the ice to make eerie noises, as it shifts and cracks.
“The ice makes some crazy sounds, it will freak out somebody who is not used to it,” he said.
Hudson owns the Wyoming Fishing Company Guide Service. One of his popular wintertime offerings is night ice fishing for burbot on Fontenelle Reservoir in Lincoln County.
“Fontenelle is out in the middle of nowhere,” so an extra degree of caution is necessary for nighttime excursions on the ice, he said.
“You can be out there on the ice with a headlamp and if the wind is blowing 20 or 30 miles per hour and blowing the snow everywhere, it can be disorienting,” he said.
‘Poor Man’s Lobster’
Wyoming Game and Fish has lifted catch limits on burbot at Flaming Gorge and some other locations because they compete with other game fish species, such as kokanee salmon.
There’s also no catch on lake trout smaller than 28 inches on Flaming Gorge, but they don’t seem to be active at night, Bakken said.
Hudson said walleye are sometimes active at night, but burbot is still king of the nighttime ice fishing world.
Burbot are ugly, having a somewhat eel-like appearance. But their meat is top-notch table fare, Hudson and Bakken said.
“Burbot is a great change-up from eating elk or trout,” Hudson said.
Bakken said the secret to great burbot cooking is to boil a pot of Sprite, as in the soda pop, on the stove.
“You get the Sprite rolling at a good boil, and toss chunks of burbot in,” he said.
Once the burbot starts floating, it’s done. And it’s best eaten after dipping it in warm butter, Bakken said.
“It’s the poor man’s lobster,” he said.
Hudson said that to his knowledge, burbot are almost entirely nocturnal.
He said he sometimes sees them sleeping along sandbars in the Green River during summertime fishingtrips.
“You can poke them with a stick, or bounce a jig off their heads, and they won’t wake up,” he said.
Burbot are one of the best species to catch by ice fishing at night. Ice anglers say they’re one Wyoming’s tastiest fish species. (Courtesy Alex Bakken) 
Ice fishing at night can provide an advantage for certain fish species, such as burbot. But it isn’t for the faint of heart because it’s much harder to spot thin ice at night. (Courtesy Alex Bakken)
‘A Really Rude Awakening’
Sometimes anglers go so far as to camp out on the iceall night, in warm ice huts.
Bakken said he hasn’t done that yet this year but has during past ice fishing seasons.
That circles back to why it’s so important to check things out beforehand, in the daylight.
In December 2024, a man was camped out on Ocean Lake in Fremont County and woke up in the morning stranded hundreds of yards from shore after the icebroke up overnight.
Luckily, the ice flow his hut was on didn’t tip over, and he was able to call for help on his cell phone.
Bakken said he wouldn’t want to happen to him.
“That would be a really rude awakening. I want to make sure I don’t end up on an ice raft,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
