Burbot

Habitat Distribution

• Native across nearly all of Canada — from New Brunswick and Quebec west through Ontario, the Prairies, and into British Columbia, the Yukon, and Northwest Territories — absent only from Nova Scotia and the Atlantic islands.
• Primarily a deep, cold-lake species; in Lake Superior they're regularly found below 100 m and have been recorded past 300 m.
• Also live in large, cold river systems — the Mackenzie, Peace, and other northern drainages hold strong populations.
• Require cold, well-oxygenated water year-round; they retreat to the deepest available habitat during warm months and move shallow only to spawn in late winter.

Key Locations

• Lake Superior — deep, cold water and a documented population; Parks Canada has actively promoted burbot angling in the National Marine Conservation Area.
• Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River system, NWT — large, cold, and lightly fished; holds some of the biggest burbot in the country.
• Manitoba's large northern lakes, including Lake Winnipeg and Heming Lake — historically studied populations and accessible ice fishing.
• The Peace and Athabasca river systems in Alberta and BC — cold, deep rivers with strong burbot numbers and limited fishing pressure.

Specific Spots

• During winter and the pre-spawn period, burbot move onto flats and shoals adjacent to deep water — look for the transition zone where a hard bottom meets the drop-off.
• Rocky points, submerged reefs, and gravel shoals in 3–10 m of water draw spawning fish; these same areas hold feeding fish in the weeks before and after the spawn.
• In rivers, target deep holes, undercut banks, and slow eddies behind large boulders — burbot hug the bottom and avoid strong current.
• During summer, they push to the deepest, coldest water available; vertical jigging over deep structure or suspended above bottom in 20–40 m is the only reliable approach.