Lota lota
The Burbot
The Cod That Came in From the Cold
The Burbot (Lota lota) is a biological oddity: the only true freshwater representative of the cod family (Gadidae), distributed across cold lakes and rivers throughout the boreal northern hemisphere. With its long, slightly compressed body, mottled olive-brown camouflage, single chin barbel and long second dorsal fin, it is unmistakable to anyone who has handled one. Its eel-like rear half is built for slow swimming close to the bottom; its broad head and large mouth for ambushing prey-fish in pitch-black depths.
In Finnish it is Made, and few fish are more deeply rooted in Finnish winter culture. The seasonal logic is inverted: while most species hibernate under the ice, the Burbot wakes up - feeding aggressively in the coldest months and spawning in a single dramatic event in late January and February. The Finnish ice-fishing tradition madetus, dedicated to night-fishing for spawning Burbot through the ice, is a regional ritual of eastern and northern Finland.
Burbot are bottom-associated predators, often most active in low light. Larger fish take fish and benthic animals; juveniles also eat invertebrates. Cool-water refuges can matter in summer, while spawning and nursery habitat can be much shallower. Habitat and growth vary by life stage and waterbody.
Season & activity
Winter is the classic burbot season, with fishing near the bottom in low light and ice fishing taking centre stage. In summer, burbot continue hunting in cool, deeper areas; spring and autumn add open-water fishing.
SourcesDiet Spectrum
Burbot eat fish and bottom-dwelling invertebrates. Fish prey is important in winter and early summer; small crustaceans also played a major role in summer samples from lakes in central Finland.
- Small fish (post-spawn)
- Crayfish
- Benthic invertebrates
- Fish eggs
Growth at a glance
Length and weight as the animal grows.
Sources| Age (Years) | Length | Weight | Size comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 cm | 17 g | |
| 2 | 24 cm | 97 g | |
| 3 | 32 cm | 240 g | |
| 4 | 40 cm | 490 g | |
| 5 | 48 cm | 870 g | |
| 6 | 55 cm | 1.4 kg | |
| 8 | 68 cm | 2.6 kg | |
| 10+ | 85 cm | 5.4 kg |
Habitat Requirements
Water Temperature
- Typical conditions
- Cool water
- Other influencing factors
- Heat and oxygen shortage
Burbot use cool habitats near the bottom and prefer to hunt in low light. In summer, deeper areas provide suitable places to shelter and feed.
Oxygen
- Typical conditions
- Adequate oxygen supply
- Other influencing factors
- Prolonged oxygen shortage
Currents, wind and mixing bring oxygen into the water. Temperature and water exchange help you find suitable places for fish to feed and shelter.
Structure
- Typical conditions
- Deep rock piles, drop-offs, boulder flats
- Other influencing factors
- Featureless soft mud
Demersal hunter - holds tight to hard structure during the day, cruises bottom at night to ambush prey.
Substrate
- Typical conditions
- Rock, gravel, hard bottom
- Other influencing factors
- Deep silt, soft anoxic mud
Spawns over hard sand and gravel bottoms, where a rolling ball of up to 20 fish releases semi-buoyant, slightly sticky eggs.
Water Depth
- Typical conditions
- 10 - 40 m
- Other influencing factors
- Deeper in summer, shallower in winter
Inverse depth pattern: shallow under ice (pre-spawn aggregations as shallow as 3–5 m), deep in summer thermal refuge (down to 60+ m).
Water Type
- Typical conditions
- Cold oligo-mesotrophic lakes, large rivers
- Other influencing factors
- Warm eutrophic shallow waters
Inverts the Bream profile entirely. Finland's clear cold northern lakes are ideal habitat.
Fishing Techniques for Burbot in Finland
Burbot fishing is fundamentally a winter pursuit. The peak window is late December through February, when fish concentrate around hard structure for spawning and feed aggressively at night. The classic Finnish method is madetus - overnight ice fishing with set lines or short rods through holes drilled over known rock piles, baited with a strip of fresh herring or smelt.
Day-time options are limited but real: vertical jigging with heavy pirks tipped with bait on cold autumn and early-winter pre-ice days produces fish from boats over deep structure. Summer Burbot fishing is essentially impossible in Finnish lakes - the fish are too deep and too inactive.
The general right to jig through the ice does not cover set hooks, set lines or multiple rods on a lake: check the actual gear permit. The state fisheries-management fee generally applies at ages 18–69; anyone already aged 65 by 31 December 2023 remains exempt. Fee exemption does not replace a required gear permission (Eräluvat).
Madetus (Overnight Ice Fishing)
Dec - FebFish at night over suitable bottom with a strip of dead herring or smelt. Active jigging with one short rod differs from unattended set hooks or lines: those lake methods need the fishing-rights holder’s permission covering the actual gear, plus the fisheries-management fee if you are liable for it.
Active Ice Jigging
Jan - MarHeavy pirk tipped with smelt, worked slowly off the bottom over rock piles. Effective during the peak post-spawn feeding burst.
Vertical Jigging (Open Water)
Oct - NovIn spring and autumn, you can fish for burbot near the bottom in open water. Try jigging, baited pirks or suitable natural baits, and look for accessible drop-offs in low light.
Bottom Set-Line (Coastal)
Late AutumnTraditional bottom-set rigs along rocky brackish coasts, baited with dead smelt or fish strips. Kill bait fish as quickly and painlessly as possible before use (Finnish Fisheries Act, section 58a). Check the fishing rights and allowed gear; public state-owned sea waters have a separate rights regime.
Where to Catch Burbot in Finland
Burbot are most abundant in the cold deep oligotrophic lakes of central and northern Finland. These regions stand out for both density and trophy potential.
Saimaa System (Eastern Lakeland)
61.5°N, 28.0°ESouthern stronghold
The deep cold basins of the Saimaa system hold strong Burbot populations. The traditional madetus heartland - many lakeside villages have a generations-deep ice-fishing tradition.
Lake Inari (Inarijärvi)
68.9°N, 27.0°ETrophy waters of the far north
Finland's third-largest lake holds big burbot in its cold, deep basins - Lapland's trophy lake for the species. The Finnish record, 8.05 kg, came from Haapajärvi near Iisalmi in 2018.
Oulujärvi
64.3°N, 27.3°EReliable fishing in Kainuu
One of Finland's largest lakes, offering consistent ice fishing with good average sizes. Excellent introduction water for visiting anglers.
Bothnian Bay Coastal (Kemi area)
65.67°N, 24.52°EBrackish-coast option
The cold low-salinity Bothnian Bay coastal waters and river mouths hold Burbot - a less-known but productive option for coastal-based anglers.
