But not all anglers who chance upon burbot appreciate them. For the eel-like fish likes to greet us with a slightly amusing, friendly bark and by “hugging” our forearms with its slimy, sinuous tail. Nevertheless, everyone seems to find them fascinating to observe with an underwater camera. When burbot assemble to spawn late each winter, we marvel at their large gregarious assemblies, their spectacular mottled flanks and the impressive energy they display within seemingly tranquil underwater environs.

Recently, Jeff Matity and his brother Jason witnessed and captured an intriguing underwater episode involving a large predatory pike, a 2-pound burbot and perhaps never-before-seen fish behavior.

“This particular morning, we had caught some walleyes at Saskatchewan’s Qu-Appelle Valley lakes,” recalls Jason Matity. “Over the course of the day, we’d lost a few minnows to the bottom—baits that fell off the hooks of our ReelBait Flasher Jigs.

“After about two hours, our fishing area contained enough minnow bits on the bottom to attract a burbot. Initially, it swam in to inspect our lures, but found the pieces of minnow on the bottom more to its liking. After a few minutes of feeding, we watched on the Aqua-Vu as the burbot turned and locked eyes with a large, trophy-class northern pike that seemed to be stalking it, sizing it up for its next meal.

“Performing what must have been one of its only predatory defense techniques, the burbot quickly rolled in the bottom substrate and literally muddied the water to block the pike’s visibility. Soon, the pike lost interest and swam away, the burbot having smartly saved itself from becoming lunch.”