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Posted: 3/20/2013 10:28:36 AM EDT
<MINOR FISH BLOOD AND GUTS WARNING LATER IN THIS POST>
I did a post like this a few years ago and it was well received so I thought I would do another one.  What we call cusk here in New Hampshire is properly known as Burbot, and also called eelpout in Minnesota where they host the annual Eelpout Festival, and known by a few other names. True cusk are a saltwater species that is also in the cod family. I've bought some while visiting the coast and it's quite good.
For the rest of this post, cusk = burbot. Cusk is the only freshwater fish in the cod family, and shares its preference for deep water. They spend most of the year in the deeper parts of Lake Winnepesauke which has a maximum depth of 212 feet except during the spawning season when they move to more shallow waters between 15 and 40 feet. I didn't get to do any ice-fishing for cusk last year (2012) because the area I usually go to wasn't frozen over completely near the shore. This year we had a fairly typical NH winter with very cold weather in January and little snow which made for good ice formation. 'Good' is clear which also means it will be hard. I headed down to the lake on February 28 to set up my cusk lines. When I first stepped out, it was solid but after a few steps the crust gave way and I thought I was going for a swim!  Fortunately, there was about 2" hard snow, then 6" or so of slush, then solid ice. I thought about turning back, but I knew there had to be good ice based on the temperatures and snowfall for the last 8 weeks. Those are the best predictors of ice quality, all other factors being equal. It was a real pain walking in it but over the next few days the temperatures dropped down and the slush layer froze solid.
View of the lake facing north: 
Facing west: 
I had to drag my son in the sled because his right foot got soaking wet. This is where some whining started and I reminded him that I had to walk through slush like this when I was his age to get to school, barefoot.  :
For cusk, you are allowed up to 6 lines in the water. This is the only fish where you can 'set' a line and leave it unattended in NH (like they do for catfish in some states), but you must check the line at least once every 24 hours. Any fish caught on such a 'cusk line' other than cusk must be released immediately without taking the fish out of the water. The end of the line has a 1 oz. (or larger) sinker and a large hook. I had been using catfish hooks but I may use something different next year since I had better luck with a different style hook. The distance between the sinker and the hook must be 6" or less. This is to keep the bait right near the bottom where the cusk are and helps to avoid accidentally catching lake trout which will usually take bait from 1 to 3 feet from the bottom. The line has to be adjusted so the sinker is sitting on the bottom but that there is no 'slack' in the line where it attaches to the wood piece on the surface. This is a rule and I don't think it really affects the amount of fish caught anyway. You have to write or attache your name and address somewhere on the line. I write it both in the middle and at the end of the wood piece using a permanent marker which stays on pretty good, so if a snowmobile mangles one, the other is likely to be intact. I had one snowmobile run over a line this year but I set the lines closer to shore than I usually do because of the slush. This is what it looks like at the surface: 
There are a variety of baits that people use. You can no longer use any spiny fish such as yellow perch, though cusk do seem to prefer them over just about any other bait. The larger the bait, the larger the cusk. The other advantage of using larger bait is that the smaller cusk have a more difficult time swallowing it. I prefer using large golden shiners, but I couldn't find any decent-sized ones this year in the 5 to 6" range. The next best thing is white suckers. Some people use larger suckers that they cut into several pieces. I've found that live bait always works better than dead bait. This is what a basic set-up looks like before going down the hole: 
Cusk feed heavily on crayfish (crawfish) but the times I've tried them for bait have had only very limited success. They're also more expensive than baitfish. I've used various types of hooks, hooking them through the head, body or tail, and also removing the claws. No combination seemed to be as effective as live fish so I've stopped using them. They have never been very large so that may be something I could try for next year ie. catching very large crayfish and using at least one line with that. These 3 crayfish and the sucker bait were all in one cusk's stomach. They have a huge appetite! 
The ice thickness in this area really would have to be 8"+ to be safe as any less than that and the ice near shore will not likely be thick enough anyway to get on there. I found between 10 to 12" of solid, clear ice, which is not including what amounted to 2" of snow and 6" of frozen slush ('bad' ice) on top of the good ice: 
This is a series of pictures of bringing up a small cusk: 
This is another nice small one, around 15". You can't catch much smaller ones since they grow pretty fast in their first year and the runts can't get the whole bait into their mouths: 
I did run into a lake trout, which I usually do once or twice a season. When a cusk is on the line, the line is usually brought tightly to one side of the hole, or it may rest right at the bottom. When a lake trout is on the line, it usually runs fast in all directions and is easy to spot. As per the rules, the fish was released and I couldn't take it out of the hole/water for pictures, as much as I wanted to! You can see the hook in the left lower jaw of the fish which came out easily and he swam away just fine. 
The next one is the largest cusk I've ever caught! I think the next smaller one was 25". 
I prefer to fish for them later in the season when the weather has warmed up so you're not having to chisel out 2+" of ice around your line every morning. I've actually only cut my line once, but it's a real pain. It adds a long time to checking the lines. So I would rather risk a shorter fishing season than to deal with the ice. This way, I had up to 1/2" plus of ice to deal with, though many days out of the two weeks I had the lines out didn't have any ice at all. Last year, member sgthoskins, who lives in NH, mentioned we should get together for some ice-fishing after reading my aquaponics thread. We set up a time recently when he came up with his son. The plan was to check the cusk lines and then use tip-ups and jigs to try to catch some Lake Trout and White Perch the rest of the day. He did find some fish on the fish-finder, but we ended up not hooking into any. However, The day was absolutely gorgeous! This is the sun up in the east as it was still morning. Honestly, these sunny days in March are some of my favorite times outdoors during the whole year.  It's an interesting contrast: You have 12" of ice under your feet but the air temperature peaked at 54 F. This is a view looking down Lake Winnepesauke facing east towards Alton Bay where the Merrymeeting River comes in. It's probably a 30 minute drive by road.
This is a view facing north. There are 253 islands on the lake, so what may look like the opposite shore is actually islands. It's interesting that they leave the buoys in the water. I would think they would get crushed by the ice but they seem to do just fine. 
This is facing east again. The 'spec' you see on the ice at the level of the horizon and about 1/4 way across the photo is sgthoskins's son jigging. These are all holes he had drilled and the very next day when I was checking my lines, there were a group of fishermen pulling Lake Trout out of them! Of course, Murphy's Law. 
Him checking depth and sounding for fish. There were some down there but we couldn't get them to bite. 
I believe the following mountain is Mount Washington. It's the only one that is snow-capped/covered and it's in the right direction facing north. There is an island in the way so the lower part of the mountain is obscured: 
A break from fishing: 
Drilling more holes. sgthoskins, his son and my son. My son is the little guy. He wanted to 'help' him drill. We had good ice everywhere we drilled. Good ice is clear and has few cracks. It should have 'layers' where you can see about an inch or more freezing at a time on the successive coldest nights. 
After you finish drilling the holes, you need to remove any slush and ice chips that are in the water. You can either use a plastic or metal 'scooper' that strains it out. 
Checking depth and for fish with the fish-finder: 
One of the tip-ups. The little flag pops up when a fish takes off with the hook. We were allowed two lines per person. So either one jigging rod and one tip-up, or two tip-ups. No license needed for < 16 years old: 
The sky was amazing. A beautiful blue. This is later in the afternoon. I got a decent burn on my face. I had sunglasses on but I couldn't find any suntan lotion except for a bottle that was probably 10 years old. 
There were some bobhouses on the lake. Usually, there are some right near where I put out my lines, but I don't think they put any there this year, or if they did then they moved them a while ago. I don't really have a need for a bobhouse since I'm usually just checking my lines and leaving and I also fish later in the season when it is warmer outside anyway. 
I had saved up some fish from the previous days so I sent sgthoskins home with both some fresh and frozen cusk. He later told me he really liked it. I personally think it tastes like a cross between cod and catfish. Very tasty. In fact, I much prefer it over lake trout which is why I target cusk. He said he was going to look for a lake near him that may have cusk. I don't remember exactly when this series of photos was taken this season but towards the end. It was with my iPhone: 
This was last week, the day before I pulled the lines. We had a rain system move in which is why I ended up with droplets on the camera lens. Lots of fog and completely overcast. It was a a complete contrast from the sunny weather. Facing east: 
Facing west: 
The fog really rolled in as well: 
Little guy. I keep every cusk I catch because they are usually deeply hooked and there is no point in throwing back a fish that will likely die anyway. If it's a small one, I will usually bread and fry whole. If it's medium or bigger, it's worth filleting. 
IIRC, this was the last morning, last Wednesday. I pulled my lines for the year. I caught one last fish. There was about 1/2" of ice: 
Hopefully we get some good ice next year!
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Posted: 3/20/2013 2:36:51 PM EDT
[#1]
Thanks for sharing. That looks like a whole lot of fun! I'd love to try ice fishing one day; I have some family up in the White Bear Lake Area, and they ice fish every winter. Until then, I fish on the beach.
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Posted: 3/20/2013 2:36:54 PM EDT
[#2]
Outstanding!
I had no idea there were freshwater relatives of cod. Thanks for taking the time to post this! |
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Posted: 3/20/2013 2:48:51 PM EDT
[#3]
That was really interesting.
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Posted: 3/20/2013 2:49:18 PM EDT
[#4]
Quoted:
Thanks for sharing. That looks like a whole lot of fun! I'd love to try ice fishing one day; I have some family up in the White Bear Lake Area, and they ice fish every winter. Until then, I fish on the beach.
http://i910.photobucket.com/albums/ac307/abhitchc/391481_10100440497221896_57993772_n_zps87cb800d.jpg I've done some surf fishing in Florida. It's really fun! I haven't tried it up here. Quoted:
Outstanding! I had no idea there were freshwater relatives of cod. Thanks for taking the time to post this! Do you ice-fish at all? It's a little surprising how many people don't know about cusk, even those who live right on lakes where they live. I guess it's probably because they can't be caught outside of winter. |
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Posted: 3/20/2013 2:57:23 PM EDT
[#5]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Thanks for sharing. That looks like a whole lot of fun! I'd love to try ice fishing one day; I have some family up in the White Bear Lake Area, and they ice fish every winter. Until then, I fish on the beach.
http://i910.photobucket.com/albums/ac307/abhitchc/391481_10100440497221896_57993772_n_zps87cb800d.jpg I've done some surf fishing in Florida. It's really fun! I haven't tried it up here. Quoted:
Outstanding! I had no idea there were freshwater relatives of cod. Thanks for taking the time to post this! Do you ice-fish at all? It's a little surprising how many people don't know about cusk, even those who live right on lakes where they live. I guess it's probably because they can't be caught outside of winter. Nope, I don't ice fish. I am a really poor fisherman in the best of circumstances. I think I project my intention down the line and the fish pick up on my bad "vibe". As for winter I usually just sulk indoors and drink cleaning products.
I have started to do more snowshoe work this winter. I have found a spot where coyotes frequent, so hopefully I can give them a bit of a ballistic surprise. |
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Posted: 3/23/2013 5:42:51 PM EDT
[#6]
Great pictures. I grew up on the lake (Winnipesaukee) and used to set cusk lines. They are great to eat!
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Posted: 3/23/2013 8:18:19 PM EDT
[#7]
Quoted:
I have started to do more snowshoe work this winter. I have found a spot where coyotes frequent, so hopefully I can give them a bit of a ballistic surprise. When I lived up in the Enfield area, there was this bait shop where the owner used to hunt and also buy coyote pelts. He always had big ones hanging and thawing in his bait shop. Really cool. |
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Posted: 3/23/2013 8:18:53 PM EDT
[#8]
Quoted:
Great pictures. I grew up on the lake (Winnipesaukee) and used to set cusk lines. They are great to eat! What part of the lake were you on? |
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Posted: 4/15/2013 10:33:25 PM EDT
[#9]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Great pictures. I grew up on the lake (Winnipesaukee) and used to set cusk lines. They are great to eat! What part of the lake were you on? West Alton. Fished alot around my house and occasionally other places, like Paugus Bay. |
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Posted: 5/26/2013 10:11:21 AM EDT
[#10]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Great pictures. I grew up on the lake (Winnipesaukee) and used to set cusk lines. They are great to eat! What part of the lake were you on? West Alton. Fished alot around my house and occasionally other places, like Paugus Bay. Cool. The ice is all gone and the White Perch started running about 2 weeks ago in the Winnepesauke River. I was literally no more than 30 feet from a group of fishermen that were nailing them but me and my friend could only catch Rock Bass. 
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Posted: 5/27/2013 7:01:38 PM EDT
[#11]
Cusk or Burbot., In the Thumb area of Wisconsin there know as lawyer because they have no Backbone...lol
Greatwrite up op but one thought for you. When we Ice fish here in Wisconsin we put hole covers under our tip ups. It blocks the wind and snow from getting in the hole and prevents freeze up. Just a thought.. Would they prevent you from having to chip out 2" of ice every morning ? I don't know but you might want to try. |
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Posted: 5/27/2013 9:26:03 PM EDT
[#12]
So no jugs or limb lines allowed in New Hampshire?
What about trotlines? I haven't fished too many states outside of my immediate location. I really like fishing threads on here when they pop-up. It is amazing some of the rules and regs I see from other states that make me realize how easy I have it. |
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Posted: 5/30/2013 9:52:41 PM EDT
[#13]
No setlines of any type except cusk. At least that is how it used to be.
Quoted:
So no jugs or limb lines allowed in New Hampshire? What about trotlines? I haven't fished too many states outside of my immediate location. I really like fishing threads on here when they pop-up. It is amazing some of the rules and regs I see from other states that make me realize how easy I have it. |
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Posted: 5/30/2013 10:57:11 PM EDT
[#14]
Quoted:
Cusk or Burbot., In the Thumb area of Wisconsin there know as lawyer because they have no Backbone...lol Greatwrite up op but one thought for you. When we Ice fish here in Wisconsin we put hole covers under our tip ups. It blocks the wind and snow from getting in the hole and prevents freeze up. Just a thought.. Would they prevent you from having to chip out 2" of ice every morning ? I don't know but you might want to try. I'll take a look into that. It would prolong the season for me since I'd be able to start earlier.
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Posted: 5/30/2013 11:00:28 PM EDT
[#15]
Quoted:
No setlines of any type except cusk. At least that is how it used to be. Quoted:
So no jugs or limb lines allowed in New Hampshire? What about trotlines? I haven't fished too many states outside of my immediate location. I really like fishing threads on here when they pop-up. It is amazing some of the rules and regs I see from other states that make me realize how easy I have it. Yup. Cusk is the only one you can leave the line. Everything else you must have "direct control", or however they put it, over the line. |
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Posted: 5/31/2013 4:20:43 PM EDT
[#16]
That... Looks.... Cold....
Give me the warm weather of AZ and some bass any day. I had some great times ice fishing back in PA when I lived there, but that cold is enough to freeze you right to the bone at times. Some of you ice fisherman are hard-core though. I never fished from a hut either, so that might be better. Especially with copious amounts of warm-u-up liquid! 
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Posted: 5/31/2013 7:41:54 PM EDT
[#17]
Quoted:
That... Looks.... Cold.... Give me the warm weather of AZ and some bass any day. I had some great times ice fishing back in PA when I lived there, but that cold is enough to freeze you right to the bone at times. Some of you ice fisherman are hard-core though. I never fished from a hut either, so that might be better. Especially with copious amounts of warm-u-up liquid! It really is. I remember 2 years ago I was checking my lines with a friend and my son just before sunset. There was a steady strong wind blowing and the holes were frozen with 2 to 3" of ice. It's scary how cold it was. It's almost like the wind would suck the breath out of you. That's why I've avoided fishing mid-season and wait until it warms up later in the season. You still have good ice but you're not freezing your ass off! |
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