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Best burbot lakes in Alberta

16 Alberta waters hold burbot, 16 mapped with real state-agency depth surveys. Ranked below by size and depth-data quality — open any water to see exactly where to fish it: depth contours, scored spots with plain-English reasons, seasonal windows and bait picks. The freshwater cod that feeds at night under the ice — ugly, delicious and wildly underrated.

1. Lesser Slave Lake — 69 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
2. Lac la Biche — 73 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
3. Cold Lake — 325 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Trout
4. Wabamun Lake — 35 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
5. Pigeon Lake — 30 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
6. Gull Lake — 25 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
7. Sylvan Lake — 60 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
8. Sturgeon Lake — 31 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
9. Moose Lake — 60 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
10. Marie Lake — 85 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
11. Buck Lake — 40 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
12. Bassano Reservoir — 40 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Burbot
13. Baptiste Lake — 83 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Burbot
14. Amisk Lake — 191 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
15. Glenmore Reservoir — 55 ft max · survey depth data · Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout, Yellow Perch, Brown Trout
16. Ethel Lake — 99 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish

When to fish burbot in Alberta

• Spring 25–70 ft — Post-spawn burbot slide back toward deep basins but still run shallow rock after dark.
• Summer 50–120 ft — Deep and sluggish in warm months — mostly a bycatch while jigging deep structure for lake trout.
• Fall 30–80 ft — Feeding picks up hard as the water cools — dead bait or glow spoons on deep rock at night.
• Winter 15–60 ft — Late-winter spawners stack on rock humps and shoals — glow jigs pounded on bottom after dark.

Also in Alberta: best walleye lakes · best northern pike lakes · best yellow perch lakes · best lake whitefish lakes

Burbot elsewhere: Minnesota · New Hampshire · Montana · Wyoming · Alaska · Manitoba