Gutting/Fileting pike

[durham-fisher]

ok so i have heard mixed comments about pike. if they are a good eating fish or not. i had it once and i liked it, and i wanna have more.

ive been told they are very boney tho and therefore hard to clean. i saw video on youtube but i dont FULLY trust youtube i already knew to take out the Y bone but anything else i should worry about?

any advice on how to(if i should or not) filet pike?

oh and what size is good to keep?(what season too)

 

[frozenfire]

I think that's relaly all you have to worry about... that pesky stubborn row of bones there.
I've seen the videos too and that's how I would do it if I were to eat pike.

I would say 25-30"ers would be the best for eating.
I would also think that ice out fish should be pretty good.
Fish from deeper water should be preferred to fish taken from shallow water... I think I read that somewhere.

 

[reefrunner]

Here's a couple tips I learned on culling pike when I was up on a trip to Kipawa, QC.

When you decide you want to keep a pike for the pan, upon catching (kinda guesome), use a sharp knife and sever from the gills up to the backbone - cutting the nerves from the brain to the body. Pike, when stressed due to the catching and being captive on a stringer, release a toxin in their flesh that gives 'em more slime and that "fishy" taste in the meat. The all to gruesome cut will mitigate this.

You have 5 fillets on a pike. Two on each flank, two on each rear (tail to the back fins), and one long one off the back.

Cold water fish are better than warm.

I'd stick with a fish in around the 24inch to 28 inch range.

 

[iJay]

Great information!

We are headed out ina couple weeks in search of Pike. I woulda never known about the stringer thing. What if it kept live ina cooler?

 

[reefrunner]

My intuition tells me it would still be stressed out. Now, I didn't know this either until the lodge owner, our guide for the day, and "experienced" bushman, George, took us on a portage to a secret pike lake.

Man o' Man what an adventure. George was I think 71 years of age at the time and he would have to stop ahead of my cousin and I on the portage, two strong healthy dudes, and tell us to catch up. When we got to the lake, someone "borrowed" his row boat - he yelled them off the lake, in french, lol. Then he paddled us around for 5 hours; we'd always insist on taking over but he was like "You boys pay good money for this trip" and refused to let us take the oars. He brought his rod and was tossing spoons with us, when he had a pike on he'd try to pass the rod to us.."no way" we replied, your catch. At least he had a little fun with us on that one.

 

[Bigfisherman]

Pike taste great, I personally don't keep them but I've eaten them(on trip north way back) and when they are fresh taste almost as good as any other fish.

 

[Bigfisherman]

That would make a mess of the livewell! :mrgreen:

Here's a couple tips I learned on culling pike when I was up on a trip to Kipawa, QC.

When you decide you want to keep a pike for the pan, upon catching (kinda guesome), use a sharp knife and sever from the gills up to the backbone - cutting the nerves from the brain to the body. Pike, when stressed due to the catching and being captive on a stringer, release a toxin in their flesh that gives 'em more slime and that "fishy" taste in the meat. The all to gruesome cut will mitigate this.

You have 5 fillets on a pike. Two on each flank, two on each rear (tail to the back fins), and one long one off the back.

Cold water fish are better than warm.

I'd stick with a fish in around the 24inch to 28 inch range.