Northern Pike - Caring For and Cleaning Your Catch. Jeff Sundin May
2006
During
seminars, through writing and on the radio this year I’ve devoted a
lot of time encouraging folks to become more interested in how we
manage Northern Pike. I’ve hoped to persuade as many of you as I could
that the Northern Pike deserves a more prominent spot in our day to
day fishing game plans and I’ve tried to convince more of you to
utilize a larger share of this abundant resource. With only a few days
remaining before the 2006 open-water fishing season arrives, I guess
it’s time for the last logical step in the process. Here are some
ideas about how you can clean and prepare Northern Pike for the table
that will help you convert even some of the most skeptical Pike
critics.
When it comes to caring for Pike that you plan to use at home, the
first and probably most important step in assuring a quality meal is
to keep the fish fresh prior to cleaning. Compared to other popular
Minnesota game fish, the flesh of Northern Pike is among the most
likely to deteriorate if care is not taken to keep the fish fresh
right up to the cleaning table. We’re lucky to live in an area where
Pike (especially the smaller ones) are fairly easy to come by. So when
you plan to save some for the table, one great approach is to wait
until later in your fishing trip before you start saving fish to take
home. If you’re only going to be out for a few hours, it won’t really
matter when you capture your Pike. But if you’re out on one of those
marathon sessions when you’re not heading home until the evening
Mosquito run starts up, it will make a big difference. During the last
couple of hours, save enough for a nice meal and you’ll be good to go.
Keeping your fish on ice during transportation is a great way to keep
the table quality high. This is especially important now that so many
of us have become accustomed to boats with wonderful live wells. We do
a great job of keeping the fish alive while we’re on the water. But
it’s easy to forget to plan ahead for the trip back home from the
lake. Using ice to keep fish cold really slows the process of
"breaking down" and preserves the quality of the finished fillets.
Remembering to bring a cooler with plenty of ice really will make a
huge difference and will make you a hero at the dinner table.
Another key factor in preparing gourmet meals using Northern Pike is
to avoid saving Pike in the freezer for periods of time. Like Lake
Trout, Whitefish and many of the salt-water fish, Pike flesh contains
a particular Amino Acid that breaks down fairly quickly while fish are
stored in your freezer. So even if you’ve taken great care to keep the
fish fresh up to this point, you could be disappointed when you pull
out a package of fish that you’ve been saving for that special
occasion. Because Pike are not well suited for long-term storage, at
our house we go with the simple rule of thumb that Pike are to be
eaten immediately. After all, that’s the main point about the fun of
saving Pike to eat in the first place. They’re abundant and easy to
catch, so saving a bunch of them in the freezer really isn’t
necessary. When you get hungry for fresh fish, load up the kids and go
get some more!
Removing the "Y" bones from Pike fillets is part of the mystery that
has kept lots of otherwise willing anglers away from using these fish
in recipes. You have to believe me when I tell you that removing these
small bones is really easy! Even the smallest Pike can be easily
de-boned by anyone who can fillet a Walleye, Crappie or most any other
fish. In fact, even the term "Y" bone is a misnomer because this so
called "Y" bone really isn’t much different than the strip of bones
that you’d remove from a Walleye or any other fish caught in Minnesota
waters. It just happens to be sandwiched into the grain of the fillet
where it is protected from "frying out". Although we refer to these as
"Y" bones, they’re actually shaped more like a checkmark or an
inverted "L". To completely remove this strip of bones requires only a
few simple cuts that follow the edges of this reversed "L" shape.
This is one of those times when it would be easier to do the job than
it is to describe how to do it, but look at the picture of the
finished fillets and you’ll get a good idea of how to follow these
instructions.
Begin by filleting the fish and removing the rib bones as you would a
Walleye or most other freshwater fish. Once you have taken the fillet,
study it for a minute. Take a look at the centerline that divides the
fillet horizontally and notice the row of light bones visible halfway
between this centerline and the top (fishes back) of the fillet. You
will be making one cut on each side of this row of bones. You’ll also
see that the flesh has a "grain" much like the grain of a nice oak
board. The "Y" bones run with this grain and you can use this grain as
a directional guide when making your cuts.
Cut 1: Start by making a cut just above this row of bones that you can
see (and feel). This first cut will be shallow (about ¼ inch) and it
is perpendicular to the fillet. This simple, straight cut is used
mostly as an access cut to get your knife into position for the next
step. Using the tip of your fillet knife, you’ll be able to feel the
edge of your knife contact the bones at the inside corner of this "L"
where the bones turn toward the top of the fillet. When you feel the
knife contacting those bones, take care not to cut through them.
Cut 2: Turn the edge of your knife toward the top of the fillet at
about a 45-degree angle and follow this edge. You’ll be able to see
the bones as you gently slip your knife-edge along this edge. Stop the
cut before you reach the top edge of the fillet.
Cut 3: This is the finishing touch. Start this cut below the row of
bones on the side nearest the centerline and simply follow the same
angle that you used to make cut 2. As the edge of your knife moves
toward the top of the fillet, you’ll begin to feel this strip of bones
peeling away from the rest of the fillet. Trim along these edges as
needed to remove the strip and voila, you’re finished.
So there you have it, all you need is a little faith in yourself, a
fairly good fillet knife and a little practice. You will soon learn
that there is really no trick at all and before long your family and
friends will be standing in line at dinner time waiting to sample your
newest Pike recipe.
