# Eating northern pike?



## Harry1959 (Mar 17, 2011)

Going to an older 90 acre gravel pit Wednesday. Owner says it has pike in it. She thinks they are bad for the food chain and would prefer us keep any we catch. Are they really bad? They say the same about musky, but I don’t think musky hurt anything. I’m thinking if there are plenty of shad, the pike wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. Also how do pike taste? Thanks


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## island troller (Nov 14, 2007)

They are a very good mild white meat. Got to fillet the y bones out
Can google that.


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

It'll be one of the best fish you've ever eaten.


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## Raider16 (Oct 19, 2016)

Pike perch walleye, pike wins imo!


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## DHower08 (Nov 20, 2015)

Pike is one of the best fish you will eat. If you don't want them I'd come take care of them for ya


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

All of the above comments are correct! I don't believe pike can destroy other species. They are cannibalistic as well as non-selective feeders. There are some good video on U Tube for cleaning pikr.


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## island troller (Nov 14, 2007)

I agree I don't think Pike can destroy other species but if you can catch one close to 30 inches or more go for it. Anything smaller is tough to fillet the Y bones out.


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## BWW (Oct 28, 2017)

Pike is excellent eating. However, I do not have the patience (or skill) for removing the y-bones. 

When I catch a bunch of pike I will pickle it. The pickling process dissolves the bones, so you can clean the pike just like it was any other fish. 

When I was first offered pickled pike, I thought it sounded disgusting. I was wrong. Sweet, sour, firm -- delicious. Let me know if you are interested and I will pass along my recipe.


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## Harry1959 (Mar 17, 2011)

Thank you all for the responses. Am excited to try out the new lake. Will definitely keep a couple if we catch them


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## $diesel$ (Aug 3, 2018)

Excellent to eat. Look on you tube for the "3 fillet" method. You don't have to worry about "y" bones, but you do loose some of the edible fish.


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## DHower08 (Nov 20, 2015)

5 boneless fillets are very easy to get just take your time on them not hard


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## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

Not sure what the water is like in the gravel pit but it’s been my experience that if you catch pike in clear water, they taste great. If you catch them in murky water they taste “swampy”


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## Pike (Apr 7, 2004)

Here is a great video on how to fillet a pike:
http://www.in-fisherman.com/recipes/cleaning-care/cleaning-catch-y-bone-removal/


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## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

My dad and I kept my first pike of 32 inches from a lake in MI when I was 16. My dad and I removed head, gutted fish and scraped off the scales and fins. then we cleaned the body and cut it into 1 inch or so think steaks, grilled them up at a camp and I can still taste how good it was. The Y bones come off easy when cooked and are large enough not to get lost and eat one. 

So my conclusion, Yeh they taste good, and multiple ways to clean them.
Rickerd


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## gumbygold (Apr 9, 2013)

Better than walleye!


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## tomb (Oct 9, 2004)

Good as long as they're not in warm shallow water feeding primarily on frogs.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk


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## leeabu (Apr 10, 2004)

Best smoked fish I ever made was northern


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## Harry1959 (Mar 17, 2011)

I fish a couple days a week. Just no waters with pike. I had no idea they were comparable to walleye. Thanks for all the info. Pike, the y bone video was real good.


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## undertaker (Jan 20, 2013)

Top eating fish on my list, I like to bleed the out just like walleye. White big flakes of meat. Once ya take the y bone out a couple times you get the hang of it, sharp knife is the key


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

nasty, tilapia taste better..


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## Gene Z (Oct 10, 2015)

The key to pike is to eat them fresh. They do not taste nearly as good if you freeze them. Like others have said, they are one of the best fish and I would choose them over walleye.

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## DHower08 (Nov 20, 2015)

ezbite said:


> nasty, tilapia taste better..


Tilapia tastes like moldy dog **** . Pike and small mouth are two of my favorite fish to eat


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## PapawSmith (Feb 13, 2007)

DHower08 said:


> Tilapia tastes like moldy dog **** . Pike and small mouth are two of my favorite fish to eat


Haha, Talapia out of northern ponds, like mine, taken in October are outstanding. That is if the mink don’t get to them first when they start to go dormant from the cold water. Pike is outstanding too if you can manage the filet process, which really isn’t too bad. Like others have said it is very firm, very white, flakey meat with outstanding flavor. That said, I have never eaten one over 30” or so in length nor have I had one caught out of very warm water, both these I’m sure would impact the quality.


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## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

Have eaten many pike - never any bigger than about 24". No surprise they taste best when you whack'em on the head & pitch 'em into the frying pan....especially if you're sitting on a rocky island in Canada. 

2 old timers told me that the bigger they get, the more "gamey" they taste. One, a Hall of Fame guide, used to offer to clean any 20-22" pike that were unlucky enough to get hung on my musky baits. "That's the perfect size to eat," he'd say.


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## DHower08 (Nov 20, 2015)

I've eaten many 30-38" Pike and they taste excellent. Hate cleaning the smaller ones


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## Raider16 (Oct 19, 2016)

Larger pike are really good baked and stuffed with potatos, onions peppers tomatoes and whatever grabs your taste, just gut em and remove the mud vein and the meat falls off the carcass, season to taste


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## $diesel$ (Aug 3, 2018)

PapawSmith said:


> Haha, Talapia out of northern ponds, like mine, taken in October are outstanding. That is if the mink don’t get to them first when they start to go dormant from the cold water. Pike is outstanding too if you can manage the filet process, which really isn’t too bad. Like others have said it is very firm, very white, flakey meat with outstanding flavor. That said, I have never eaten one over 30” or so in length nor have I had one caught out of very warm water, both these I’m sure would impact the quality.


No way, bro. Check it out on you/tube. Talapia are raised in China in a giant tank. They are 4 or 5 different "trash fish". It is recomended not to eat them at all! 

Don't believe me,......check it out.


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## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

Swai 

And these guys talking up eating big pike are just subtly boasting about their angling skills....


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## PapawSmith (Feb 13, 2007)

$diesel$ said:


> No way, bro. Check it out on you/tube. Talapia are raised in China in a giant tank. They are 4 or 5 different "trash fish". It is recomended not to eat them at all!Don't believe me,......check it out.


Well, that is something you have to be concerned about if you buy Chinese Talapia, and I don’t do that ever. The Talapia in my pond are bought live early in the spring and they are born inside Ohio fish hatcheries and are about three to five inches long. They grow to 1-3 pounds in my pond thru the summer and we harvest them when they become semi dormant due to the cold October water temps. My Talapia are nothing like the crap you saw on you tube videos. They are omnivores and eat freash and clean food in our pond and therefore are fresh, clean, delicious table fare. 

You are exactly right about the Chinese Talapia, don’t ever buy that or any other Chinese fish, they are raised in deplorable conditions.


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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

Harry1959 said:


> Going to an older 90 acre gravel pit Wednesday. Owner says it has pike in it. She thinks they are bad for the food chain and would prefer us keep any we catch. Are they really bad? They say the same about musky, but I don’t think musky hurt anything. I’m thinking if there are plenty of shad, the pike wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. Also how do pike taste? Thanks


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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

In most small lakes, pike would be the top predator fish and they will eat any other fish they can fit in their mouths. When I was a boy, our landlord had two lakes in north college hill and the pike were eating her baby ducks and geese. She paid us $5 for every pike we caught. That was back in the 50's when $5 bucks bought a lot of candy. Not only did we catch a lot of Pike, the LMB were awesome too!


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## Harry1959 (Mar 17, 2011)

We went to the old pit last week. Probably caught 20 12 inch large mouth. 2 channels 4-6 lbs. saw several perch on my aqua view camera. Only caught 1 perch, but it measured 12 inches, which seems real big for non Great Lake perch. No pike and didn’t see any pike. Thanks again for the replies


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## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

Harry1959 said:


> We went to the old pit last week. Probably caught 20 12 inch large mouth. 2 channels 4-6 lbs. saw several perch on my aqua view camera. Only caught 1 perch, but it measured 12 inches, which seems real big for non Great Lake perch. No pike and didn’t see any pike. Thanks again for the replies


Maybe there are no pike? This is pretty far south for cool enough summer water to support them. They don't tolerate warm water as well as their cousins.


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