Pike Fishing

[NortonJoe]

So we do a lot of chatting about walleye fishing but rarely talk about that other species...Pike!  We generally set time aside in the early afternoons, post walleye bite and lunch, to go out to the weed beds and cast for pike.  I think they are a blast to catch.  My "go to" is usually just a silver, weedless spoon; but heck as we all know they will bite nearly anything shiny that hits the water.

I like the pike fishing because it is a little more active; the casting and moving around is a nice change from jigging/still fishing for walleye.  The battle to bring in a big pike is also a lot more fun.  Four years ago, my good bud went up to Lake Watson for the first time with our group.  First day up there we decided to throw some lures around a weed patch in about 4 feet of water. Second or third cast it was WHAM!  He fought it for awhile into the boat and had himself a nice 30" pike.  He hooked the fish and the fish hooked him on Canada!

We do keep pike for eating but I generally like them a little smaller, maybe like 24" or so because the bigger ones seem stronger flavored.  Biggest one ever caught in our group was 42".  So what are your thoughts about that bigger cousin to the walleye?

[Gary S]

  We do a lot of trolling deep diving plugs and catch both pike and walleye.

[Ozzy30]

I like the pike fishing but don't get a chance to do it enough.  I take part in a blind anglers weekend every year, where we take legally blind men and woman out for a day of pike fishing.  They run it as a tournament for our anglers but they always give us a present for our time and equipment and put us up for a weelend.  It's a ball.  We have been running it from Kennebec lake the last couple years

[puckster_guy]

 I enjoy pike fishing and eating them too. A little more flavour in them then walleye but not much. I get therm trolling for walleye all the time. 7 to 10 pounds is perfect for eating and they clean easier then smaller ones.

[fishtildark]

I love the pike fishing. we do cast for them during the down time for walleye but also get them both trolling for walleye and jigging. Favorite lures.... daredevle and bucktail spinner in red and white. I have a couple rapalas that are pretty much trash after a pike encounter. over the years have had a number that were hooked fishing for walleye but no wire leader meant no chance in landing them. I do agree that they are pretty good eating, especially the first day caught but they dont seem to travel well.
learned over the years that a boca grip is really a big help rather than netting or grabbing them.

[Jay Thomas]

Ditto on using a boga grip! My biggest northern was a 43 inch gator caught while bottom bouncing for walleye. It took about a dozen minutes to land that northern and at least 10 minutes to revive her before release.

Jay

[Hodgey1]

I caught a 30” pike walleye fishing near Alwaki and couldn’t revive it. I kept it, not wanting to waste it. Brought back to home and was pleasantly surprised how good it was to eat.

[NortonJoe]

I also think that they are pretty tasty...some of the guys complain that they are strong tasting but I've never really noticed that.  Once I learned how to remove the Y-bones it made them even better. I will also throw in my agreement regarding the boca grips...an indispensable tool now!

[limacharley]

If you enjoy eating pike-make sure to watch how to clean them into 5 easy boneless fillets on you tube.

Once you have your fillets, soak them in salt water for a few hours, place them on a baking sheet, season with lemon pepper seasoning, top off with a slice of lemon.
Bake for XX minutes (depends on the size of your fillets).

Enjoy

[NortonJoe]

@limacharley I have watched videos of the five filet method but haven't tried it yet.  Definitely be good for in camp and I'll have to try it next year!

[Hodgey1]

If you enjoy eating pike-make sure to watch how to clean them into 5 easy boneless fillets on you tube.

That is the video I watched to do mine, it worked great.

[Jay Thomas]

Once you have your fillets, soak them in salt water for a few hours

Hi limacharley,

If you wouldn't mind, what purpose does soaking the pike fillets in salt water satisfy? Do you have to soak the fillets in unsalted water afterwards to remove much of the salt? Thanks in advance.

Jay

[Gary S]

  I also use the 5 filet method, once you get a feel for it you won't have any/many bones. While on our trips we tend to eat fish every evening but don't bring any home. The majority of the time the fish are caught, cleaned, fried, and eaten the same day and we treat the pike and eyes the same. After fileting and skinning the filets are cut into pieces about 2-3 inches long, shaken in a ziplock with a flour and old bay mixture then deep fried, never had a complaint.

[limacharley]

Once you have your fillets, soak them in salt water for a few hours

Hi limacharley,

If you wouldn't mind, what purpose does soaking the pike fillets in salt water satisfy? Do you have to soak the fillets in unsalted water afterwards to remove much of the salt? Thanks in advance.

Jay

I find pike fishy tasting so the salt reduces that. I use salted water on lake trout too. No you won't taste the salt afterwards.

[Hodgey1]

The majority of the time the fish are caught, cleaned, fried, and eaten the same day

Thats the way to eat fish! Fresh as can be. That sounds really good.

I have stopped bringing fish home also. I eat everything while at camp..