Pike is a very popular sport fish, but many anglers don’t realize how great they are to eat as well. Many of them get warded off by the fact that they are so bony, and they do not even attempt to clean and eat them.
Luckily there is a simple technique of locating the Y bones, avoiding the other bones in the fish, and getting excellent fillets off of the fish in order to make a great and delicious meal! Here are a few simple steps to filleting a northern pike:
Directions
First, lay the pike down and cut a half-inch down right behind the head. Make sure you are using a big enough knife to comfortably do this and cut right behind the head of the fish where it meets the body.
From there, you will angle the blade towards the tail and cut all the way towards the back fin. Using the backbone as a guide for your knife, it should be in the fish and removing a beautiful filet of fish along the fish’s back. Finish removing this filet once you reach the back fin by angling the blade upwards.
Now it is time to remove the side fillets. First, use your finger to feel for the Y-shaped bones at the top of the fish. These will be your guide to cut into the sides of the fish, and you can even use your knife to lightly cut them to expose them and see them better.
Flip the fish on its side and insert your knife just behind the head again. Cut until you hit resistance with the bones, and then angle the knife to run parallel to the fish, using the bones as a guide and removing another great filet of fish. Once you get near the back fin of the fish, you will once again remove the filet by angling the blade upwards.
Flip the fish over and repeat this process for the other side, removing one more filet off the side of the fish. Now that you have some great fillets of Northern pike, you can inspect them and use your fingers or a pair of pliers to remove any bones that you might have accidentally cut and picked up with the fillets. This will usually happen if you cut too deep or at a wrong angle. This is easy to fix, however, as you can easily remove stray bones from the fillets after removing them from the fish.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it! A very simple and easy technique to filleting a northern pike. While other fish might be much easier to clean and filet, pike should not be avoided for the simple fact that they have more bones than other fish.
Northern pike is actually a very delicious species of fish, and the extra effort of removing the fillets are well worth it. Try to remember these simple tricks on your next fishing trip, and try filleting one yourself! Here are several quick videos on how to filet a northern pike that you’ll definitely enjoy!
Don’t forget to check out the Bradley Smoker Blog for more hunting and fishing tips & tricks year round.
