Hey firetiger, I'm with you on pike. The trick of course is to filet it boneless. Most people I know won't mess with them but I think they are excellent, especially the firmer texture. As for the blood that's what a sharp knife is for. I always get rid of any red meat. I have never tried adding honey to egg. Sounds interesting.

My favorite seasoning is called POTLATCH. You can get it at most Sonoma Williams stores. They use it on salmon typically but it is excellent on all fish (and of course chicken). It will run you about $10 but you just need a little. It goes a long way. Try it!

Hot grease release usually into peanut oil. Fillets get dipped in a mixture of egg and honey, then dredged through ground saltine crackers/flour. Did the blind taste test on walleye vs. pike a few years ago. Pike won out every time!

At home I like to prepare drawn stream trout rubbed with olive oil and cilantro, then stuffed with lemon, lime, and orange slices before going on the grill. Might give it a try on a small lake trout this year.

Bleeding out fish will give you a nice clean white fillet (‘cept lakers of course). I’ve never done it in the Q cause I figured it would make a mess. Would you do it from shore at camp? Maybe you could sever a gill and toss them back out on the stringer for a few minutes?  

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 I would be willing to bet, that more deer and black bear have been taken in ( lower 48) with the Winchester 30-30 and Remington .35 than any other caliber. I laugh at all these guys caring Magnum caliber rifles with there vicious recoil for deer hunting in particular. It's all about shot placement not necessarily caliber. My Irish born Grandfather on my Mother's side used to get a deer every year with a single shot .22 rifle. That was back before the DNR set minimal caliber standards. He was the head Greens Keeper at a local golf course, that in that day was in the "boonies". He would take a big wool blanket and a oil lantern into the woods and sit against a stump with the blanket over him and the lantern keeping him warm. Sooner or later a big buck would wander close with curiosity and Granddad would pop him in the head, a quick clean kill shot. All the club members who were also hunters couldn't believe he got a bigger buck every year than they did and with a .22 short too boot

Well ... I admit I always thank the deer and apologize to it before I field dress it. But I've never thought to do the same with a fish. Does that make me a species bigot?

But yes, I agree with the comments about letting fish die on a stringer and then wondering why the taste was affected. We often fillet and bag before portaging, or, if staying in camp, putting them in a sealed plastic container and submerging it with a rock on top to hold it down.

And maybe we're getting too deep in the proverbial weeds here, but do people have recipes they prefer for one type of fish over another? A la fry the smallmouth but poach the walleye?

-- kypaddler

And ST, speaking of .35 Remington rifles, my second-oldest sister  recently decided to go deer hunting with her husband, my hunting mentor and outdoors spiritual partner of 30 years. She shot two deer during her second day in the woods with a pawnshop .35. She brought the picture -- blonde braids, camo-painted face and all -- to school to show her students. They were in awe but not surprised, being as her classroom is full of outdoors "artifacts," including a beaver-chewed stick from the Q and pieces of a pike spine.

I always thank my fish before I smack their little craniums with the back of my knife and proceed to butcher and eat them. It's a circle of life thing, just as I was raised, what goes around comes around. I thank campsites as I leave too ... hey, couldn't hurt.

I'll try youtube sometime. Near the bottom? One of the reasons I stopped taking fish home is I never watched the guy who cut out the gills so they'd be legal at the border.

PhantomJug wrote on Nov 23^rd, 2009 at 9:40pm:


Yep. Things die so others may live, circle of life kind of thing. Well in theory anyway. And since I dont hunt it gives me a chance to participate.

Big medicine up there, dontcha know.

Of course none of this explains my somewhat casual attitude towards C&R.

I believe KF is correct about the chemicals being released in a poorly handled fish. I see people hauling a loaded stringer of fish down the lake or across portages all the time. I think they would enjoy the fresh fish taste more if they stopped and filleted/cleaned the fish as he mentioned, and stored in a wettable canvas or cloth bag.
I hauled a clean and gutted laker down the length of Sturgeon on a 90 degree day, stopping occasionally to re-soak my canvas bank coin bag I use as a "cooler". Kept it under my seat out of the sun. Was still cold too the touch hours later when I grilled it.

 I agree with the comments about properly aged/ taken venison.
Milos Cihelka, who was the owner/chef at the famous Golden Mushroom restaurant in the Detroit area, was born and trained in Europe and his place was famous for it's wild game menu. He was/is a hunter and in Europe, they "age" all their game, from small to large.

 My late Dad was a life long deer hunter. He wouldn't even let me go until I could put every shot from my weapon of choice into a 9" pie plate at 100 yds offhand. He said that a true sportsman had a obligation to take his game as humanely as possible. A true hunter makes sure his marksmanship skills stay good enough to make a quick/clean kill. Sadly in this 24/7 no-time society we live in, you see guys hitting the woods for deer season with 0 range time and relying on FIREPOWER not skill to take their deer. Dad grew up during the depression. He hunted with a .22 for small game on the farm they owned.  Shells cost money, which was in very short supply then. His Dad would give him a half dozen .22 shells, and he was expected to bring back the same amount in rabbits/squirrels or birds. He hunted for years with a single shot rifle until us kids bought him a lever action .35 Remington. Dad said and science now shows, a wounded animal that you have to track and kill or one that takes multiple hits before you can bring it down, often has tough "gamey" tasting meat. Sometimes the feed is the culprit, but often it's the result of the Adrenaline that has flooded its body as it flees for it's life. I'm sure the same thing happens in a poorly handled fish? Maybe not Adrenaline, but some equally damaging chemical.

 I know people who say they "hate" fish, because it smells/tastes "fishy"
 Then when they have fresh, well prepared fish, they can't believe how good it is

 

BrownTrout01 wrote on Nov 23^rd, 2009 at 5:54pm:


You thank the fish?

HAS ANYBODY EVER TRIED WHITE WINE AND HERB MARINATE ON YOUR FISH FOR ABOUT TEN MINUTES.IT HAS 1/4 CUP OF OLIVE OIL IN IT SO AFTER IT MARINATES YOU POUR IT ALL IN YOUR SKILLET.THE WALLYS WILL CRAWL OUT OF THE PAN.BEST I HAVE EVER TRIED.I LOVE SHORE LUNCH BATTER BUT JUST SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

[quote author=db link=1258519214/20#22 date=1258960086]How, exactly, do you cut the gills? Angle? Where? Pretty quick death I assume? [quote]

Yes exactly as OS described. Not sure if hitting them on top of the head always kills them, but it does seem to knock them out. I don't enjoy doing it, but it seems like the quick and humane thing to do. I also thank the fish for providing me with its life.