Seems like there's a wide range of opinion out there on eating pike.  So do you eat them regularly, occasionally, or not at all?  If you don't eat them is it more because of the hassle of dealing with the bones or you just don't like the taste?

If you do eat pike, please make a second choice in the poll indicating whether or not you debone them when you fillet your catch.

What's your best method for dealing with the bones if you do eat pike?

I eat the ones that get very deeply hooked.  Sometimes, even without barbs they swallow the hook down to their tail and getting it out will cause their death.  These guys get eaten though I would prefer a walleye.

I don't mind NP especially baked w/cream of mushroom soup, butter and breadcrumbs (I haven't tried this in the Q). My issue, even though I consider myself very good with a fillet knife is the bones. My father used to fillet a NP as any other fish and "zipper" the Y bones out of the fillet. He would end up with 4 fillets from one fish, bone free. I will give this a try again on the trip this year and see how it goes. Worst case is I make some gulls very happy with what is left.

J

I prefer walleye mainly for the bone issue but do not mind pike up there at all.  I have had die hard walleye fans do a blind taste test in the BW/Q and at least half the time they choose pike over the walleye.  I do not eat the pike in southern MN though.  They are much more oily than up north.

Eat the hammerhandles and you don't need to worry about the bones.

Nope, too much hassle with the bones.  It's not tasty enough for me to bother.  Also not a species I usually target.

I don't fish for Pike, but as we all know they're not picky and I've caught my share like it or not.

 I never ate them before I came to the QJ and read about how others enjoyed the firm steak like flesh and flavor that's better than you might think and on a par with Walleye's in some peoples opinions.

Biggest problem was I didn't know/understand how to fillet them properly :-[ I have an older copy of Furtman's BW/Q fishing guide and he has a series of illustrations on how to fillet.

I never knew that you could get 5 fillets from NP.
I still don't target them, but when I get one that's so deeply hooked it won't survive, I'll use what I can eat and give the gulls/turtles the rest.

The easiest fillets are the one running from the back of the head to dorsal fin and the two on either side of the tail. These fillet like any other fish. The big fillets on the side with the dreaded Y bones are a little harder to get to, but I'm better than I was before with the little practice I've had. A razor sharp knife is the key in filleting any fish, but especially with the fillet technique on the Y bone fillets. A sure touch helps a well.

I like Pike in Chowders as it's firm and doesn't get all mealy like Walleye can if cooked to long. Pan searing with a seasoning of choice is excellent as well. NP at least the ones I've had in the Q are not oily at all.
So a little oil is need to keep the fillets from sticking. High heat to sear and not turning to soon like you would a beef steak is a good technique.

Plenty of video's/how-to's on the web. If you haven't tried them, you might be surprised how good they are. :)

The method described by Furtman and that ST mentions above is a very effective way to easily fillet the Northern Pike.  I used to not eat them because of the bones, but having been schooled in the 5 fillet method they are now as easy as any other fish.

I don't mind Pike at all.  To eat, I mean.  The problem is that they tend to be bigger than two can eat and they're just so slimy that I'd  as soon avoid them given the choice.  There have been times, however, when it was Pike or nothing.  The meat from northern lakes isn't bad at all and perfect for chowders and stews.  Filleting them really isn't as big a deal as some may think.  I do the 5 fillet method.  Once you take the fillet off the back it's easy to see the Y bones and if your knife is sharp it's not much different at that point from filleting any other fish.

They taste OK.  I stink at cleaning them though, so I only do so when a kid want's to eat what they caught. I need to watch PJ de-bone one, 'cause those youtube videos just don't cut it!  
-Tom

Disclaimer:
I do a website for a guy with a   (You need to Login or Register DVD. I've never tried filleting them like he shows but I actually got a lot out of the videos. Quite a bit more than watching the hack job YouTube videos that have decimated his business.

Pike are slimy and their slime makes everything stink. If I get stuck with a bleeder, I'll do three fillets keeping as much slime off the meat as possible and I'll cut that back fillet into strips so they skin easier.

On group trips we'd often steak and poach 'em for po' mans lobster. It's pretty hard to miss a y-bone when it's intact and still attached to the spine.

I have to agree with Kleiser and would even say if you took a bass, an eye and a northern cut up in bite size pieces so as to disguise their shape differences and poached 'em, anyone would be hard pressed to tell the difference. The more they taste like fish, the more they decomposed between filleting and cooking.

db wrote on May 5^th, 2011 at 6:10am:

The more they taste like fish, the more they decomposed between filleting and cooking.

I would say the amount of decomposition between dying and filleting is a bigger factor in taste.  

I've had much better luck with filleting fish before they die and then hauling their fillets around for a few hours than I have had with hauling dead fish around for a few hours and then filleting.  A ziploc of fillets in a wet canvas bag and kept out of the sun works quite nicely when travelling.  At camp I'll take that same setup, put a small rock in the canvas bag, tie a rope around it, and throw it out into the deepest water I can find around camp.  Never had a problem with "fishy" tasting fillets doing things this way.

As soon as I've caught enough for dinner, the fillet knife comes out, whether or not I'm done fishing.  About the only time I violate this rule anymore is if I'm staying relatively stationary in cool water while I fish and the walleyes on the stringer are plenty lively.  As soon as I'm ready to move, though, the jig is up for my catch.

pike have a bit more of a fishy taste than walleye if you dont take care of them properly. i always skin fish i clean (aside lake trout because when you bake them, the skin helps keep in the flavor) because i think it helps with the flavor and texture. also, if you leave the skin on, the breading doesnt stick as well to the fillet and falls off and burns in your oil. for pike, i cut them into fish sticks and the Y bones dissolve out when you fry them. a quick rinse in salt water helps cut the slime and fishy taste too. up in the Q i avoid pike unless they are deeply hooked (which is really rare because i use mostly single hooks on my plugs and spoons). the pike we get up there are way too big to eat anyway. plus we have never had an issue catching a meals worth of walleye, at least so far in my quetico career.

my thoughts about eating pike go beyond just the taste/hastle of cleaning them. since i was a youngin'(still am by most accounts), my father taught me about fish population sustainability. he told me to release the big ones so they could pass on their genes and make more healthy fish for years down the road. granted, this was in a smaller lake that we live on, so my efforts have more impact. up in the Q, the fish populations seem extremely healthy and vital. i release the pike because they help eliminate the weaker walleyes and help keep their populations strong and healthy. because the walleye populations are so great up there i dont feel the need to protect the walleyes at all costs like my father preached to me as a child.

I admit to a love affair with Pike. I love the attitude, the look they have. I'm big, I'm bad, and I know it. There's just something about them. I personally love to eat pike. I won't mess with one unless it is decent size. A good one gives you primo back straps of nice thick firm meat. Of course you need a few folk around to warrant putting the knife to one. I hate cleaning the little ones as the bones are so thin it makes it a bit tougher to do things right. I like to just get on with it.

here is a side tale you might find amusing........somewhere earlier we were talking about talking smack and fishing. Our offshore 4 day trip is coming up and the 3 young guys on the starboard side of the boat took to calling themselves "Team Tampa" as they hail from that neck of the woods.

They in turn suggested the port side be called "Team Geriatrics"...........OUCH!!........."HMMMMMM", said I, "OK, I'll play"...........the port side is officially "Team Depends" and our motto is "we never leave the rail for anything" ;D.

I am going to take a great deal of pleasure in kickin their tails ;).

Now where were we before we were so rudely interrupted. Oh yes, Esox Lucius. Even the name is cool. A good fish in my book!

My experiences match those of many others here.

I'd rather catch one than eat one.  And if I'm going to eat one, I want a surgeon with me to do the fileting (sp).  It is an art that I have not mastered.

PR

We normally eat what we catch.  I would much rather eat almost anything else, not because of the taste, but the bones.  

Amen Paddle_Guy.  We don't fish a ton, but if a pike on the mixed stringer makes enough for a meal, then we don't mind.  Pretty darn good eating, but the bones are a hassle.

A 26-28" pike is right size for 2 adults.  I'll slab either side off, like you would with a trout, keeping the knife as tight to the back as possible (I don't do the top of the back separate).  Skinning the fillets is next.  Then the boneless tail section comes off.  Then I cut the length of the fillet along the lateral line, the top strips will be boneless.  The Y-bones remain in whats left.  The technique is simply to fillet the meat off each side of the Y-bones.  Locate the top of the fillet by feeling for the row of bones that will protrude as a result of cutting through them during the primary slabbing.  Start your cut along the row of protruding bones.  You will be slicing the meat down off the row of bones with the length of the blade, rather than driving the point of the knife down through.  You will not waste much of the fish if you decide salvaging this portion is not worth the hassle, maybe 20% of the sum total.  But if you take the time to practice, acquiring the skill is rewarding enough.  So what if you butcher a few.  The scraps fry up as tasty as "elegant" looking pieces.  

-YB

I never ate Northern anywhere until I learned the 5 fillet method.  It works really well on fish 2-5 or so pounds, once you get the hang of it.  Whatever fish we catch is the fish of the day at dinner.

Pike are certainly more difficult to fillet than walleye and bass, but they are very good eating.  

I've been putting the knife to them since my Dad taught me how to fillet when I was around 10 years old.  My dad really didn't know how to fillet a pike, so what I learned I learned mostly from the camp owners at various Ontario fishing camps where our family vacationed while I was a kid.  There are quite a few different methods for cleaning a pike.  I don't have one "go to" method.  Some of the better advice that I was given years ago is to not worry about getting every last piece of meat off of the fish; be careful to make sure you avoid the bones even if that means sacrificing a little extra meat.  

As others have said, don't bother with keeping a pike unless it's at least a couple of pounds.  Below that weight, the amout of meat one gets for the effort exerted is not a good exchange.

- Dave