Disclaimer:
I do a website for a guy with a (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) 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.

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.

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

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.

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.