eating devils pike...

[Duckslayer100]

i'd keep pike and could live off of them but i can't figure out how to debone them. Its not for the lack of trying.. i think i've watched every video and have tried every approach but can't seem to figure it out. After butchering them and wasting meat trying i've basicaly given up. Anybody have a foul proof system?

I think the 5-fillet method is overly complicated. The way grandpappy taught me was to fillet it just like a walleye: down the back, OVER the ribs, not through, and then down the belly and out the tail. The only bones left are the Y bones. You can fell them running laterally starting from the gill side of the fillet to about 3/4 of the length toward the tail. I just feel along with by non-knife hand and follow with the blade right along the edge. First one side, then the other. Throw that strip away, and you have a totally boneless piece of meat.

It's super simple.

 

[Davy Crockett]

The biggest thing for me is to try not to be in a hurry, I do the regular fillet job and then cut the slab into 3 or 4 inch chunks and use a fork to hold the chunks in place when I cut the rib and Y bones out . The fork works good for the tail section , I cut the fillet all the way off and hold it with the fork while taking the skin off. it's easy to see the Y bones from a cross cuts.

 

[Davy Crockett]

i'd keep pike and could live off of them but i can't figure out how to debone them. Its not for the lack of trying.. i think i've watched every video and have tried every approach but can't seem to figure it out. After butchering them and wasting meat trying i've basicaly given up. Anybody have a foul proof system?

Use this as a reference to where the Y bones are and try it like I explained it in post # 22 With smaller chunks like that you can fillet the Y bones out just like you do with the rib bones , 2 quick cuts and the Y bones are gone. Keep with it you will get used to it with a little practice.

 

[deleted member]

i take 2 fillets. take skin off. take off belly bones if i left em when i filleted them. cut off the boneless tail meat. then remove the y bones from the remaining two pieces of fish. seems rather simple really. i've got a question regarding the method shown in that video. those back pieces do not look like they would be very easy to cut the skin/scales off. how do they do that? seems like that part alone would make that method a big waste of time and possibly more fish.

 

[svnmag]

Davey,

That was the best/most simplistic tutorial I've seen to date. I go one step further and totally discard the gut cavity (ribs).

I'm squeamish about mercury and stuff. I "figure" this is where it would settle. I'm squeamish about eating fish in the first damn place...I wish I was different about fish and onions. Life would be more simple.

 

[Duckslayer100]

i take 2 fillets. take skin off. take off belly bones if i left em when i filleted them. cut off the boneless tail meat. then remove the y bones from the remaining two pieces of fish. seems rather simple really. i've got a question regarding the method shown in that video. those back pieces do not look like they would be very easy to cut the skin/scales off. how do they do that? seems like that part alone would make that method a big waste of time and possibly more fish.

I tried the 5-piece method this winter just to see. What a monumental waste of time and fish flesh. Don't even bother.

 

[love2hunt]

Love2hunt, where you from?

grand forks now

 

[raider]

i watched the sam outdoors video above. i will be honest. that looked like a lot more work that removing the y bones. once a fella gets the hang of it. removing Y bones is relatively quick and easy and you are only dealing with having to take the skin off of two fillets instead of 5. i am not the most experienced at it. but, i am 99% certain i could beat him in a race and leave less waste when its all done.

i agree... the vid i posted was the best i've seen, and the first 1 that made sense to me... gonna give that one a shot... davey's was also very good, and will b on file...

on the actual meat, whether eye or pike, we soak in water in the fridge for 4 or 5 days, changing water every day, b4 eating or freezing... the blood drains and the flesh firms up and turns opaque... doing this, and cutting the thickness down to more of a 16" walleye thickness will fool almost everyone on the plate...

good vittles...

 

[Norske]

I haven't found the flavor of pike to change with size (walleye get "fishy" once they start adding girth over length), but the texture gets coarser with increased size. I once had "blackened" pike (look up a recipe for blackened redfish), courtesy of a summer help college student at Graham's Island. He claimed that Space Aliens Cajun spice was the best. It was delicious.

 

[NodakBuckeye]

When I have more time I will search for a youtube vid of a guy cleaning pike. Leave skin on fillet then cut above and below y bones to skin then he cut the end of the strip where they stop at tail section and pulls the strip containing y bones out in one quick motion then skin fillets. He makes it look as easy as zipping walleyes. I clean them that way now, pretty slick when he does it.

Actually he pulls from the head end of the fillet, not the tail.