Walleye Taste vs Northern Pike Taste?

[MSA]

This is how you know your fish is fresh! also notice all that red meat on the fillet, if you don't cut every single bit of that off it will completely ruin the flavor, and it will be even worse if you freeze the fillets with any of that meat attached.
[video=youtube;6pUirg03L4A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=6pUirg03L4A[/video]

 

[lunkerslayer]

This is how you know your fish is fresh! also notice all that red meat on the fillet, if you don't cut every single bit of that off it will completely ruin the flavor, and it will be even worse if you freeze the fillets with any of that meat attached.
[video=youtube;6pUirg03L4A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=6pUirg03L4A[/video]

:;:exactly
That why I only take the cheeks on those pig female walleyes:;:thumbsup

 

[johnr]

I like walleye best.
never tried catfish until last summer, it was delicious.

 

[deleted member]

like i said before, we eat a lot of them in the winter. for you winter fishing folk, try this some time: let them freeze just enough so that they aren't slimy anymore but aren't frozen stiff and then fillet them. they will likely still be alive. debone them. place in a bucket with some ice cold lake water. slosh around. empty water. repeat one or two more times. they eventually become remarkably firm and white. even without taking off the the red meat, they are delicious. i would guess we catch 30 pike/year in the ice house. about half of them get canned or go to relatives. the other half are fried up within a day or two right in the house. and there are no complaints.

 

[Up Y'oars]

I don't mind harvesting northerns if the weather and size of the fish suits the flavor. If I haul in a snot rocket in mid-July to Labor Day weekend, they go back to the water and the netting is not allowed inside of my boat. I'll be happy to net 'em for you but you're going to bend over the gunwale to remove the hook(s). The pike should be less than 10lbs if it's making it to the cleaning station.... The net also gets a three-dip rinse before coming back to the carpeting.:;:duel


I'll eat either species. My cousin has a great pickling recipe for pike that keeps well in canning jars. Now, when I catch northern, I will filet them and freeze for Ron on a future pickling weekend.

Instead of fighting for such a small piece of meat around the outside of the y-bones, I prefer forgetting about that process and do a three slab filet: one across the top, from head to dorsal fin; side filet from back of dorsal fin to the tail; and the other side from dorsal fin to the tail. These three filet pieces can be knocked out in 30-seconds flat.

 

[Davey Crockett]

Lunker, I'll have to try cheezits , I like mixing things up when I am the one tending to the tablefare . Ever tried Panko breading ? I like crispy stuff so I really like that stuff. Also the last couple of times I made beer batter I used Chelada instead of regular beer , Yum yum

 

[Still_Learnin']

Im surprised by the results so far. I get lots of greif and shit at cleaning stations for keeping and cleaning Pike, catfish. pretty mush anything but walleye. Its interesting to see that so far most of us prefer the flavor of pike

Heck! I get the same grief for catching a bass!

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White bass is delicious. Just ate a big one last night. Shorthead redhorse and white sucker in the spring from the river are great as well, I agree.

Growing up in Oklahoma, we all ate white bass. They are the state fish down there and are in every little mud hole like pike are up here. I always thought they tasted just fine, especially once you shaved the red out.

 

[KDM]

Every pike over 3 lbs I catch in the Sheyenne gets cleaned. I have a very good friend that doesn't get out fishing much that LOVES pike. I just fillet them and take the ribs out and deliver. She does the rest and the fish is usually eaten by her and her family in a day or two regardless of how much I bring them. She has a standing order for any pike I don't want. It's a nice arrangement.

 

[Duckslayer100]

I'm a big fan of pike. My grandfather taught me how to debone them back when I was 10 or 11, and since then I've been making clean, boneless fillets that get fried up right alongside walleyes, crappies or gils. I've never once been told they taste anything but delicious.

I don't salt any fish fillets, but after cleaning I do soak them in fresh water in the fridge for an hour or so. That seems to draw the blood out just fine and firms it up a bit.

Heck, just last night my son (he's 2) and I polished off a package of pike. The kid ate more than I did!

 

[Still_Learnin']

I've only had pike a few times. The first time, a less than experienced friend served me some baked pike that was flat out awful. But I don't really count that time because I fried it up each time after that and thought it was delicious. When I did fry it up, I cooked it with walleye and perch and didn't notice any major flavor differences between the three. So I guess if I were to pick the tastier fish between walleye and pike, I would probably go with pike. But like others have said, I'm not really interested in trying to clean them. Plus, my livewells are built for bass. A decent size pike (or walleye for that matter) doesn't fit so well.

All that aside, nothing in freshwater compares to crappie for me.

 

[Davey Crockett]

My mom soaked fish in milk a lot when we were growing up , I just googled it and it's supposed to make it taste better and take care of the odor when frying. Can anyone confirm that it works ?

 

[raider]

My mom soaked fish in milk a lot when we were growing up , I just googled it and it's supposed to make it taste better and take care of the odor when frying. Can anyone confirm that it works ?

got a buddy who always does this with eyes for 3-5 days... i do the same with water in the fridge...

after a couple beers, they all taste good...

 

[Lycanthrope]

One way to help manage pike slime is to fillet them as soon as they are caught. I usually do this ice fishing, konk them on the head and zip the meat off right away, toss it in the cooler. Wait till I get home to remove the Y's and ribs tho...

 

[Redneck1]

It's nice to see some positive responses to pike for a change. Pike aren't any harder to clean than any other fish. The 4" tail sections are always boneless, then remove the rib cage and the bottom half of the fillet is boneless and save the top "backstrap" Y bone piece for pickling. In fact if you add a tablespoon of white vinegar to the water when cleaning pike it eliminates any slime from the fillet if that bothers you. PIKE TASTE GOOD BECAUSE THEY LIVE OFF OF PERCH! Any fish caught in N.D lakes during warm summer months will be less tasty that the nice ice cold water fish.

 

[svnmag]

My mom soaked fish in milk a lot when we were growing up , I just googled it and it's supposed to make it taste better and take care of the odor when frying. Can anyone confirm that it works ?

I've had good results with Sprite. In fact I go one step more and freeze fish in it.

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MSA should get several Thumbs Up.