Coeur d'Alene Pike

Warf and I went for a little pedal (and paddle) this morning.  A couple of little smallmouths, and these guys.  Warf's went 33", mine was a measly 30", but fun to catch on light smallmouth tackle.  We do have a few fish in Idaho.

nice!

Nice Pike!  But also a nice fish cleaning station!  Show us a couple more pictures of that piece of equipment.

Pete, believe it or not, it is just a fold up camp kitchen that I have had for years.  This is my first time cleaning pike.  I definitely need some bigger knives and a large cutting board!

Well done and great photos

This is my first time cleaning pike.  I definitely need some bigger knives and a large cutting board!

For medium-sized pike, lake trout, and other fish, I had a plastic supply company cut me a 36 inch long cutting board.





For bigger fish, I have to go to a longer stand-up board with folding legs.  That's a 43-inch 24-pound pike.



An electric carving knife does a great job of removing fillets and skin from big pike.  But as they get up in the 40 inch range, you definitely need a jumbo-sized knife.

Pete, where would this plastic supply company be?  And...how are you preserving your pike?  Reading tells me that they don't freeze well, but I'm hoping the vacuum sealer helps with that.

There's a couple of plastic suppliers which sell and fabricate high density polyethelene (HDPE) in Missoula, and I'm sure that there are a bunch of them in the Coeur D'Alene and Spokane area.  You can buy appropriately sized scraps, or have them saw a piece the size you want off a big sheet.

there is a good plastic supply company in CD'A, on 3rd or 4th St. I think, they can cut you about anything...

Pete...how are you preserving your pike?  Reading tells me that they don't freeze well, but I'm hoping the vacuum sealer helps with that.

Pike is a very tasty fish, it freezes just fine, and because it's a popular fish there are a lot of terrific pike recipes.  But you have to take the skin off, because it tastes nasty. If anybody ever tells you that they tried cooking pike and it tasted terrible, ask them if they removed the skin.  Some people also remove the thin reddish layer underneath the skin, but I don't object to the taste of that layer. 

I used to freeze pike in water, but now I vacuum package it, and I think that works better.

The other thing you need to do with pike is remove the "Y" bones.  There are a lot of videos on the internet which do a good job of showing how to remove Y bones.

Pete and Warf, thanks for the info.  I did get the "y" bones out.  The "5 fillet" method seemed to work best for me.  Inexperience and a lack of proper tools made the filets look like they were done by a blind man with a butter knife, but they are quite tasty.

I did get the "y" bones out.  The "5 filet" method seemed to work best for me.  Inexperience and a lack of proper tools made the filets look like they were done by a blind man with a butter knife, but they are quite tasty.

I take off the strip of meat above the Y bones in one piece, and I leave the fillet below the Y bones in one piece.  But as you can tell by trolling through the Youtube videos, there are a lot of different ways to whack up pike.  As you figure out where the strip of Y bones is located and oriented, your de-boning will go faster, and your de-boned fillets will look more attractive.  Having a really sharp fillet knife is very helpful.

I want know about the wooden kayak.

It's from Jem Watercraft plans, it's the Freedom 13. A great 13'X30"  fishing yak, stable, fast with a big cockpit for easy in and out. Weight is 52 lbs empty of tackle. Any more questions?? Very easy build with plywood.