• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Pike back strap bar food.

cb750

cb750

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2017
Messages
1,040
Location
SWO
This recipe has become a family favourite. Not because it accentuates the pikes natural flavour, but because it just tastes so darn good.

Pike are invasive in the lake I often fish in the summer. So, pretty much everyone we catch we eat.

The first cut you make is to remove the "top" of the fish. When you skin it and remove the tissue in the middle. You end up with 2 long thin strips of meat which I have begun calling back straps as a result.

Fry them in Rocky Madsens Fish Crisp and dip them in ranch dressing. That simple. Screenshot_20190714-181525_Gallery.jpg
 
Yeah, I wish I hadn't waited as long as I did to start eating them.
 
I live in North Carolina and we have chain pickeral, do you know if they are any good?
 
Recurveaholic said:
I live in North Carolina and we have chain pickeral, do you know if they are any good?
Click to expand...
Have not tried myself but heard they are tasty like pike. Problem is twofold:
1) they're small (relative to a northern)
2) they supposedly have three interlocking sets of fork bones, which are a pain to cope with.
 
I ate chain pickerel as a kid. We'd coat them in corn meal and pan fry em. real tasty, but they're bony. My step dad would serve a plate of bread on the table in case you started choking on a bone.
 
Is their bone structure different than that of a northern pike? I know my rule of thumb is a northern should be about 24 inches long for me to clean them. Partly because that's as small as my abilities will allow and partly because their bone structure is such that you have filet the meat on the out side of their crazy bone structure making for a thinner filet. The filets are less than a quarter the width of the fish. This picture probably does a better job describing it.
Screenshot_2015-07-16-12-28-57.png
I do two more steps to get some more back meat out and find on the shorter ones the cuts at the tail don't really result in much meat.
 
cb750 said:
Is their bone structure different than that of a northern pike? I know my rule of thumb is a northern should be about 24 inches long for me to clean them. Partly because that's as small as my abilities will allow and partly because their bone structure is such that you have filet the meat on the out side of their crazy bone structure making for a thinner filet. The filets are less than a quarter the width of the fish. This picture probably does a better job describing it.
View attachment 13564
I do two more steps to get some more back meat out and find on the shorter ones the cuts at the tail don't really result in much meat.
Click to expand...
Never tried cleaning a pickerel. The three y-bone thing is just what I've read. I believe they are I n the same place, just harder to work around given all the tips you are dealing with.

Your 24" pike minimum would preclude most pickerel in Champlain. Biggest I caught was a 24. Kinda wanted to clean her to see what happened but I was just so impressed by the fish I had to let her go and pass her genes on.

I do the same "5 fillet" method as on your diagram when cleaning pike, but usually only harvest those in the 28-32" slot. Tasty fish though. Probably my favorite lake fish.
 
Yeah. I'd like to keep it to that range too but that would mean catching one that's 32 inches. Despite the dozens I've caught and the big ones I have seen in this lake and the one down stream I can't seem to break 30 inches.

It is right up there with perch and walleye in terms of taste easily.
 
In my opinion the chain pickerel or jack is what we call them in my part of the world is the best fish in freshwater.However if you do not know how to prepare them that joker will choke a cat.Lots of little y bones that are very fine.We fillet them and gash them which consists of making verticle cuts from the backside of the fillet all the way down to the skin about a 1/16 apart.Works best with the fish chilled so the meat is firmer using a thin bladed knife You can feel the little bones crunching as you make your cuts.Fry em up nice and done.French fries,cheese grits,coleslaw,hush puppies and Swamp Gravy.Dammit Boys y’all don’t know what you missing!Somebody will cut you over a Jack or a Sucker fish down here! LOL
 
Yeah I've heard northerns referred to as Jack's as well. It's great food. The method avoids the bones so you won't choke on them. It's not perfect of course. Had one pin bone out of the last 5 pike we ate. They are definitely as well known for eating as other sport fish here but I've haven't met anyone that didn't like them once they tried.

I was unaware of this, but was told by my father, (not much of an outdoorsman). That in Europe after WWII pike was one of their best most common sources of protein. He ate a bunch back then.
 
Buckhole75 said:
In my opinion the chain pickerel or jack is what we call them in my part of the world is the best fish in freshwater.However if you do not know how to prepare them that joker will choke a cat.Lots of little y bones that are very fine.We fillet them and gash them which consists of making verticle cuts from the backside of the fillet all the way down to the skin about a 1/16 apart.Works best with the fish chilled so the meat is firmer using a thin bladed knife You can feel the little bones crunching as you make your cuts.Fry em up nice and done.French fries,cheese grits,coleslaw,hush puppies and Swamp Gravy.Dammit Boys y’all don’t know what you missing!Somebody will cut you over a Jack or a Sucker fish down here! LOL
Click to expand...
So basically you are just cutting the bones up by doing it this making them easier to eat?
 
Yes The bones are small and fine so cutting them when the fish is chilled keeps from just pressing them down.Some guys prefer to use an electric knife but i like a blade.I use an old thin filet knife that i shortened the blade on years ago.Works great.Need to give em a try.They are excellent.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top