Thank you for this video. I just caught a 7lb 2oz, 28.5" Pike and had to kill it by regulation. I don't like wasting such a beautiful and large fish. Now I have 5 fillets and no bones. I can't wait to fry them up and try Pike for the first time
Thanks for sharing these tips. I like the taste of pike, but they are such a pain to fillet. I'm looking forward to trying your skills on my next catch!
I have used this same method and before I skin the top filet I cut a narrow strip out down the middle thus removing the tips of the spine bones leaving 2 narrow but truly boneless top fillets,hope this helps.
I did this and got the boneless fillet from the sides, but the back piece and the tail pieces had some pretty big bones, I did it exactly like this, I don't mind bones but would like too perfect it , does anyone have any info?
Yeah, don't do this guy's method. It wastes a lot of meat and doesn't fillet boneless. There are better vids on TH-cam that show better methods yielding more meat and no bones.
I've tried this a few times. Though you do have some bones they are such tiny pieces i haven't had anyone notice, and I eat pike as often as I can. Just my fair observation. However, I still wouldn't give this to a weary game eater that is afraid of tiny bones.
you say in your demo you are slicing through the tips of the Y bones on that back strap - but then say it's boneless? do you do anything to get those Y-bone tips out?
Those tips are likely so fine and mostly cartilage, so probably not a big deal. Growing up we caught and ate a lot of pike. We just fillet with y bone in and are around it. Wasn't a big deal
@@joe1071 bigger deal here because that pike is a baby compared to the size of a pike here in Michigan. They can be 4x that size. So they are really boney
It wastes less meat once you have a little skill with the method. It’s the only way to do pike in my opinion. I’ve tried it all including pulling the bones out after cooking. This is the answer
I mostly pulled it off on a couple of smaller fish yesterday. The back pieces get a little small, but still tastes good. It is much easier on a 25”+ fish.
The slot limit in Minnesota is a pain. On my Lake you can keep 10 northern's so long as they are under 20 in. In my mind those are the ones we used to throw back, because they were a pain to clean and had so little meat on them However, whether you agree with the rule or not, there is a reason behind it. Essentially thinning the population so the average size will increase. At least that's what the DNR believes. So, I am keeping the ones that I used to throw back and clean them. I don't worry about wasting some meat as I tried to remove y bones. Also I have learned, that if you bleed them, put on Ice ( not that warm water in the live well), clean them right away and cook them the same day( don't even keep them more than 24 hours in a fridge, and don't dare freezem), they haste exceptionally good. It took me awhile to realize how much this affect the taste. So catch a bunch of those snot Rockets, follow the discipline above. I think you will be surprised. Good luck :-)
TH-camR ALERT!!! This video is incomplete. People do the best they can with what they have. Good try - thx. The first cut has vertebrae tips. Run your finger down the muscle and you’ll feel them, thus not boneless. Words mean things. Also with the the first cut, you don’t need to cut from the sides - waste of time. Bisect this fillet and cut to an end along the skin then reverse it. Pike cheeks are great - cut them out. Remove the guts and put them in your garden - awesome veggies fertilizer. Cut head and tail off (fertilizer) and boil the rest of the body for fish stock - delicious. Filter bones (fertilizer). Use the entire fish. The fish earned it. When cutting the tail fillets ride the spine and leave the tail connected to fillet the meat off efficiently. Good luck.
8meals hey genius, do you know what fillet means? I’ll keep it simple for you minimalist - boneless. If you’re cutting through the tips of vertebrae, what are you leaving in your cuts? That’s right - bones. So therefore it’s not what? That’s right too master of the obvious - a fillet, which means what, you win again - boneless. I’m glad you know pike is a (fish). Good luck!
Will Durant haha look man, I’m not here to argue with you, in fact I agree it’s not ‘boneless’, and you’re correct for pointing that out! I was initially referring to you going on about the cheeks, your fertilizer and what not, which had absolutely nothing to do with the point of this video.. But hey, that’s fine! Not looking to start a fight! I could’ve responded to your reply with “OK BOOMER!”, but I realize that then I’m in the same boat you’re in which is finding joy in calling people names like Genius, minimalist etc. meaning the opposite but implying a Superiority and Dominance over the other person by putting them down! Now that’s straight up negative.. I don’t think our community needs that! I appreciate you’re insight on the fertilizer and all the rest of your information, good stuff, honestly, but my point was that that is not the intent of this video! Who ever made this video obviously didn’t want that to be in it; so it’s not my job to post/comment what this video is missing and what not.. Clearly they thought it through! I cut up a 37” pike 3 weeks ago, a totally different cut, but because it was a big pike, I tried to get as much from it as possible so I can enjoy the whole fish with my family and kids, including the top strip you’re referring to! Mine so happen to have no bones in it, so I can’t even argue there. But I was also filleting the more traditional way that’s a lot more common (at least where I live). So yeah, not looking for an argument, sorry if my initial response hit a nerve or something, I truly didn’t mean it to be an insult! Please accept my apology.. I’m literally just trying to contribute in a positive way.. thanks for reading.. 🙏
I’m here because I caught one of these slimy smelly basturds!! I hate the way they smell and slime everything up! I was trolling on Lake Superior and caught it and the rapela was tangled in its gills, was bleeding everywhere in my boat so I felt bad and kept it. I am certain it would have been a goner. But!! I know pike do taste very well as my father in law used to cook them and he did a very good job on it !!!
The video is great and informative. Your method of filleting worked beautifully on the 12# pike I caught this afternoon. But I must say, pike fillets are very tasty, but flour and corn flakes????? Please try a beer batter if you must fry it. Soak the fillets overnight in a glass jar with water and salt. Then rinse and dry the fillets. I make my beer batter with Moose Drool or some other flavorful dark beer. Much better than corn flakes. Or season with lemon, olive oil, salt, garlic, and dill and cook over a barbeque with oak and fruit wood for a beautiful smoky flavor. Corn flakes??????? No way..... :)
Cutting the top section off is a very bad idea you are cutting through the spine and them just leaving those severed bones in the meat not to mention this doesn't get rid of the y bones and separating the tail from the side slab just causes more work when skinning
Northern pike is easy to fillet if you are a pro. Look at RISTO KOSONEN : KALANKÄSITTELY from Finland. Very little waste and technique is absolutely professional with SWIBO knife.
Lol I guess if you didn’t know any better it’s kinda a good video , kinda a lot of work and very time consuming doing it like that ! I could slab and debone 3 while you done that one and not have 5 pieces lol
bro pike has no bones at all just the spine... i remove the head and cook it as it is.. you threw away some of the best parts.. what a waste , might aswell release her back
I’ve never fillet a fish myself before let alone a pike, always catch and release, this made it so stinking easy and zero bones. You’re the GOAT!
Thank you for this video. I just caught a 7lb 2oz, 28.5" Pike and had to kill it by regulation. I don't like wasting such a beautiful and large fish. Now I have 5 fillets and no bones. I can't wait to fry them up and try Pike for the first time
Thanks for this! Simple and very informative. I just caught a pike I need to fillet
Thanks for sharing these tips. I like the taste of pike, but they are such a pain to fillet. I'm looking forward to trying your skills on my next catch!
Beautiful knife work, thanks for the video.
As much as I love walleye, a properly filleted northern can't be beat.
What brand and model is that fillet knife?
Bubba
Hi, very good video...Are there any bones on the back fllet that need to be removed?
I have used this same method and before I skin the top filet I cut a narrow strip out down the middle thus removing the tips of the spine bones leaving 2 narrow but truly boneless top fillets,hope this helps.
I did this and got the boneless fillet from the sides, but the back piece and the tail pieces had some pretty big bones, I did it exactly like this, I don't mind bones but would like too perfect it , does anyone have any info?
I had the same results
Yeah, don't do this guy's method. It wastes a lot of meat and doesn't fillet boneless. There are better vids on TH-cam that show better methods yielding more meat and no bones.
Not boneless though. You cut through all of the upper bones for the first piece and that needs to be cut in half to eliminate them.
I've tried this a few times. Though you do have some bones they are such tiny pieces i haven't had anyone notice, and I eat pike as often as I can. Just my fair observation. However, I still wouldn't give this to a weary game eater that is afraid of tiny bones.
The bones that are left are actually edible and soft
Thank you for your help. 😁
you say in your demo you are slicing through the tips of the Y bones on that back strap - but then say it's boneless? do you do anything to get those Y-bone tips out?
They are eating bones. Those tail fillets are full of bones in the front
Those tips are likely so fine and mostly cartilage, so probably not a big deal. Growing up we caught and ate a lot of pike. We just fillet with y bone in and are around it. Wasn't a big deal
@@joe1071 bigger deal here because that pike is a baby compared to the size of a pike here in Michigan. They can be 4x that size. So they are really boney
That method wastes too much meat. It's better to slab it then cut out the Y bones.
The amount is very minimal and well worth the time and effort in other methods
:V oft
It wastes less meat once you have a little skill with the method. It’s the only way to do pike in my opinion. I’ve tried it all including pulling the bones out after cooking. This is the answer
Yeah tried both learning to cut the Y bones out is the best method
Waste of meat, plus unfortunately there’s still small bones in the back piece
why no one is cleaning off the fish scales before filleting the pike or other fish??????
There's a lot more meat if you know how to take out the y bone. There is quite a bit of waste with this method
Did what you said and it was great!
Excellent !!! Thank You !!
This method is ROYAL PITA!!!
Not possible in mn with the slot limit they have. Can't keep anything 20-26 so rules anything keepable out
😅😂🤣✌️
I mostly pulled it off on a couple of smaller fish yesterday. The back pieces get a little small, but still tastes good. It is much easier on a 25”+ fish.
I catch over 26 inchers all the time here.kept a 33 incher good eating!
Also read your book again its 22-26.
The slot limit in Minnesota is a pain. On my Lake you can keep 10 northern's so long as they are under 20 in. In my mind those are the ones we used to throw back, because they were a pain to clean and had so little meat on them However, whether you agree with the rule or not, there is a reason behind it. Essentially thinning the population so the average size will increase. At least that's what the DNR believes. So, I am keeping the ones that I used to throw back and clean them. I don't worry about wasting some meat as I tried to remove y bones. Also I have learned, that if you bleed them, put on Ice ( not that warm water in the live well), clean them right away and cook them the same day( don't even keep them more than 24 hours in a fridge, and don't dare freezem), they haste exceptionally good. It took me awhile to realize how much this affect the taste. So catch a bunch of those snot Rockets, follow the discipline above. I think you will be surprised. Good luck :-)
I did the same thing and the top fillet was PACKED FULL OF BONES 💀
You comment this on every video on how to do it?
@@zayneschepers8675 He's right. There are also small bones in the tail. Just eat em. They make you tough.
You went way too deep, trust me you gotta go alot more shallow than youd think. Go to where you think your safe, and back off even a bit more.
@@jhamelin119 thanks
I’ve tried this and still have bones every time,, so what am I doing wrong?
So, that tail piece on pike here will have bones
I save the bony parts for canning or grinding into cakes.
Thank you!!!
TH-camR ALERT!!! This video is incomplete. People do the best they can with what they have. Good try - thx.
The first cut has vertebrae tips. Run your finger down the muscle and you’ll feel them, thus not boneless. Words mean things. Also with the the first cut, you don’t need to cut from the sides - waste of time. Bisect this fillet and cut to an end along the skin then reverse it.
Pike cheeks are great - cut them out. Remove the guts and put them in your garden - awesome veggies fertilizer. Cut head and tail off (fertilizer) and boil the rest of the body for fish stock - delicious. Filter bones (fertilizer). Use the entire fish. The fish earned it.
When cutting the tail fillets ride the spine and leave the tail connected to fillet the meat off efficiently. Good luck.
Will Durant
I mean, it does say Fillet a pike boneless or whatever, not “how to completely use up a whole pike(fish) without wasting anything”
Will Durant I agree though, lots of good meat wasted imo
8meals hey genius, do you know what fillet means? I’ll keep it simple for you minimalist - boneless. If you’re cutting through the tips of vertebrae, what are you leaving in your cuts? That’s right - bones. So therefore it’s not what? That’s right too master of the obvious - a fillet, which means what, you win again - boneless. I’m glad you know pike is a (fish). Good luck!
Will Durant
haha look man, I’m not here to argue with you, in fact I agree it’s not ‘boneless’, and you’re correct for pointing that out!
I was initially referring to you going on about the cheeks, your fertilizer and what not, which had absolutely nothing to do with the point of this video..
But hey, that’s fine! Not looking to start a fight! I could’ve responded to your reply with “OK BOOMER!”, but I realize that then I’m in the same boat you’re in which is finding joy in calling people names like Genius, minimalist etc. meaning the opposite but implying a Superiority and Dominance over the other person by putting them down! Now that’s straight up negative..
I don’t think our community needs that! I appreciate you’re insight on the fertilizer and all the rest of your information, good stuff, honestly, but my point was that that is not the intent of this video! Who ever made this video obviously didn’t want that to be in it; so it’s not my job to post/comment what this video is missing and what not..
Clearly they thought it through!
I cut up a 37” pike 3 weeks ago, a totally different cut, but because it was a big pike, I tried to get as much from it as possible so I can enjoy the whole fish with my family and kids, including the top strip you’re referring to! Mine so happen to have no bones in it, so I can’t even argue there. But I was also filleting the more traditional way that’s a lot more common (at least where I live).
So yeah, not looking for an argument, sorry if my initial response hit a nerve or something, I truly didn’t mean it to be an insult! Please accept my apology..
I’m literally just trying to contribute in a positive way..
thanks for reading.. 🙏
Another tip: you can zipper that piece of back meat to avoid that ‘cartilage’ type tissue in the middle.
I thought it was just a family thing for Western and fish. My absolute go to when we fry fish. I will say I use Western on everything else too. Lol.
No cheek meat?
Deep fried pike does not require any dipping sauce.
It's tasty just the way it is hot from the frying fat.
Hate to say it but there still are bones in the back piece
Just learn how to y-bone. Its not that hard and doesn't waste as much meat.
Caught a pike minnow for the first time so I'll have to just see how she tastes! 😁😁
Tried. My left hand just isn't so articulated.
Amazing. Thanks.
I’m here because I caught one of these slimy smelly basturds!! I hate the way they smell and slime everything up!
I was trolling on Lake Superior and caught it and the rapela was tangled in its gills, was bleeding everywhere in my boat so I felt bad and kept it. I am certain it would have been a goner.
But!! I know pike do taste very well as my father in law used to cook them and he did a very good job on it !!!
Too much waste !! My grandfather would claw his way out of the grave to slap me upside the head , for wasting edible meat .
Wish i would of seen this the other day caught my first pike ever im from the south and it still tasted amazing but them bones are outrageous lol
Awesome....
Lookmat the worlds best northern pike filleter. Video is called RISTO KOSONEN KALANKÄSITTELY or haugi fileerimine
The video is great and informative. Your method of filleting worked beautifully on the 12# pike I caught this afternoon. But I must say, pike fillets are very tasty, but flour and corn flakes????? Please try a beer batter if you must fry it. Soak the fillets overnight in a glass jar with water and salt. Then rinse and dry the fillets. I make my beer batter with Moose Drool or some other flavorful dark beer. Much better than corn flakes. Or season with lemon, olive oil, salt, garlic, and dill and cook over a barbeque with oak and fruit wood for a beautiful smoky flavor. Corn flakes??????? No way..... :)
The top cut has bones in it
Cutting the top section off is a very bad idea you are cutting through the spine and them just leaving those severed bones in the meat not to mention this doesn't get rid of the y bones and separating the tail from the side slab just causes more work when skinning
I love eating pike almost as much as they love to steal my flies.
the y bone isnt a big deal. cought a pike yesterday, cut in to steaks, after frying it y bone was easy to separate from the meat.
Seems like you left quite a bit of meat on the fish why not just pick out the bones? Not that big of a deal.
Pike is like the boniest fish there is
Northern pike is easy to fillet if you are a pro. Look at RISTO KOSONEN : KALANKÄSITTELY from Finland. Very little waste and technique is absolutely professional with SWIBO knife.
6 pieces if you zipper the back
Those bones were fucking nasty but I liked the taste of pike. I'll try it this way next time.
Cool,tsk,buddy.
Easiest wY by far
That's not boneless....lol.You literally cut through all the Y bones so they are still in that back strap
I tried it and got 2 boneless fillet from the sides but notes bones in the back strap and bones in the tail
Well then, now you know!
Waste of meat and too many bones left over. Try feeding this to kids and they won't ever eat fish again if bone gets stuck in their mouth or throat.
NOPE. ANGLE The blade away from spine on top piece. too much waste imo. nice work tho
Lol. You wasted half of that fish.
Too much waste !!!!
Lol I guess if you didn’t know any better it’s kinda a good video , kinda a lot of work and very time consuming doing it like that ! I could slab and debone 3 while you done that one and not have 5 pieces lol
bro pike has no bones at all just the spine... i remove the head and cook it as it is.. you threw away some of the best parts.. what a waste , might aswell release her back
I enjoy beer battered jack fish, too fishy for me
It such a waste for Americans to have this great fish.
@Everything that ever existed is nothing I sure am.