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Filleting Walleye
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Recipe for Fried Northern Pike

Marinating Northern Pike
Recipe for Mesquite Grilled Margarita Pike

 

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Cleaning Fish
Mr. Pike
Keeper of the Keys
Loons on the Lake
An Open Letter
In a Hurry?
Algae
Knots
Lake Turnover
Mayflies
Ticks
Finest of Times
Ice Fishing
Knives

Looking at a northern pike - head on!
The Life and Times of Mr. Pike

How to Fillet Northern Pike & Remove the Y-Bones
Sample page of complete Y-Bones Article

IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Once purchased, the DownLinks will expire in 48 hours. You will need to purchase additional downloads after that time period.

R. Karl with 36-inch, 1 6pouind pike caught on Lake Kabetogama, MN..."I really love northern pike... I just hate all the bones I always have to pick out of the meat."  I never knew how simple it is to remove those nasty y-bones.  On my very first trip to Lake Kabetogama in northern Minnesota it took four days to catch our first fish: a small northern pike.  With a bit of coaching from the resort owner, I cleaned it for dinner… But since I didn’t yet know how to remove the y-bones, dinner was not fun; trying to pick the y-bones out of a cooked northern pike is simply a royal pain.  Every bite seems to have a bone in it, just waiting to choke you. 

Zwilling J.A. Henckels 7-in. Twin Pro S Fillet KnifeYears later, a dock boy showed me how easily the task could be accomplished.  Once learned, the extra bit of filleting time will make eating this fish even more fun than catching it!  As always, a sharp knife is extremely important; a Zwilling J.A. Henckels 7-in. Twin Pro S Fillet Knife is at the top of the list when it comes to filleting fish.  There are less expensive knives to be had; they just don’t hold an edge the way a Henckels blade does.

Any size northern will do.   The first step is to make an incision – starting just behind the head – along the belly of the fish...

Making the First Incision (Figure 1 of 12)Some guys like to go around these fins or cut a V-shaped notch to remove them first...  I believe that it is just personal preference and I prefer to remove them later.  The first cut is illustrated in Figure 1.

Available from R. Karl as a 6-page article in .pdf format: the complete step-by-step instructions showing you just how easily you can remove those nasty y-bones from Northern Pike.  Now in an enhanced format with larger, easier to follow, full-color graphics - there are 12 of them in all!

After purchase, a link to the downloadable file will be e-mailed to you.  The article can then be easily printed and/or laminated to become a must-have accompaniment for your tackle box and a set of instructions you won't want to be without; it also make a great gift for that hard-to-buy-a-gift-for fisherman!  Only $2.99! - Buy Now

Or, get the Bundle Special (Save 33% off the regular price): step-by-step instructions on filleting all four of the most popular freshwater gamefish (northern pike,walleyesmallmouth bass and bluegill) bundled as one downloadable .zip file for only $5.99 3.99 !  Buy Now

Comments from readers who have used these instructions:

"That is the best step by step 'How to' for a Pike I have seen..."(P.B.)

"After watching my buddy show me how to remove y-bones from a northern and ending up with 'sushi' I figured there's got to be a better method.  Thank you.  The fish actually look like fillets now..." (P.H.)

"The only better instruction you could get is if you had another person next to you showing you step by step..." (T.B.)

"I've always loved Northern Pike meat.  Now I can enjoy it with no bones.  Thank You!" (T.P.)

"I had read several articles on the subject and was some what disappointed until I read yours.  I found it to be informative and the pictures were very helpful..." (M.B.)

By R. Karl

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