Northern pike filleting techniques

[SNIPERF0RHIRE]

I think this was a great video, but it was a little slow! Nice work Phil. :)

[Tapsa007]

He has right technique. 1. Take the bellyfin off. 2. Cut the stomack and remove the guts. 3. Fillet the fish, left fillet first. 4. Turn the fish and then cut the second fillet. 5. Take the skin off. Nice but too slow...! ;)

[Freshwaterphil]

@Tapsa007

This one was early on in my filleting "career". I've done many more since then, so I'm considerably quicker and more accurate as well :)

[mrwiggles2]

Good work.

[qazwsx66680]

nice vid Phill post some more

thx

[qazwsx66680]

love this video



[BabyFarkMcGeeZax1969]

not a sac of eggs...that would be orange. those are the male gonads

[Freshwaterphil]

@BabyFarkMcGeeZax1969

Definitely a roe sac, they were bright orange, and I even ate some (didn't like it too much). The male 'nads are smaller and pure white.

[disclosurenow9]

You don't need to gut the fish before you filet it - start right behind the gill - and if you leave the filet intact at the tail right after you separate it you flip it over then slide the knife under and remove the skin.

[MrJuice18]

just wondering why he was playing with that fishes guts,thats to much time on 1 fish and to sloppy.

[blesspeacemaker]

shalom alechem



[blesspeacemaker]

would love to try that roe sauteed in butter and garlic salt mmmmmmmmmmm look at that pike roe woo hoo

[BigRedEraser]

10 minutes to fillet a pike???? Terrible man. I assume with a name like "Freshwater Phil" your a fisherman....well you want to be a fisherman....if you were a good fisherman you would catch lots of fish and therefore have lots of practice cleaning fish and therefore not take 10 minutes to clean one fish lol

[Freshwaterphil]

@BigRedEraser

It was one of the first ones I filleted. I've done many more since then, so I'm quicker at it now.

[MrJuice18]

@BigRedEraser good one

[goldwingdwarrior]

man you do a lot of unnecessary work there dude

[MultiDaveycrocket]

I watched 2 videos you made cleaning fish. in both you cut their stomach open, and continue to fillet with the same knife...Would you season fish in the toilet??? i dont think so..why taint the meat with stomach bile?????

[Freshwaterphil]

@MultiDaveycrocket

As a fisherman, I'm always interested to see what their eating. Don't find any difference when I leave the stomack alone. I do rinse the flesh quite well after fisning the fillets, it doesn't get tainted at all.

[MrJuice18]

@MultiDaveycrocket try my method c if you like it

[acabtp]

time to resharpen the knife!

[gfyfe6]

lol i can tell your new at this style but you did a good job.

[chaosmage99]

Why is he breathing so hard ?

[Freshwaterphil]

@chaosmage99

Had a cold.

[N47Z86]

@chaosmage99 reeeealy likes fish slime :)

[kenkenboylmao]

i live in michigan so would your fishing style work here?

[kenkenboylmao]

do you feel bad for killin her and her babys?

[Freshwaterphil]

@kenkenboylmao

Not in the least bit. She was quite tasty, baked her with a nice mix of spices.

[kenkenboylmao]

@Freshwaterphil haha i remember i caught a pregnet one in northern michigan and wen i was cleaning it my sister started crying cuz there were eggs and dont feel bad im nit the best at cleaning pike either

[Freshwaterphil]

@kenkenboylmao

I've got a lot more practice since making this video clip, so I'm better at it these days.

[kenkenboylmao]

@Freshwaterphil nice now im the ne whu needs more practice

[Freshwaterphil]

@kenkenboylmao

Practice makes perfect. The guy that showed me the technique could do them with his eyes closed, he's been a fishing guide for 25 years and then an outfitter for about 15 years. He told me I should be "good" at it after the first 200 fish, even better after my first 500.

So far, I'm probably up to about 50 or so. When I did this video, I had only done about a dozen up until that point.

[kenkenboylmao]

@Freshwaterphil nice

[kenkenboylmao]

@Freshwaterphil nice r u jewish

[Freshwaterphil]

@kenkenboylmao

Yes.

[kenkenboylmao]

@Freshwaterphil awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[bluntis420]

@kenkenboylmao EWWW I hope not!

[ExploringCosmos]

I dont mind the y bones being on there

[Freshwaterphil]

@smallyangler123

yes & yes.

[EricaBonutti]

should have tried this when you weren;t so high!

[binplhh]

a very nice striped bass (I believe that's what it's called)... They contacted a Rabbi (from what I understood) who gave them some instructions. My russian is not too good but I believe he told them to drain the blood from the fish or something like that. Am I making any sense?

[Freshwaterphil]

@binplhh

I haven't made any clips in a while, hope to do so eventually. Nothing required to "make" a fish kosher, it just needs fins and scales.

No need to drain the blood, which is only problematic in cattle or fowl.

[binplhh]

Make a new video and show your new skills when you'll find some spare time. Not to offend you but compared to other videos on this subject it doesn't look too good. But I appretiate you sharing your knowledge and giving people some idea as to how to go about it.  To be honest I'm not a big fan of wasting the skin. I prefer to scale the fish. Skin is what make the fish crunchy. I noticed you're Jewish. Don't you have to do something to make it kosher? Some time ago I saw 2 Jewish guys catch..

[zelelexus]

i just ae pike for the first time tonight, it was delicious, a lot of bones in it tho but it was worth it :)

[jmnyrlca]

get a sharp knife to start with. Then set yourself up properly to clean(filrt)fish

[Freshwaterphil]

It's not like I do this for a living...

Anyway, I have a sharper knife and a lot more experience now, I must have done at least a dozen more since the video was made, so I'm a bit quicker and a lot more accurate.

[leeboy1996]

i never tried a pike before.. looks good.

[Freshwaterphil]

They actually taste very mild, the meat is nice and firm. I prefer them to bass or perch, once the bones are gone their a pleasure to eat as long as they come from cool deep water without too much grass.

[DaisyDooAteMahPoo]

i agree, pike is delicous. like you say once those bones are gone its very tastey.

[LadyVader33]

Pike are such hideous, evil fish I sure wouldn't be bothered gutting and filleting one myself!

[Freshwaterphil]

Pike coming from clean, cool waters are good eating. One you remove the slimy skin, the flesh is firm and almost odorless.

As for them being "evil", they aren't any more evil than a bass, trout or walleye. They are simply following instinct.

[TaNgLeD2121]

great vid!! it nice to finaly see some clean a fish with out the 36554345357476 dollar elec knives that all the sponsored ppl have, your vid is great, ignore any wankers who make themselves feel good but posting derogatory remarks on you tube lmao ...actually funny

[wisconsinuserone]

you can also soak the fillets in milk and onions before you cook them to remove the fishy flavor. just rinse the fillets off after they soak for half an hour or so and you'll have no fishy flavor or even any milky flavor

[Kalashnikov187CC]

i never eat the bigger/older ones i always trow the big ones back so they can breed and also big ones taste like shit.. the little ones are great with hot sauce lol great video!

[cupiddstunt]

Ok immovable1 so you filet your piece of pike to half the thickness as it tastes a little fishy otherwise???

I did get that right yes?? You filet a piece of FISH thinner so it doesn't taste so much like FISH.

[PeterThrun]

Fishy taste refers to the muddy or dirty water taste fish (especially Pike) from warm water tend to have. By making your fillets thinner they absorb more of your cooking spices and flavor, thus reducing the "fishy" taste.

[ofnaman]

dull knife or frozen fish??

[immovable1]

Pike this size or larger have 1/34"-2" fillet thickness and tend to have a fishy taste when breaded and cooked at full thickness. I find that filleting it a second time and thinning the fillets to 3/4"-1" reduces the fishy aste some Northern have, and doubles the amount of fillets on your table. Not to mention the looks on your mates faces when you bring a mountain of fillets to the table, when they expected fewer large ones.

[DANNIESTANTON]

Boy this guy is a real beauty...But a very helpfull video. Once you get past the bag making all the noise its not to bad. Anyway thanks for the help.

[motoxsnowman]

Awesome Perch

[grifola]

Have you ever tried smoking them? I do a couple every year and they are great!!!

[Freshwaterphil]

Never tried, I don't have a smoker. Also, you should be careful about eating freshwater fish that haven't previously been cooked or frozen, some have a parasitical tapeworm that can grow to 40 feet in humans! It is prevalent in societies where raw/pickled freshwater fish are eaten, such as Norhtern Europe (Finland, Norway, etc.).

[LadyVader33]

Well, won't cooking the sucker eliminated that problem?

[Michlimania]

Always release the giants....over 36 inches.

The smaller ones are better eating and have less contaminates like mercury, PCB's, etc.

Plus you enhance the regeneration of big pedigree which is so vital in any large pike fishery.

Pike taste best, actually, under 30 inches.

[Freshwaterphil]

I usually keep them up until 28 inches, unless I'm fishing in remote, clean waters. The pike around most of the areas I fish has higher advisories for fish over 28 inches.

I only keep them from waters where the weeds are low too. If you get them from choked waters, they will likely have a weedy smell to them.

[Michlimania]

It's frozen?

[Freshwaterphil]

No, just came out of the fridge, caught it ice fishing the day before.

[tehzeebs82]

Perfect man

[pikeland]

I like the last line "and then you're done"... a half hour later! I could have fileted six pike in that time. I hope you get over your sniffles.

[Freshwaterphil]

Practice makes perfect, no sense in rushing when I have plenty of time. I've done another dozen or so since then, so I'm a bit quicker at it now.

The sniffles are unfortunate winter allergies I get, I assume it's dust mites.

[dammeganoob]

This video is pretty good. To all of you people who don't catch any northerns stop accusing this person of poaching. I catch alot of pike but I usually just scale, gut, and cut the fish because people tell me that filleting a fish wastes to much of the great fish meat. But I also heard that there are different ways to fillet a fish and some ways dont waste to much meat. most of the pike I catch are between 4 and 8 pounds, but i also catch great size walley about 4-6 lbs but I have caught a 8lb 1

[wisemantoronto]

Eggs like that chances.. that U caught the fish out of season..good job.. way to lessen the pike population.. and probably illigal fishing anyways !!

[Freshwaterphil]

"Wisemantoronto,

You obviously don't catch pike to often. The eggs start growing in the females right after they spawn in April, I caught the one in mid March 2 weeks before the season closed. I only release the bigger ones, I love eating smaller ones. That's why we have bag limits.

Why don't you get out on the water, catch some fish and learn the facts before accusing people of poaching!

[mrwiggles2]

Nice job.  Pike are very good, real tasty fish.

[beginnerflyfisherman]

nice job man... thanks for the vid

[Freshwaterphil]

I take my time, need more practice much to the dismay of the catch and release crowd. I'm sure I'll be quicker once I've done a few hundred more...

[donkyballs2]

arnt you just sapost to cutt the stumic then by the fin on the side cutt from that down then cutt the bones out but there is all diffrent ways to clean them but nice size fish

[Freshwaterphil]

There are 2 techniques that I know of to debone pike, the one I use and the "5 cut" technique, which I'm assuming you are referring to. I prefer mine even though it take a bit longer, you end up with 2 fillets, and more flesh. The 5 cut definitely would ruin any fish under 4 lbs.

[donkyballs2]

ya yesterday i as fishen and got a 5 in a half pound pike but i dident want to clean it soo i threw it back

[Freshwaterphil]

Catch and release is fine too, 5.5 lbs is a good eating size. Cleaning them is a lot of work, I do it for the practice. I've probably filleted 20 or so, I'm sure I'll be alot better once I've done 100. As they say, practice makes perfect. They taste good too as long as they come out of clear, cool water lakes or rivers.

[iece24]

Wow Ten minutes a Fillet.

That means you'll have dinner ready by midnight if you get off the lake at sunset. Nice work.