Fishing with the family yesterday

**low-1** · 06-10-2011, 12:18 PM

Not exactly where to put this, so I think the "general" area is likely the best bet.

Went fishing with the family for the first time of the year yesterday (been out a couple of times on my own). We've been building a deck on the back of the house, little by little, over the past week and a bit, and the guy helping me out wasn't able to make it last night so we decided to go fishing instead!

We weren't out for very long, the little guy (6 months) was sleeping when we got down to the creek, and when he woke up he wasn't too happy. Still, my wife, little girl (6 yrs) and I were able to get in about an hour's worth.

There were quite a few people there, and it was a bit slow for the tasty fish (walleye), but the slimy jackfish (northern pike) were in causing trouble. Both my wife and I lost a few jigs to those slippery snot-rockets (and the little girl hooked into a couple of "rockfish" that stole her hooks). I managed to get one to shore without it breaking the line. One of my friends was there and caught a couple jacks as well, and instead of throwing them back to eat more walleye, I asked him if I could throw them in the bucket. Most people up here don't think too highly of northern pike, and would rather thin out their numbers a bit, so it wasn't a problem to take them off his hands for him. We ended up going home with 3, 2 of which were a pretty decent size.

My little girl "helped" me clean them at home by holding the hose and asking questions. I've gotten pretty good at de-boning jacks, which is the number 1 reason why people would rather have nothing to do with them. The number 2 reason is that they're slimey (but there's nothing I can do about that). Once they are filleted and the bones are out, they are a pretty good tasting fish, as long as the water is cold. Being that these ones were so big, though, I decided that I would try to smoke them. (Couldn't get them to keep lit though. haha.... ha... ha..)

So I looked up a brine recipe and made it up, and put the skin-on, boneless fillets in to soak. So now I have to do something about the smoker, which I don't have. Yet.

I have an old electric hotplate, and I have to keep cutting down the alders in the back to keep them from encroaching on our yard, so I have the heating and smoke all figured out, I just need to get a box of some sort to put everything in. I have basically two options. Talking with a friend about building a smoker about a week ago, he said he had an old butcher-style icebox at his house I could have as he was going to throw away. I might go grab that tonight after work. Or else I might just build a big one out of a bunch of scrap plywood I got from work and build it the size I want (I want to start smoking a bunch of meat, fish and wild game).

So my project for tonight is to build or assemble a smoker and smoke up a few pounds of northern pike. All while sitting on my just-about-finished deck enjoying the sun and a tasty beer or 2 (or 3 or 4).

Should be a good start to the weekend!

**SandNOceanGirl** · 06-10-2011, 01:16 PM

Sounds like you and your family had fun fishing!

Let us know how it goes with building the smoker and then how the fish taste once you get to cook and eat them.

**Russ** · 06-10-2011, 01:24 PM

Sounds like you need some wire leaders.

I always have fun catching them, but have never eaten pike because, like most people, I think they are too bony.

So my project for tonight is to build or assemble a smoker and smoke up a few pounds of northern pike. All while sitting on my just-about-finished deck enjoying the sun and a tasty beer or 2 (or 3 or 4).

Should be a good start to the weekend!

SOUNDS LIKE AN AWESOME START IMO!!

**low-1** · 06-10-2011, 01:42 PM

Originally Posted by Russ

Sounds like you need some wire leaders.

Yep, would have helped. I never use a leader for walleye, and that's all we ever try to target. I looked in the tackle box and found one, but it was missing the swivel and the catch. I'm going to just respool one of my other rods with higher test and make sure I have some leaders in the future. Medium light rod with 6lb when the walleye are out, medium/heavy with 12lb+ when they stop and the jacks move in.

I always have fun catching them, but have never eaten pike because, like most people, I think they are too bony.

SOUNDS LIKE AN AWESOME START IMO!!

I find I prefer the taste of a cold-water pike to walleye, not as "bland". A couple of years ago, a guy showed me how to debone them (at the same place we were last night), and since then I usually keep a few.

Basically, you fillet them and rib them out just like a walleye, then you take the knife right at the centerline of the fillet and run it about 1/3 to 1/2 way through towards the skin. Then you angle the knife towards the top of the back and cut towards the center of the "Y" in the y bones. You should feel the tip of the knife "ticking" off the bones without cutting through.

Starting at the "head" end of the fish, you cut a slit around the first few y-bones so that you have something to hold onto, and give it a pull. The y-bones pull out just like a zipper. You only lose a little bit of meat, but you aren't fighting with bones. Takes a little practice, but worth it in my opinion. I can usually get all the bones out, missing only maybe one or two total out of half a dozen fish.

They're a blast to catch, just not so fun to catch on walleye tackle when they keep stealing the jigs and breaking the line.

**low-1** · 06-10-2011, 01:47 PM

Originally Posted by SandNOceanGirl

Sounds like you and your family had fun fishing!

Let us know how it goes with building the smoker and then how the fish taste once you get to cook and eat them.

We did for sure!

As for the smoker, it may not be pretty, but it should get the job done. First time smoking fish, I've done chicken and ribs before, we'll see how it goes.

**qtkitty** · 06-11-2011, 12:12 AM

Wow sounds like soon you will have a back deck party area there !

I do not know about a plywood smoker.. flamable .. although old smoke houses were wood. I do not know about your area, but could colect field stones to build a smoker/grill.. i saw this done on some diy show and the results were very ritzy looking with out all the expense.. expecially if the rock is donated by people around you who are trying to get rid of it. ( seems like we are always looking for ways to get rid of rocks around here *l* ... we have a few nice little rock walls going

**Debbie-cat** · 06-11-2011, 08:02 AM

Sounds like you had a great time. Your post made me giggle though. The way you talked about the pike and walleye shows you are a true Canadian. I miss home!!!!! Boo hoo.

**Darlene** · 06-11-2011, 10:02 AM

One of my fav parts of your post was when you were talking with your dd as she "helped" you. Fishing time ( & bone picking with scales a-flying )
with Dad is going to give her such fond memories, great stuff indeed.

**low-1** · 06-11-2011, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by qtkitty

Wow sounds like soon you will have a back deck party area there !

I do not know about a plywood smoker.. flamable .. although old smoke houses were wood. I do not know about your area, but could colect field stones to build a smoker/grill.. i saw this done on some diy show and the results were very ritzy looking with out all the expense.. expecially if the rock is donated by people around you who are trying to get rid of it. ( seems like we are always looking for ways to get rid of rocks around here *l* ... we have a few nice little rock walls going

Not a lot of field stone around here, no fields

It's hudson bay lowlands, all swamp and muskeg. The smoker I made isn't the style with an open smoldering fire, more like those little Bradly electric smokers, but bigger. We had a quick moving thunderstorm yesterday in the evening, so getting up to temp was difficult. Got it up and rocking first thing this morning though, and it's working fabulously. I'm gonna head outside and take some pictures.

We had some friends over last night enjoying the deck (and awesome deck weather), and I was so proud of my "20 minute smoker". Not that it only takes 20 minutes to smoke something, but I put it together in 20 minutes. I had a bunch of scrap plywood that was already a convenient size, so I didn't even have to cut anything. Looks pretty sharp, too!

**low-1** · 06-11-2011, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by Debbie-cat

Sounds like you had a great time. Your post made me giggle though. The way you talked about the pike and walleye shows you are a true Canadian. I miss home!!!!! Boo hoo.

lol yep, Canadian through and through. I have some American cousins and inlaws, and talking with them about fishing, they're idea of a good time is hooking into some big "northerners". Around here, when you catch a pike it's a "-1" on the points count, and it's much better if they just spit the hook out.

Originally Posted by Darlene

One of my fav parts of your post was when you were talking with your dd as she "helped" you. Fishing time ( & bone picking with scales a-flying )
with Dad is going to give her such fond memories, great stuff indeed.

Thanks! I'm sure (or at least I hope) she'll remember these times. She had a bunch of friends over last night when the thunderstorm blew through, and I had half a dozen little kids screaming in the gazebo hiding from the lightning.

**low-1** · 06-11-2011, 06:03 PM

Here's some pictures of the smoker, quick and simple. The fish is starting to finish up around the edges, so I stole a little sample. Definitely going to be keeping a few more jacks, and refine my smoker a little bit. Very very tasty

**frugalwarrior2** · 06-11-2011, 06:14 PM

Well. My Ds would have jumped on that night for sure. He LOVES to fish. If he's irratated he fishes. Bored fishes. Wants to be a forest Ranger of some sort-go figure.
Never heard them called Jacks. interesting. I think Ds likes the fight and size of pikes. Honestly don't know if he's eaten them. Eats a lot of perch,some bass. But thats what here.

Nice to hear about the evening. Finish your deck. Then tell wife to let you sport for a smoker because you will buy her deck chairs. Tell her you will save money by catching all that fish.lol

**Gabe** · 06-13-2011, 05:18 AM

Originally Posted by low-1

Not exactly where to put this, so I think the "general" area is likely the best bet.

Went fishing with the family for the first time of the year yesterday (been out a couple of times on my own). We've been building a deck on the back of the house, little by little, over the past week and a bit, and the guy helping me out wasn't able to make it last night so we decided to go fishing instead!

We weren't out for very long, the little guy (6 months) was sleeping when we got down to the creek, and when he woke up he wasn't too happy. Still, my wife, little girl (6 yrs) and I were able to get in about an hour's worth.

There were quite a few people there, and it was a bit slow for the tasty fish (walleye), but the slimy jackfish (northern pike) were in causing trouble. Both my wife and I lost a few jigs to those slippery snot-rockets (and the little girl hooked into a couple of "rockfish" that stole her hooks). I managed to get one to shore without it breaking the line. One of my friends was there and caught a couple jacks as well, and instead of throwing them back to eat more walleye, I asked him if I could throw them in the bucket. Most people up here don't think too highly of northern pike, and would rather thin out their numbers a bit, so it wasn't a problem to take them off his hands for him. We ended up going home with 3, 2 of which were a pretty decent size.

My little girl "helped" me clean them at home by holding the hose and asking questions. I've gotten pretty good at de-boning jacks, which is the number 1 reason why people would rather have nothing to do with them. The number 2 reason is that they're slimey (but there's nothing I can do about that). Once they are filleted and the bones are out, they are a pretty good tasting fish, as long as the water is cold. Being that these ones were so big, though, I decided that I would try to smoke them. (Couldn't get them to keep lit though. haha.... ha... ha..)

So I looked up a brine recipe and made it up, and put the skin-on, boneless fillets in to soak. So now I have to do something about the smoker, which I don't have. Yet.

I have an old electric hotplate, and I have to keep cutting down the alders in the back to keep them from encroaching on our yard, so I have the heating and smoke all figured out, I just need to get a box of some sort to put everything in. I have basically two options. Talking with a friend about building a smoker about a week ago, he said he had an old butcher-style icebox at his house I could have as he was going to throw away. I might go grab that tonight after work. Or else I might just build a big one out of a bunch of scrap plywood I got from work and build it the size I want (I want to start smoking a bunch of meat, fish and wild game).

So my project for tonight is to build or assemble a smoker and smoke up a few pounds of northern pike. All while sitting on my just-about-finished deck enjoying the sun and a tasty beer or 2 (or 3 or 4).

Should be a good start to the weekend!

Reading this brought back memories of when I lived in Uranium City in Northern Saskatchewan.

Thanks!

Fishing in a lake behind our house. Getting the lures stuck in the rock fishes! (Those darn rock trouts haha!)

My dad went on a fishing trip on a couple lakes in the NWT back then. They would throw back any Jackfish under 10LBS.

Priceless memories! We could not fish without a leader up north!

My mom would bread the Jackfish and added spices that were similar to a Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Awesome post.

Any youtube videos showing how to fillet a walleye the way you were shown?