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Author Topic: Eating Pickerel - Not bad!  (Read 1646 times)

Offline Drillin-n-Chillin

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Eating Pickerel - Not bad!
« on: Feb 16, 2021, 11:28 AM »
One of my buddies recommended giving them a try so why not. He sent me a link to a few YouTube videos on how to filet and remove the Y bones which I followed. I was able to get  ice pieces of meat from each side and ZERO bones. It is a little extra work but if you have decent filet knife skills don’t sweat it.

A simple dip into flour, egg, seasoned cornmeal and into the hot oil. The fish was pretty tasty, mild and all white meat. Not as good as perch IMO but not bad at all.

Give it a try, and maybe thin the herd in some of our lakes. Link to video I followed below and the fish we had was about 17-18” so not large but about the same amount of meat as 3 blue gills.

&feature=share

Offline butcher

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Re: Eating Pickerel - Not bad!
« Reply #1 on: Feb 16, 2021, 11:50 AM »
Great post Drillin! I haven't kept a pickerel in many years because I wasted so much of the meat just (trying to) remove the bones.

One important comment on your post: the minimum size for a legal pickerel in PA is 18 inches. With that said, I am certain the one featured in the video was a perfectly legal 18"+ fish.

Offline Drillin-n-Chillin

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Re: Eating Pickerel - Not bad!
« Reply #2 on: Feb 16, 2021, 12:11 PM »
Thanks - double checked my ruler marks. All good, 1/2” to spare.

Offline gallitzinice

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Re: Eating Pickerel - Not bad!
« Reply #3 on: Feb 16, 2021, 02:49 PM »
Makes me want to go after some pickerel.  I've eaten them in the past and thought they were quite good, but got tired of picking the bones after they were cooked.  I've also pickled them.  Similar to pickled herring, but better since pickerel are a milder fish.  Next time I catch a pickerel going to try to follow the video and get those y bones out.

Offline butcher

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Re: Eating Pickerel - Not bad!
« Reply #4 on: Feb 16, 2021, 02:54 PM »
I have eaten pickerel in the past and they are very good - once you get past the bones. Pike are basically the same and they are very good. When I fished in Canada and Michigan we would keep pike in the 25-30" range because they were easier to clean and would yield enough meat to make the fileting effort worth the while. They are firm and flaky and very good eating quality once the bones are removed. I am going to try this with some mid-sized pickerel (18-20" or so) but I will continue to release the big girls over 22" so that others have an opportunity to catch them at some point.

Offline PennAngler

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Re: Eating Pickerel - Not bad!
« Reply #5 on: Feb 16, 2021, 07:44 PM »
I've seen videos like that and thought about giving it a shot....of course, all I catch are dinks, so the population is safe from from me....

Offline Slammert7

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Re: Eating Pickerel - Not bad!
« Reply #6 on: Feb 18, 2021, 04:50 PM »
Made some cakes up yesterday, excellent fish

Offline Spider1

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Re: Eating Pickerel - Not bad!
« Reply #7 on: Feb 19, 2021, 06:08 AM »
Been eating pic's for years. Anything over 20" comes home with me, anything under that goes back in to fatten up. I used to try and cut out all the y-bones, now I do a half hearted job if that and toss them into a grinder to make patties. What's left of the y-bones get ground up and you can't even tell they are there. 4 pic's, an egg or 2, a minced onion and Italian bread crumbs. I make patties and spread them out on wax paper on a cookie sheet and slip them into the freezer until they set up. Then I vac seal them with paper in-between. I put them still frozen on a hot grill, 5 min per side. On a bun with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, horseradish... any way you want it. mmmm-m good stuff.

Offline Drillin-n-Chillin

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Re: Eating Pickerel - Not bad!
« Reply #8 on: Feb 19, 2021, 07:08 AM »
Pickerel burgers. Sounds awesome. I use a crab cake recipe for saltwater fish where you substitute the fish for crab meat. Works great with bottom fish like black sea bass, tile fish, or cod. Any sweet fish. Pickerel are next.

Offline fishhouse

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Re: Eating Pickerel - Not bad!
« Reply #9 on: Feb 20, 2021, 09:49 AM »
pickerel caught through the ice are pretty good ! smaller bones seem to melt away when cooking them.

Offline Rebelss

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Re: Eating Pickerel - Not bad!
« Reply #10 on: Feb 20, 2021, 10:51 AM »
Those are a Minnysoda pickled fish staple!   ;D
“The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation”  Thoreau

Offline BikeMan4321

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Re: Eating Pickerel - Not bad!
« Reply #11 on: Mar 07, 2021, 08:18 AM »
Great video. Thanks. I ussually keep them if they are 24" or better; but after watching this I may try to do up some smaller ones. I've wasted a ot of meat trying to fillet them.

Offline Fishingjg

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Re: Eating Pickerel - Not bad!
« Reply #12 on: Mar 07, 2021, 10:21 AM »
Thanks for the video Chillin I'm going to have to try it a try.

 



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