Eating Pickerel

[cruiser1234]

I love to fish but don’t eat any fish. My 9 year old son is obsessed with eating fish and loves eating what he catches. I normally give my neighbor fresh water fish I catch or my step dad if it’s perch. So I just gave my neighbor 3 pickerel I caught ( one a 25 inch 4.76 pound PB) and he gave me one he cooked for my son. My son devoured it..... like inhaled it. So I was wondering how people prepare pickerel. This guy guts, deheads, descales, seasons and bakes. Lots of little bones. I was curious if anyone does it different and if there’s away to get those bones out. Thanks!

[icebadger]

yea i ate a lot of slime darts when i was growing up in boonton twsp i do not eat those things any more. however i too used to put them in foil with cut vegetables put them in the oven to try and give them some taste.. i heard that you can pickle them as well that is the only way to get rid of some of the bones. frying them is not a good way to prepare them they have to many bones to deal with. heck i don't like catching them anymore, as far as i am concerned they are not worth the effort. and they stole a lot of my lures but they can be fun for the kids they put up a decent fight.

[oelgnal1]

I'm not sure if this link will open up but you can cut and paste it. He shows you how to remove the Y bone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjcelLOjh1E

[Sigma1073]

I keep them from time to time when I catch them through the the ice. I think my favorite way to eat them is in fish cakes with tartar sauce.

[Mark B.]

I've heard of guys putting them (gutted, descaled of course) w/ bones intact & spices, bread crumbs (?) in a blender. The resultant mash is formed in to patties & fried.

Kind of like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HKTx5WFcs0

[bunker dunker]

x2 on the fish cakes.take the side off and skin,drop in grinder bones and all.
once chopped add 2 eggs,what ever seasonings you like and bread crumbs to thicken them up.fry or bake cakes till done.place on top of potato roll with
lettuce tomato and a little tarter sauce{mayo works too}.

[bulletbob]

Pickerel are white, mild, and sweet.. As good or better than many other freshwater fish...However, as you stated they are bony as hell.. I never figured them out,as far as boneless fillets are concerned, but never tried real hard either.. There are tutorials on youtube on getting them boneless, but i have my doubts. The videos are worth a look if your boy really likes pickerel to eat....

I can't even get a pike boneless... These days, i simply don't keep them, and just keep fresh water panfish such as perch, rockbass, and sunnies to eat... Pickerel are really good, but just too many fine bones to deal with... bob

[Drossi]

They are good but damn bones. We used to skin, fillet, grind them up, mix them with ground potatoes and bread crumbs to make fish cakes (poor mans crab cake).

[RHolbrook609]

They are very good but very boney. A lot of work for not so much meat. But give it a go and try it out! Everyone’s different!