How to Fillet a Pike

Filleting a Pike

Filleting a pike is extremely hard because of the amount of bones in its fillet. This is what turns many anglers away from discovering the great taste of Pike fillets. De-boning a pike fillet is very difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing. The most crucial part in de-boning a Pike is to remove the “Y” bone that runs along the length of the fillet. The way I find works best is removing the Y bone in one whole piece. Y bones are very fine, thin, hair like bones in the fillet. Eating a fillet that hasn't been de-boned is very unpleasant because of the ample amount of bones.

Once you have caught a decent sized pike to eat, you know need to fillet the fish. The shorter time the fish takes from the water to the cutting table, the better tasting it is. Remember: monster fish are not good to eat, they have high mercury levels within their bodies and do not taste as good, at the same time you want a big enough fish you yield two decent sized fillets.

Once you have opened the fish up, you can run your fingers along the inside of the fillet to feel where the Y bone is. This is a very hard process to explain and is better thought through a video. I have made this video to give you a visualization of what to do.

Keep in mind this is an expert who has done this for years, so do not expect your first pike fillet to be perfect. It takes practice