Are muskie and pike good eating

[Bream Master]

Just wondering.  Those guys don't look too tasty to me but I've never had one.  

[RiskKid.]

When I was in Canada this past summer pike fishin they called the pike poor mans lobster. They only wanted the ones in the 20" or so size (bigger ones are catch and release). They fixed some for us and they were right, excellent eatin dipped in butter. Nice firm meat similar to lobster.

Another note, it was in Saskatchewan and Walleye were referred to as Pickerel and Pike were called Jacks.

[RoLo]

Pike make excellent table fare, and rank among the most palatable fish.

The only inconvenience with pike & pickerel is that you've got to cutout a strip along the upper fillet

that contains the Y-bones. If you fail to do this, you'll end up with a mouthful of whisker bones.

 

Roger

[basser89]

Musky are one of the best tasting fresh water fish, IMO! I rank the a close second to walleye. They do have the big bones in the middle of the fillets but can be easily removed. Well worth the hassel, again IMO! I usually try to keep one smaller keeper a year unless I can't CPR a big one.

[jake]

The last time my buddy and I were in Canada fishing, he prefered eating the pike over walleye. He said they simply taste better.

[basser89]

Hey Jake,

The next time we meet up for a trip, I'll be sure to bring a musky fillet along for you to try!  

[Tom Bass]

I've eaten Muskie as a kid and I remember that I liked it. It was fried in Crisco with salt and pepper and I used my favorite condiment for fish at the time...Heinz ketchup. I remember that it tasted somewhat like cod fish. That was at least 35 years ago.

My Dad nearly worshipped Muskies and very rarely didn't catch and release, but on occasion he would keep a legal small one for eating.

[TheGreatSpike]

I'm an avid pike eater, you want the smaller fish. As small as the legal limit allows(here in Michigan it's 24 inches. Still kinda big for me. I go to lakes without restrictions to get 18-22 inches for food) my favorite fish cause of the firm meat and super clean taste 

[everythingthatswims]

Even if they do taste good, a Musky smells awful and I would be reluctant to filet one

[jr231]

On 11/2/2006 at 8:21 PM, basser89 said:

Musky are one of the best tasting fresh water fish, IMO! I rank the a close second to walleye. They do have the big bones in the middle of the fillets but can be easily removed. Well worth the hassel, again IMO! I usually try to keep one smaller keeper a year unless I can't CPR a big one.

What about perch and salmon ? Lol 

[Dwight Hottle]

I have eaten a lot of pike and they rate right up there with walleye. Flaky white fish without a fishy taste. Lots of people like pike better than walleye. I tried musky one time back in the 70's out of Lake St Clair and it was very fishy tasting, not my thing. Disclaimer: back in the 70's musky were killed to eat & hang on the wall. Today musky are catch & release only by most guys who understand how valuable they are as a sport fish. Smaller pike are plentiful so eat away as long as you understand how to clean them eliminating the Y bones.   

[J Francho]

I love pike.  Don't like to take them over 30".  It's tough for a population to replace that big fish.  Little known fact about pike: big pike eat a lot of little pike, keeping their population in check.  Take a big one, and tons of hammer handles fill their spot.  Never had muskie.  I know some Asian friends that run a restaurant love it when I bring them a limit of pickerel.  I trade them for dinner.

[Jeff H]

Know what I like about gators? Not a d**n thing!  Slimy and stinky Don't allow them in my boat so I guess there's no chance of eating them either

[gim]

I used to eat pike but that was back when I had trouble catching enough walleyes and perch.  There is a noticeable difference.  Pike has a fishy smell and taste.  Luckily I haven't had that problem in quite a while.  I don't miss cleaning them and I actually prefer to not even touch them.  I avoid trying to let them come in boat too, like Jeff says above.  Its just a slimy, stinky mess that I don't need.  Unfortunately the lakes are over run with them here now so avoiding them is virtually impossible.  The DNR is raising the daily bag limit on them to 10 starting in May.

 

One of my friends did keep a few last fall and he pickled them.  They were pretty good.  Tasted like pickled herring but firmer.

 

Eating a muskie?  I guess you legally could but the minimum size to harvest one here is 48 or 54 inches depending on what lake you're fishing.  Can't imagine that would taste very good.

[Scott F]

3 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I used to eat pike but that was back when I had trouble catching enough walleyes and perch.  There is a noticeable difference.  Pike has a fishy smell and taste.  Luckily I haven't had that problem in quite a while.  I don't miss cleaning them and I actually prefer to not even touch them.  I avoid trying to let them come in boat too, like Jeff says above.  Its just a slimy, stinky mess that I don't need.  Unfortunately the lakes are over run with them here now so avoiding them is virtually impossible.  The DNR is raising the daily bag limit on them to 10 starting in May.

 

One of my friends did keep a few last fall and he pickled them.  They were pretty good.  Tasted like pickled herring but firmer.

Anytime ANY fish has a fishy smell or taste, it is because the fish is not fresh. Fresh fish, including pike, never have a fishy smell.

[dwh4784]

I've only had pike once but it was memorably good. It was my soon to be brother in law's bachelor party, two whole days of bass fishing w/ 7 guys and 3 boats. We had a blast! Pike sandwiches for dinner after the first day, delicious! I don't recall the lengths but we kept two pike to feed everyone, one was mine at 6lb8oz and the other was slightly larger.

[RoLo]

9 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Disclaimer: back in the 70's musky were killed to eat & hang on the wall. 

 

"Killed" is the word alright.

Back in the day, muskies were routinely dispatched with a handgun, before they were dragged aboard.

[Smelter96]

Ive eaten pike before. And if its on the table, ill eat it. But i wouldnt eat a muskie, no thank you. And besides, all my lakes have 50" legal size. If you eat one of those, im not saying much to ya after.

[Neil McCauley]

Highest mercury content of any freshwater species, thickest y-bones, very vulnerable to over-fishing...Not sure about the taste but I never ate one, prob never will.

[IndianaFinesse]

7 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

"Killed" is the word alright.

Back in the day, muskies were routinely dispatched with a handgun, before they were dragged aboard.

My grandfather always hit em in the head with a carpenter's hammer before bringing them aboard, no pike or muskie came into the boat alive.  I always thought the hand gun idea was kind of dumb because the bullets could ricochet back into the boat.  

 

 

I have never eaten a muskie before, but I have eaten pike.  I actually like pike just as much as walleye, as long as they were caught in cold water.  Fish have a much more fishy taste when caught in warm water for some reason, and if you don't believe me try a fish caught in lake superior and compare it to the same type of fish caught further south.  There's even a difference between fish caught in winter and summer caught fish, I only eat fish caught in the late fall through early spring.

[UPSmallie]

1 hour ago, IndianaFinesse said:

My grandfather always hit em in the head with a carpenter's hammer before bringing them aboard, no pike or muskie came into the boat alive.  I always thought the hand gun idea was kind of dumb because the bullets could ricochet back into the boat.  

 

 

I have never eaten a muskie before, but I have eaten pike.  I actually like pike just as much as walleye, as long as they were caught in cold water.  Fish have a much more fishy taste when caught in warm water for some reason, and if you don't believe me try a fish caught in lake superior and compare it to the same type of fish caught further south.  There's even a difference between fish caught in winter and summer caught fish, I only eat fish caught in the late fall through early spring.

 

Dead on. A pike caught in January is a completely different animal than a pike caught in August. I'll always bake my winter pike since they have amazing flavor, but in the summer I usually just give my pike away to kids or friends fishing in areas where they are plentiful. 

[Crestliner2008]

I'll throw in my .02.....I've eaten a lot of walleye, bass, pike, catfish and panfish. But that was back in the 50's, thru early 70's. Pike always was the "prize" eating fish. Once you learned how to properly remove the "Y" bones (not at all difficult), the remaining white flesh is very palatable - even more so than walleye, which after a meal or three, I find less appetizing.

 

These days, give me a piece of cod, haddock or (dare I say it!) swordfish any day, vs. any freshwater species. Strictly a CPR fisherman these days, I buy what I want to eat and release what gives me joy.

[nosdog2]

Love me some pike, never had musky.

[Catch 22]

 

Pike is right down yummy when deep fried . I ate  3 pickerel this past winter. Very tastey,but a real bugger to fillet.I spoke to a professional fish cleaner that told me he never figured out the bone structure of pickerel with efficiency,nor have I. Strips about 4" x 3/4" is the best I can do.

They are as good as any flounder I have eaten.

[Brown Town]

We always pickel our pike. Throw the fillets in a pickel jar with a good pickel recipe and after a month the Y bones are completely dissolved from the vinegar. No messing around trying to get all of those bones out and tastes better than pickeled herring.