chain pickerel (do you eat them?)

[Sparse]

Hehe ... as aggresive as CP's are I could certainly seeing them try.

I was more interested in the difference in ecology between our two ponds . Though I thought you meant that the pickerel were eating the baby bass ... whcih I'm sure they are. I know our lake has tons of other fish as well as bass. Sunfish, perch, shiners, catfish, etc.

anyway a 3 1/2 pound CP is huge!

[WTRDOG]

They also have a tendancy to take over bass ponds. They'll eat anything (baby bass, baby pickerel, etc.). My pond is so over run with them, the average bass size is between 1 and 2 pounds. As far as I'm concerned...EAT AS MANY AS YOU CAN!!!!

AJR

....................I agree.I'll pass on the eating part .    

[warny]

We had 2 this past weekend on our family fishing/camping trip.Fill the cavity with butter and oinions,wrap in foil,and bbq.Delicious.

[scavenger]

The dog dragged a chain pickerel up to the house that an ice fisherman left on a nearby pond. He chewed the head off, so we didn't have to worry with that. After drinking a few "chimney fires" and "flying hippies" we decided to cook it over the fire. Nice and slow, nice and smokey. My cooking expertise allowed the skin, meat and bones to separate easily. Even with an abundance of mustard this was the worst fish I have ever eaten. I like eating fishy fish, but this was just bad fish. I like mustard too but it didn't help hide the rank flavor of the chain pickerel. And it was good mustard, right from Maine. The leftovers around the fire pit smelled so bad and strong the next day that the dogs wouldn't eat it and I had to pick them up and put them in the garbage.

I don't recommend eating chain pickerel at all. In addition, they are reported to be heavily laden with mercury if that sort of thing bothers you, or the thought of having children with birth defects isn't of interest to you. :-X

[Triton21]

I caught one in FLA a few years ago.  It was one of the tastiest fish I ever ate.  I would rate it up there with walleye and perch.  I filleted an fried it.  Was a pain getting all the small bones out but well worth the effort.  Wish could catch some here in IL.

Kelley

[RoLo]

I have eaten many chain pickerel, and they have sweet, white, flaky flesh.

As with all members of the pike family, including muskellunge,

pickerel have a lateral row of whisker bones that strafe the fillets.

There are a couple ways to fillet pickerel to leave the whisker bones behind,

but those under 18" aren't worth the effort.

Roger

[microman]

http://www.thundermistfishingtips.com/general-fishing-topics/fish-cleaning/how-to-fillet-a-pike-into-boneless-fillets-pike-cleaning-101/

go there to learn how to boneless fillet them

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

If you guys new how to prepare the pickerel you would be eating them all the time! I keep them when I get one around 20 or bigger because any smaller and it isn't worth the struggle. I don't have the recipe, but I may be able to get it for you. I can tell you what I know though. My grandmother pressure cooks the pickerel and then picks the meat off the bones and makes them into cakes (sort of like crab cakes). I am not aware of the seasoning, but they are amazing! She does the same with pike. One day I actually caught an enormous sucker from the lake the thing must have been pushing 8 or 9 pounds. She cleaned the sucked the same way as she did the pickerel. If you guys want I can give her a call some time and get ahold of the recipe.

I've also heard that making cakes is a good way to prepare bony types of fish. I haven't tried though.

[jeosbo01]

I ate this one...and after tasting it I will be eating the next one I catch too...he was quite tasty...

[Fishin4Trophies]

I'd sure be interested in the pickerel cakes recipe RobbyZ5001 referred to on Apr 1, 2008. I haven't heard of pressure cooking pickerel, but it sounds like a great way to get the meat to be easily removed from the bones. What kind of preparation is involved? What seasoning does your grandmother use that makes them so amazing?

On a separate note, when grilling or baking a pickerel (or probably any other fish) by adding butter and seasonings and wrapping it in foil, is it necessary to scale the fish first?

[Tin]

Never in my life would I have expected to see a Pickerel eating thread.  

[firefightn15]

Around here a lot like pickled northern.  Personally, I don't have a use for anything in that family when it comes to eating them.  RoLo, many times I have heard that if you do it right that you can catch all the bones and I have yet to come across anyone that can do it right.  I'm not saying that you can't but, just that I haven't come across the real deal yet.

[MountaineerLegion]

Here is one my son caught just last week, 23in, 3.6 pounds (4lbs or 24in are the citation levels here in VA... It did engulf the lure and bleed badly so we kept it...haven't eaten it yet though.

As for the heavy metal (mercury, lead, etc.) I'm interested to know where you all have heard this? I presume you are referring to biomagnification which is possible in any apex predator. Since a large bass or a large pickerel are both likely to be apex predators in a pond I don't know why a pickerel would have any higher levels of heavy metals than the bass. Anyone know?

As for the guy who ate the fish the dogs chewed the head off....who'da thunk a fish left laying around on a lake and then been chewed up by a dog would taste bad. :