o/t ice fishing

Went ice fishing yesterday,in the pocono mts,.a small lake called mt. lake. My friend knowa a lot of people around there. We didnt catch much,but we had fun cooking, eating ,talking,one fellow there was 83 and knew the history of the whole area,he lives right near the lake. We caught one pickeral and some yellow perch. I ate the yellow perch last night,they are good eating. I have never eaten a pickeral ,they said too many bones in them,I brought it home anyway,I looked up a recipe to pickel it,I have it cut in chunks soaking in salt brine in the fridge now,The recipe says soak in brine for 24 hrs,then drain and soak in vinegar for 24 hrs,Then drain and put it in a mixture of vinegar ,sugar ,mustard seeds, sliced onions, and let it sit in fridge for 5 days, Anyone ever pickle fish? I will let you know in 6 days what happens,I figured it is worth a try!
 
Don"t know much about that particular fish, but preparing it sounds a whole lot like my friend that eats oatmeal EVERY Mornng. He adds six different things to his oatmeal every morning. I asked him why and his answer: "So it don"t taste like oatmeal!"
 
I cant really say,but everything I looked up said the fish is delicous,but it is boney. The vinegar is supposed to dissolve all the tiny bones so you can eat a chunk of pickled fish,I will find out!
 
Can"t speak to Pickeral, but my maternal grandparents (German immigrants) loved pickled eel. I remember regularly stopping at a fish market along the Mississippi when we were traveling to their house for holidays/visits and taking any eel they had. Always gave Grandpa a big smile.

Kirk
 
Never ice fished. Was up in Mass one winter on business and crossed a frozen river. First time I saw a frozen river.

Just thinking about being out in the middle of a lake, not knowing what went on the previous day, what kind of ice was under me (Ice Road Trucker kind of thing), was it fracked the previous day, how thick is it, how much weight will it support, and on and on.

Guess it's a lot of fun having a "camp out" in the middle of the winter, roughing it: Heater, warm bed, beer cooler, pot bellied cook stove, several buddies with good tales to tell. Just joshing. Enjoy it. Can't do it down here.

Mark
 
WE have pickled redhorse, suckers and Northern Pike. They are not bad and the bones do dissolve. We also have smoked Northern Pike which we prefer to do. Non can compare to NORWEGIAN WALLEYE (pickled herring).
 


Larry, my boss spears pickeral ( I think what we refer to as Northern Pike, Gater, Snake). He spears several dozen a winter and pickles them all. They are very good and the pickeling brine softens the bones to some degree. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
 
I was working for a guy years ago in Maine and one day his wife invited me to eat lunch with them. They were eating spare ribs and sauerkraut and she said she boiled the ribs for 24 hours in the kraut and the acid softened the bones so you could cut them with a spoon and eat them. They had a slightly gritty texture but weren't bad in my opinion. They were both in their 60s and had been eating this for a while so I guess it didn't do them any harm.
Zach
 
Out our kitchen window, we had a meal of perch recently. They are better than walleye, similar to crappie. 22" of ice the last time I measured it. Big trucks and camper fish houses all over.
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you can cut the Y bones out but you do waste some meat, I just pick the bones out when eating northerns, they are very good eating. I would give anything to have a good perch lake nearby, mn dnr thinks every body of water bigger than a mud puddle needs to be stocked with walleyes and they feed on perch, our tax dollars hard at work!
 
If you can get someone to teach you the Y bones are easy to get out. But pickled northern are very good. Has anyone been to a fish boil? I remember eating boiled fish and done right it was very good. But I don't know anyone that still does it.
The old standard was bring potatoes, onions, salt&pepper, and some venison in case we were skunked. Oh can't forget some liquid refreshments either.
 
I grew up in Michigan, we used to go ice fishing out on Lake St. Clair every winter. When the wind was blowing hard enough out of the west we would unzip our jackets and hold them out like a sail to glide out a mile or so. Of course a couple times we had to crawl back against the wind.
 
Larry,
Ice fishing is alot of fun been enjoying it for years. Try out Tobyhanna and Gouldsboro lakes just north of where you were, we usually do pretty well on those lakes. Nice country up there too.
One of my fishing buddies is very handy with the fillet knife and can actually cut out some nice fillets from a pickerel that makes for good eating. We dry out the larger pickerel heads with the the mouth wide open and then put on a coat of varnish...not quite as stunning as a shark,muskie or pike, but stilla cool wall mount for the garage!!
 
We always have a fish fry off where we invite friends and bet them they can't tell which plate is Nortern Pike and which is Walleye. All of the people who say Pike tastes fishy seem to pick the piks as their favorite.
We only keep NP in Canada.
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I never went ice fishing; my brother went a few times and caught pneumonia each time.

I'm allergic to fish, so I have no reason at all to go fishing.
 
Best way to avoid bones in Pike it to fillet them link any other fish. Don't worry about the y bones until after they are cooked. After cooking lay the fillet with the outside up and observe the darker line down the middle. The fish will naturally split along this line. Once seperated you will see all the Y bones sticking out of the bottom part. Simply pull these bones out and you have excellent eating. NO WASTED MEAT AND NO BONES TO WORRY ABOUT.
 
Looks something like that here. Of course, ya gotta keep the beer in a cooler so it doesn't freeze. Or drink faster.
 
Ice fishing isthe most fun you can have while freezing to death. Take your saw and cut a hole in the ice about 2 x 3 foot. Sit there and watch what come on the screen like a TV. Spear the ones you like or jig. Helps to have a large shanty to keep the shadows on the hole. First time I went, speared about half dozen before I realized they were shad. Not prime pickins. Second time buddy's kids coat caught on fire from the heater. Had to almost drown him, but saved his life. Some places will tow you and your junk out to a good sport for couple bucks. Gotta do it once in your life. Sooner the better. Git old like me 70 and you can't take the cold. Michigan. Dave
 

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