This month’s fish is northern pike. Pike are probably one of the most prized fish out there, because of their size and weight. In the spring they stay in shallow weedy waters but when summer comes round the larger pike head for deeper water, up to forty feet deep. When in deeper water they don’t feed as much that’s why it’s best to fish for pike in the winter, spring and fall.
The best lures for pike are spinners and buzz baits. But don’t worry about you’re lure being to big, pike will still strike it. In order to know if you caught a pike you need to know what they look like. Their head has a mouth full of huge teeth and a pointy snout. There body is long and meaty but suddenly drops of at the tail. They are green with reddish fins and have white oval spots. Northern pike are at the top of the food chain. They will eat pretty much anything from crickets to adult bass and trout.
It sometimes comes as quit a challenge when it comes to catching pike. Sometimes from the moment the pike takes the bait to the time the hook is set can be 30 seconds to 30 minutes. Only set the hook when you feel the weight of the fish then firmly jerk back and set the hook. When you cast and reel in, and you’re about to take your bait out of the water stick the tip of your pole in the water and drag your pole in the shape of a figure eight just in case a pike is following your lure. When you hold a pike be sure to hold it by the gill so you don’t get bit, because like I said they’ve got a nasty set of teeth.
To kill a pike for filleting you can either knock it on the head or take your fillet knife and place the tip on the edge of the gill, Then push down through the fish. To gut them for cooking whole, cut from the anus to the pelvic fin, take the guts out and dispose of them, then cook the fish. If you want to make fillets cut a slit down to the bone behind the pectoral fin, then cut a slit about an inch from the tail down to the bone. Cut from the first slit to the second down the back along the bone down that cut carefully until you come to the belly and then cut then cut the fillet of and repeat on the opposite side. Then cook the fish however you like.
