What would you do?

[dhickey]

I saw a guy keep 3 small pike but the problem I had was when he cleaned them all he took was the last 6 inches of the tail.

I was pretty upset when I saw the fish in the fire. When I confronted him about this he said he couldn't be bothered with the bones.

 

What do you think?

Should this be considered the same as poaching?

Can I report something like this.?

Or am I just over reacting?

[Rod Caster]

He is wasting edible meat...

 

You could report him I supposed, I'd just call him lazy and tell him to buy de-boned cans of tuna instead

[Lape0019]

Well that sucks,

 

I don't think there is anything you can do. He "cleaned" It to his standards and disposed of the rest. I wouldn't consider it poaching at all as it isn't out of season and he did eat and keep some of it.

 

My suggestion would be to point him to the YouTube videos that show how easy it is to get 5 nice filets off of a pike without having to deal with the bones or if you know how, show him how easy it is.

 

This of course is just my point if view. I have never kept a pike because I can't be bothered to clean them. I am considering keeping one this year to try this technique out because the guy ends up fileting the fish in under 5 minutes and gets a good amount of meet off of it.

 

Adam

[kickingfrog]

I don't think it is cut and dried. You are not supposed to waste fish, but what constitutes waste? If I throw away the head and bones that someone else would use to make stock does that mean I wasted the fish? What about the skin of a brook trout? What if I'm still learning how to fillet a walleye and I loose some meat? What about someone who doesn't take the cheeks from a walleye? I think the best thing would be to suggest that there are ways to remove the y bones when cleaning the pike and offer to show them the technique or suggest that the net is full of great videos and in the end they would have more meat to eat of something they obviously enjoy.

[SirCranksalot]

or just learn to eat fish with bones in it. It's quite easy---maybe slow you down a bit to savor the flavor! I think it's wasteful to fillet fish.

[snagged]

Does pike meat ever get worms?

[fishermccann]

If is was from a lake that has no closed season on pike and/ or is trying to get rid of them, ie. Balsam Lake , I would say keep up the good work.

[pics]

Anything that you kill to consume has to be respected and that includes learning to filet them properly....

[fishermccann]

So the people that put the whole fish in a blender, are the only ones doing it right?

[chris.brock]

if I gorf (fatally hook) a pike, I keep it and take a dorsal fillet, this is a little wasteful too, but I'm not good at removing Y bones

 

I guess the difference is, I only kept the fish because it was a goner

[Joeytier]

 

I don't think it is cut and dried. You are not supposed to waste fish, but what constitutes waste? If I throw away the head and bones that someone else would use to make stock does that mean I wasted the fish? What about the skin of a brook trout? What if I'm still learning how to fillet a walleye and I loose some meat? What about someone who doesn't take the cheeks from a walleye? I think the best thing would be to suggest that there are ways to remove the y bones when cleaning the pike and offer to show them the technique or suggest that the net is full of great videos and in the end they would have more meat to eat of something they obviously enjoy.

Yep. Waste is a relative term...but that would tick me off too. Pike are certainly not fun to clean but man are they ever tasty.

[Dontcryformejanhrdina]

I find pike to be incredibly easy to fillet. I actually like filleting them better than I do walleye.

[woodenboater]

I find pike to be incredibly easy to fillet. I actually like filleting them better than I do walleye.

 

same here

 

So the people that put the whole fish in a blender, are the only ones doing it right?

 

Dan Akroyd and his Bassomatic lol

[John Bacon]

I find pike to be incredibly easy to fillet. I actually like filleting them better than I do walleye.

 

I think the problem is that most people learned filleting skills with walleye and bass. Pike are not more difficult to fillet; but they require a different technique. The fisherman who complain about pike being boney or difficult to fillet are trying to use walleye technique to fillet a pike.

 

I think that if people either took a bit of time to study the pikes bone structure; or, just search the internet; they could learn to fillet a pike with no more difficulty than filleting a walleye... perhaps some will find it even easier than filleting a walleye.

[Old Ironmaker]

I don't think it would be considered waste as far as the regs go. The best way to deal with that is to educate them. Show how easy is to get the most out of the fish. If he did this on this occasion you can bet it's not his first or last rodeo. I do have a fishing buddy that is continually leaving the belly on walleye and pike. He is a surgeon when it comes to filleting fish, it's just being lazy and am continually giving him sh$#t. He says that's where the toxins are. I eat a walleye or pike maybe once a year, it's not going to hurt.

 

It just drives me bonkers to waste good meat. It's not just fish, when I hunted guys were always cutting the breasts out of a duck and chucking the rest. Laziness.

 

Show him if there is a next time. That's how I would handle it. There is no cure for being lazy.

[fishindevil]

Well I am a perfectionist when it comes to cleaning fish !!! Seeing how I learned very young from my grandpa when he owned a fishing lodge !! And bones in the fish were not an option and I have cleaned thousands !!!! I used to get 25 cents per fish !!!! And what he taught me the most was that you must have a super,super sharp knife !!!!!! And regardless what fish species you are cleaning it will make the job a lot easier !!!!!! A top quality knife make it like a surgeons scalpel and go to it !!!!!

[nancur373]

Well I am a perfectionist when it comes to cleaning fish !!! Seeing how I learned very young from my grandpa when he owned a fishing lodge !! And bones in the fish were not an option and I have cleaned thousands !!!! I used to get 25 cents per fish !!!! And what he taught me the most was that you must have a super,super sharp knife !!!!!! And regardless what fish species you are cleaning it will make the job a lot easier !!!!!! A top quality knife make it like a surgeons scalpel and go to it !!!!!

I have a couple rapala knives but they dull quite quickly when cleaning bluegill. What brand would you recommend as a top quality brand?

[fishnsled]

I find pike to be incredibly easy to fillet. I actually like filleting them better than I do walleye.

 

Same here.

 

I'd ask him if it knows how to clean one and if not show him how. Or tell him to give you the fish before he throws it in the fire.

 

 

or this way