# Redfin pike



## jdrawdy (May 3, 2010)

some of the older guys i work with swear these are some of the best fish to eat.  My question is were can you catch them and with what.  also how do you clean them.  They say there is a trick to it, but i have never caught any or tried to clean and cook them.  Are they worth the effort to find and clean, or would it be better to stick with bream and specks.


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## big country rnr (May 3, 2010)

man they are good eating but alot of small bones in the meat.


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## moore0661 (May 3, 2010)

jdrawdy said:


> some of the older guys i work with swear these are some of the best fish to eat.  My question is were can you catch them and with what.  also how do you clean them.  They say there is a trick to it, but i have never caught any or tried to clean and cook them.  Are they worth the effort to find and clean, or would it be better to stick with bream and specks.



They are right.  Redfin are the best freshwater fish I have ever eaten.  All you need to catch them is a 1/8 oz red rooster tail, but fishing for them can be tough.  It's best when its hot, and the water is low.  Try to find SMALL water.  Like creeks that aren't but a few feet wide.  Just walk the bank and pitch in the deep holes.  

As far as cleaning them, just scale and gut them like any other fish.  They have small scales and are usually easy to clean.  Like any other pike, they are full of bones, but the bones are so small on them, they disolve when you cook them.  There isn't any special way to gash them, like a Jack, unless you happen to catch a monster.  The majority of the ones you catch will only be 5 to 6 inches long and no bigger than a fish stick when cooked.  But they have some of the whitest, cleanest tasting meat you'll ever eat.  You can eat most of them completely whole, but some of the larger ones you might want to take out the backbone.

Sometimes it can be allot of work to catch them, but they are worth it at the dinner table.


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## kfoskey (May 3, 2010)

They are definitely worth it! The bones are no trouble at all. After cooking, I like to pull the fins off from the back and belly side. Then take my thumbs and pull the meat apart from where the fins were, exposing the backbone. The backbone can usually be pulled out in one whole piece. That's it! 

Fish the small creeks with a red Rooster Tail. I use a 1/16 oz. It's usually best when the water has stopped running through the creeks and there's nothing left but small holes.


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## jdrawdy (May 4, 2010)

thanks guys  may have to try it


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## zaraspook04 (May 4, 2010)

When I was a boy, I used a little piece of white t-shirt or rag. The little fine teeth will get hung up in the cloth and the fish can't get off!!!!


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## gotta biggn (May 4, 2010)

They are the best. I really like jack[chain pickerel] too. People say they are oh so boney and they are,however by gashing them with a very thin sharp knife horizontilly, they actually become the least boney types of fish. Very rich, very good.


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## dannelson (Jun 24, 2014)

*Turkeyman*

Redfinning can be done using a stiff cane pole with strong line like black braided line we use to use on the old bait casters.  For bait use a long narrow strip of streak of lean pork with skin on it.  Use no hooks just tie it on the line and jerk it through the water as if using a top water plug.  When the fish strikes he will hold on to the bait and you can jerk him out of the water onto the bank.  This is how my grandfather taught me.


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## Seth carter (Jun 26, 2014)

These ate yellow rooster tails store was out of red


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## Hooked On Quack (Jun 26, 2014)

Seth carter said:


> These ate yellow rooster tails store was out of red





Nice ones Seth !!! 




My granddad used to clean 'em and put them in a meat grinder, bones and all and make patties out of 'em, when he fried them up the bones would dissolve.


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## Izaak Walton (Nov 20, 2015)

*Can you catch Redfin pike north of the gnat line*

Does anyone know where I could catch these in the northern half of the state? I know that these redfin Pike can be found as far north as New England, so i'm guessing finding and catching some around Oconee County, Athens, or Winder or that area is not impossible. My guess is they're just really at home in the middle and southern part of the state were you have those slow-moving streams. There's just not a lot of information out there. I'd love to be able to catch a mess of these.  Anyone have any idea where I could catch some?


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## Micropterus Salmoides (Nov 21, 2015)

jdrawdy said:


> some of the older guys i work with swear these are some of the best fish to eat.  My question is were can you catch them and with what.  also how do you clean them.  They say there is a trick to it, but i have never caught any or tried to clean and cook them.  Are they worth the effort to find and clean, or would it be better to stick with bream and specks.




A great way to clean Pike and remove the Y-Bones. 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/45950858668307566/


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