04-12-2004, 12:28 AM
1. Fillet the northern pike just as you would a walleye .
2. Place fillet on newspaper to keep it from slipping-with inside of fillet up .
3. Look for row of white "dots" which are the ends of the "Y" bones . (See Figure 1 .)
These can be felt by running a finger over the fillet . [center]
![[Image: npf1.gif]](http://www.calntisa.com/fish/npf1.gif)
4. Using a sharp , short , flexible fillet knife , make cut along top of white "dots" as shown in
Figure 2 and Figure 3 . Note that "Y" bone curves slightly , so try to follow curvature of "Y"
bone . Cut entirely through the fillet .
![[Image: fi5.gif]](http://www.calntisa.com/fish/fi5.gif)
![[Image: npf3.gif]](http://www.calntisa.com/fish/npf3.gif)
5. Make second cut along bottom side of white dots as shown in Figures 2 and 3 (above)
again following bone curvature as much as possible .
6. Make above two cuts toward the tail end of the fillet to the point where the "Y" bones
stop . This is about to the vent of the fish .
7. Cut "Y" bone strip of flesh off the throw away . [center]
![[Image: npf4.gif]](http://www.calntisa.com/fish/npf4.gif)
8. Cook and eat the deboned fillet . It's finger-licking' good
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