filleting pickerel

Here is a photo series of how to fillet pickerel.

The problem with pickerel is that they are full of spikes

Sharp teeth

Spines on their fins

and even inside their gills.

Here is how it is done: first open their gut

Then cut the upper part of the fish from the open belly to the tail

But don't cut the side off at the tail, leave it attached

Then go to where you started and the belly is open but the flesh still attached in the upper part of the body and cut this off following the backbone

 All the way to the end

Then cut what you just cut off below the arm-like fin

This is what you have

 This is why the tail being attached is good. It gives you a handle to skin the fillet you just cut

And this is how you do it. Keep the knife still and wiggle and pull on the fish

 Ta da!!! you are nearly done

But now you have to take the bones out

On the pickerel another part really good to eat is the cheek

Ice Fishing

Here are some more pictures of ice fishing. Obviously if you leave the hole open to the air for too long it freezes back over, so you cover it with snow. I have to say that this demonstrated the insulation power of snow to me better than anything else before.

I love the colour of the sky during the long long long sunsets of winter

This is what I was fishing for: loche, or burbot. They are related to cods so the flesh is coarse but the liver and the eggs are a fantastic delicacy.

this is what the liver of ine of the big fish looks like. The texture is finer than butter and just I rich. Delicious!!!

It does get dark early

And to pass the time, and because it is something I've wanted to do for a long time, I started walking across the river. This is something to do with caution. First in this cold you DO NOT want to get wet, second you do not want to fall through into the river and have to get back out.... if you can. I never made it all the way to the other side... not so far... maybe later. It is a lot of work, checking the ice every single step.

Those are my steps. Take a step, check the ice ahead of you. Take another step, etc etc

This is how far I got. It was awesome.... and I have to admit terrifying at the same time. I could totally hear the air bubbles under the ice running with the water the entire time.

Filleting Jackfish

I never took pictures of how to fillet connies and I regretted it afterwards. So I asked C. To show me how to fillet a jackfish he had caught and let me take photos.

 Here is the jackfish (beautiful creature really but with a mouth full of several rows of sharp teeth)

First put the knife in its belly right by the anus, aiming to come out near the backbone at the top.

Like this. And with the blade facing the tail cut along the backbone towards the tail without cutting the piece off

Then slice its belly open

And empty the belly

Then turn the fish around and putting the knife back into the first cut made from belly to backbone but this time with the blade facing the head, cut along the backbone towards the head

And cut the side of the fish off the at the head and the tail so it comes off

Then do the same on the other side

At this point you have the two sides cut off the backbone

Then cut the "triangular" part of the side not all the way to through to the skin

Then following the skin slide the knife between the skin and the flesh

Then turn the side of the fish around and slide the knife between the skin and the flesh from the back towards the front

Now you have a side without skin. Cut the "ribs" off

Then you have to cut the middle bones off by cutting along them, first on one side

Then the other

Ok, maybe I am not explaining it quite right but this is the way it is done,

Basically looking across a fish this is where the bones are, and this is what has to be removed:

Note that in a connie the side bone going slightly up are single bones, and in the jackfish they fork into two