Walleye Pickeral

[bc.gold 3,403]

A tractor trailer load of frozen Walleye Pickerel fillets came to the first nations next to our village, free fish by the case for everyone, went for a couple of cases they insisted I take more. Sixteen cases at 11 pounds each.

 

I'm a west coaster, never ate pickerel before hope the cat is going to help out.

[Achto 27,507]

There seems to be some debate in Canada over walleye or pickerel. Depending on location they can be one in the same. If you just received 176lbs of walleye you are one lucky guy!! They are delicious!! I like them breaded & deep fried with just a touch of tarter sauce. Baked with some butter on them is also very good.

 

I fish as much as I can, bass are catch & release for fun. Walleye are also catch & release, breaded & released to the grease that is. 

Edited September 25, 2020 by Achto

[bc.gold 3,403]

Had to plug in the spare freezer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2020 by bcgold

[bc.gold 3,403]

1 hour ago, Achto said:

There seems to be some debate in Canada over walleye or pickerel. Depending on location they can be one in the same. If you just received 176lbs of walleye you are one lucky guy!! They are delicious!! I like them breaded & deep fried with just a touch of tarter sauce. Baked with some butter on them is also very good.

 

I fish as much as I can, bass are catch & release for fun. Walleye are also catch & release, breaded & released to the grease that is. 

 

A couple of west coasters discover the wonderful flavour of pickerel, Pat and I are still discussing the flavour, it's not like anything we've had in the past. The fish has a very distinctive flavour all its own which blends well with other foods.

 

We both went back for seconds.

[WHNJ701 4,165]

Walleye is the only fresh water fish I will eat.  Kinda stinks too busy this year to get out on the river

[bc.gold 3,403]

I might just have to swallow my west coast pride, the pickerel is a much better tasting fish than sockeye, but neither come close to that of sturgeon. Which has been a protected species for many years now.

[Achto 27,507]

I live near Lake Winnebago, which in these parts is known as a walleye factory. Fishing the Winnebago system in the spring during the spawning run can be a lot of fun. I have had days where we boated over 60 fish between 2 people in only a few hours. We are/were only allowed to keep 5 fish per person per day so of course most of them went back in the water, specially any big fat  females that are on their way to spawn. This year they cut the bag limit down to 3 fish per person which kinda sucks but the system gets fished very heavily so it is for the better.

 

When fishing for walleye I prefer to keep fish between 15 and 19 inches for eaters. Larger than 19" they tend to take on a different taste. The largest walleye that I have ever caught was 31". 

Here is a pic of a 19" walleye that my wife caught this summer. It's a little bleached out cause it died in the live well before we got back in from our trip.

 

You how ever live in a country where walleyes are extremely abundant. I have been on fishing trips to Canada where I actually grew a bit tired of catching walleye. Even worse I almost grew tired of eating walleye. Being a foreigner visiting your country our daily bag limit as well as the possession limit was kind of low IMO, so we ate a lot of fish while we were there.  If you like the outdoors, a fishing trip where they drop you off at a lake in the middle of no where and come back to pick you up 2 or 3 days later is a really fun experience. Our trips usually included a very basic cabin and a boat, we had to bring the rest of our gear with us. Which wasn't a real lot cause it all had to fit in a small bush plane. Haven't been up there in a while, too long actually. Need to plan a trip again one of these years.

[wh500special 2,160]

Wow, that is a treasure trove!  Don't let them go to waste!

 

I had no idea that certain parts of Canada call the Walleye a Pickeral.  Had to look it up.  The part of Ontario we've frequented for fishing was pretty much overrun by Americans so I don't think the Pickeral reference slipped much into the lexicon there, but interesting none the less.

 

Walleye are perhaps one of the best eating freshwater fish.  They have a consistent light and delicate taste that doesn't seem to matter what body of water they were caught in.  And man are they easy fish to filet. 

 

We don't have many walleye opportunities down here in my part of southern Illinois, so we have to travel for them.  But they are worth it.

 

Enjoy those suckers.

 

Steve

[stevasaurus 22,711]

Those are Walleye fillets.  Pan fry in cast iron skillet with butter and a little oil...salt and pepper...turn once.  Start with skin side down or fillet off the skin. That's all.  When a fork goes in with no resistance, they are ready to eat.  Excellent fare.