There's lots to like about pike

I finished the March 27 radio show and stopped at an area breakfast spot I frequented in past years.

It wasn't 30 seconds after I removed my jacket and sat down when two guys came up to my table and asked if I was “Jackson the radio guy.”

My talk show is on Sunday mornings at 6 and I usually get up three hours before that and make a pot of coffee to help clear the cobwebs. On this day I couldn't sleep and I found myself prowling the kitchen at 1 a.m. Believe me, I was really beat and not in the mood for any further conversation.

Anyway, these two guys heard the part of the show when Fox River guide Ken Gortowski and I agreed that a northern pike filet was far tastier than a chunk of walleye. My friend Roger was also on the show when that conversation took place, and he was grousing about how much he treasures a meal of fresh walleyes, and for him that fish ranks up at the top of the list for the best tasting species.

The dynamic duo in the restaurant wanted to argue their case with me. In fact, they went as far as demanding a retraction from me or they were going to pound lumps on the top of my head. I couldn't believe how the conversation deteriorated into the possibility of a physical confrontation over a simple issue of personal preference.

I suggested to both of them they sit down and join me for cups of coffee but they refused with snarls and comments I can't publish here.

For years I was “forced” to eat walleyes during shore lunches. My father and mother would dream for weeks before the annual Canadian or Minnesota walleye trips of having those shore lunches of fresh walleye. I used to sit on a big boulder with a paper plate loaded with the traditional deep fried fish, fried onions and spuds, and baked beans. There wasn't anything else to eat so I assumed the role of good son and did what I was told.

It was only after I started guiding in northern Wisconsin that I discovered what I had been truly missing in the way of a fantastic shore lunch. A customer suggested we catch some pike and substitute them for walleyes. He showed me how to get rid of the Y-bones when the northern was filleted. And yes, some meat is lost in the process, but there is still plenty of the good stuff left.

Unfortunately far too many anglers have assigned harsh, negative names to northern pike. A moniker such as snake is quite common among pike haters.

And strings of expletives often flow from the lips of normally mild-mannered fishermen when they discover a northern pike on the end of their line. I, on the other hand, am overjoyed when I know I'm battling a northern. But I'm getting off the track.

Many fishermen use a breading or batter to fry their catches. I prefer to season the fish with garlic, onion powder, oregano, and pepper, and then wrap the fish in aluminum foil and slowly bake it.

In fact, I was able to convince noted outdoor photographer and gourmet cook Mike Seeling that a pike had far more flavor than his beloved walleye, even though he'll occasionally sneak in in a walleye filet when I'm not looking.

Believe me when I tell you that the debate about walleye versus pike as table fare is the kind of topic that will make folks choose up sides.

For me, the unique flavor of a freshly caught northern pike properly de-boned will elicit more oohs and ahhs than a flat, dull-tasting walleye that's been camouflaged with fancy-schmancy breading marketed under the various outdoor, woodsy names just to coax the greenbacks out of your wallet.

Ÿ Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, and catch his radio show 6-7 a.m. Sundays on WSBC 1240-AM.