Worst...winter...ever

I think with the rainstorm this morning, we can safely say this has been the worst ice season ever. I mean really...it's brutally warm for all of December, gets cold for Christmas for 4 days, then gets brutally warm again for a solid month. Then gets cold again for 3 days, now it will be warm again for the rest of winter. Awful. Need to put this season out of my head ASAP!

Love the posts on here. Really enjoyed reading them. To me, catching, big pike,  almost seems like the stock market. What I mean, is you have to get to good pike  lakes and enjoy them before the rest of the crowd figures it out.  Catch and release helps, but I don’t want to start that debate as each person must figure that out for their own needs and wants. Some harvest can be good too…Two or three of my best lakes up here look to be cycling  back again. They used to be good, then were just average.. either due to over-harvest, or just fish population fluctuation and now are really producing big fish… Five years from now, who knows? If a lake produced big pike at one time, there’s a good chance that it will produce big pike down the road at some point when the factors lineup again… I am all in favor of a slot limit. However, there are some lakes that tend to balance themselves out, and some harvest is good. Too many pike, equals little pike. Honestly, the best lakes I’ve found tend to not have a lot of walleye or Crappie. And one of the reasons I think those lakes do well, is they get so much less fishing pressure. As long as the pike aren’t overpopulated, the pike will continue to grow.

About the markings on the pike, totally agree. The big pike my son and I both caught this year, had the exact same markings that looked like a man with a mustache. Plus, it had part of its gill plate sticking out on one side. Telltale sign.

I spent many years up here just catching 21-24 inch pike. I thought it was the 5 fish no size limit, colder Winters, or lakes not being as feetile as southern Wi. . Im so thrilled to finally have found some quality pike up here! 

100% agree with the slot limit! It's nice to be able to chase flags and catch small pike for the kids to get hooked on fishing, but it would be great to see more lakes producing 30-40" pike. Much more exciting knowing there's that potential to catch a trophy between the hammer handles! And definitely an undervalued table fare if you spend the time getting those Y-bones out!

Awesome catch and release stories guys, I commend all of you!  I would certainly be all for a slot on pike in northern Wisconsin, something like 22-30" have to be released.  Or something similar.   Please keep the pike stories coming!  Most undervalued fish species in Wisconsin IMO, based on lack of quality regulations!

You guys are killing me.  Finally managed to get out on my lake last weekend, and the tiny pike surge continues.  16 on the ice, top fish was 27".  LOL.  Once upon a time, there were big fish in this lake.

Glad to hear pike populations are improving in the north.  Cannot beat the adrenaline rush when a toad comes in to the hole.....

Back when 30"+ fish were pretty common on this lake, it was not at all unusual for those fish to have some pretty impressive bite marks on them, sometimes very fresh, like it just happened.   Apparently pike are not at all shy about attacking a vulnerable fish, regardless of size.

I would concur with what you guys have said.  This year has been particularly good with many big ones and also tremendous numbers of "good" ones (fat, chunky 25-29 inchers).  Last year was also very good for me for sizable pike.  I didn't break 40", but we came close with 2 at 39" and 39.5", and many others from 30-36".  I know mid-40 inch+ pike are present on the lakes I have been fishing because we have caught 24-26" pike that have 4-5" wide, full jaw imprints across their backs and I found a 42-43 inch pike dead on the shoreline in the spring.

I regard to the same pike being caught multiple times, compare the spot pattern if you took photos of the fish you caught/released.  We have caught the same mid-30 inch pike 3 times in 2 years, recognizable by its specific spot pattern (each pike is unique in that regard).

It is funny how our stories mirror each other.  Last year we got 2 over 30” but they were both 38” and it was in a small lake out of the same hole about a month apart.  I believe it was the same fish.  This year our 39” came out of the same hole.  I also believe it was the same fish again. Still swimming for next year.  And the 4 we got in 2 hours this year was on a lake I have fished for over 30 years and never got one over 30”  until then.  That lake is known for big pike though, just never got one until now.

That’s awesome northernexposure! Good luck on your quest for a 40 incher. 
We’ve gotten more 30 plus fish this winter than the past 11 years combined up here! Just insane. When I first moved to northern Wisconsin- I was saddened by the pike size compared to Southern Wisconsin. But… things have gotten a lot better for big pike and this winter is off the charts!  My son and I both have a 38.5 inch pike from December outings-which was two weeks apart, same hole, we think the same fish!  (The benefits of catch and release…?)
I has a 34.5, 35.5, and 36 yesterday which was shocking!  In a lake that I would normally catch one or two 23-26 inch pike..
We’ve had a number of other 28-33 inch fish. Just an anomaly this year! But we’ll take it. And the fish are FAT! Been fun. Nothing like seeing that huge pike swim by the first time you get a look at it when fighting what you know is something big!  

N Pike, I agree this has been crazy for large northerns.  We have gotten 7 over 30” in five outings.  In mid December we got a 30” & 31” out of a small lake we fish.  Then we hit our good lake for big ones and got a 34”.  Then nothing until 2 weeks ago we got a 39”.  And last weekend we got 4 over 30” in a two hour span, one was 35”.  This weekend we are going back to our honey hole for big ones, trying to break that 40” mark, something I’ve never done except in Canada on open water.

Yes, I was joking.   

I rinse mine and batter them.   I don’t care for washed out fish!

U should see what bleach does

I use sun drop to soak my fish really makes it white and clean

A good 3-4hr soak in milk (after the salt bath) helps remove some fatty tissues too. Some type of chemical reaction. I do it with all fish now.

I've had whitefish baked, fried, smoked, pickled, and grilled. I agree with everything others have said, you have to get the fillet as white as possible for a good taste. I usually take the parts of the fish that are bony and pickles those parts then fry the "back strap". I also like making fish chowder with them. Bro Basdahl's (spelling?) Perch chowder recipe is one of the best. I've even added the smoked fillets to the recipe and that was good too. Whitefish is not my favorite eating fish. Not even close, but it's good tablefare if prepared properly.

Keys to preparing whitefish....

#1, bleed the fish.
#2, don't let them freeze on the ice.
#3, remove the bloodline.
#4, soak in salt water overnight, in the fridge.  Rinse and put the fillets in regular water for another day or so.  I rinse them twice during a day, morning and evening.

Then you can fry them, broil them, grill them or smoke them.

I've found that they are not like the walleye I prepare.  But they are very good.  My favorite is to smoke them on very low heat, 80-90 degrees or so, heavy smoke for about 4 hours, then I finish them on the grill, slow cooking them at around 200-225 degrees.

I more or less sweat the oils out of the fish by doing it that way.  The results are great.

I have smoked them for up to 8 hours, and those are good too, but then I take some whipped cream cheese (with chives) and sour cream then mash it up into a fish dip.  I add garlic and salt to the mix.  It is a favorite dip, for sure.

If you broil them, or grill them, one of the keys I found is to make sure that the fillet is not cooking in its own juice, because it is oily and fishy.  Make sure they cook on a grill or topper and then let the drippings collect in something below them.

Once I made some homemade spinach/artichoke dip.  I broiled those whitefish until they were done, then I spread that on top and broiled it until that dip was a little crusty on top.  It was amazing.

I hope the tips help!