I haven't heard of anyone else baking a northern in the fire. I've done that in the past and finally baked another one on my recent trip.

Step one - catch a northern. For four people, I like to get a 5 - 6 lb fish.
Preparing the fish - make a cut all around the head just below the gills but don't cut the backbone yet. Make a slit down the belly all the way to the tail fin. Now, cut the backbone (need a strong sharp knife). Pull the head away from the tail and quite a bit of the guts come with it. Clean out the rest of the guts and rinse the fish well.

With the backbone facing down, set the fish on some tinfoil that's a bit longer than the fish. Helps to have a partner add butter and any seasonings that you like. We used butter, salt, pepper, lowrey's, rosemary, garlic cloves and sliced onion. Wrap the fish and fold the ends tight. You may need to use 2 sheets of foil.

Meanwhile, your other buddies have lit a good fire and have a lot of coals ready. Spread the coals apart and slide the fish in between them. The fire/coals should be at least an inch or 2 away from the fish on both sides. You'll have to keep adding small sticks to keep warm coals. Best guess for me is 1/2 hr per pound. The 6 lber we baked took around 3 hours with pretty good heat.

Pull out of the fire, open the foil, spread apart, pull out the backbone, grab a fork and enjoy.

2 of the guys on this trip had never had baked northern. I could just sense that as it got colder, they just wanted a bigger fire and didn't care much about the fish. That is, until we started eating. They thought it was the best meal of the trip, and we ate well.

This would be perfect for a wind bound layover day. We would have done this earlier but weren't allowed to have a fire until 7pm.

Don

i think northern pike in foil is one of the best ways to make it , but i just fillet them out like normal(i leave the Y bones in) put some butter down lay the fillet on it season with lowry's-garlic powder-black pepper top with some onions,squeeze some lemon juice on it then put the lemons in with it(yes i bring in lemons). wrap it put on the grate or next to the coals and it should only take about 15 maybe 20 minutes. lake trout is also very good this way too.

A little lore. I go to bwca with my 86 year old uncle a least once a year. I'm still amazed by him. Last year he was talking to me about one of his adventures into bwca, and his cooking (circa 1965). He told me to get a large bed of fresh coals started, we then gutted and washed a nice large pike. Salt, dill, and lemon inside. We then placed the fish directly on the coals, 10 minutes a side. Believed me once we pealed off the skin, it was some of the best I've ever tasted.

Either way sounds easy and no-fuss. Will have to give both foil & nonfoil methods a go.

I like to take pike, cut it into small chunks, boil in salt water until it floats, dip in melted butter, and eat like poor mans lobster. Quite good, and makes a nice appetizer.

We really like Northern for shore lunch. I just carry a piece of foil, 1 lemon, onion,salt and pepper. Lemon pepper also works fine. Fillet fish or leave whole, add toppings and wrap in foil. Cook 7-8 minutes on a side, enjoy.

All of these recipes are awesome. I have tried them all as I am a pike lover. I always get crap from anyone new that I take up because they say pike are garbage fish. These bozos only ate walleye before and never tried pike. Well, after a northern pike cooked a few different ways, their eyes were opened. Now they can't wait for that first pike baked right in the fire.

I also had a friend who said he didn't even want a northern on the end of his line! Well, he was over one day when I was frying up some pike, I gave him a tail section and he loved it. Then I told him he was eating pike. LOL !

quote analyzer: "I like to take pike, cut it into small chunks, boil in salt water until it floats, dip in melted butter, and eat like poor mans lobster. Quite good, and makes a nice appetizer."

I love boiled pike, but I boil it in sprite instead of water, and add some garlic powder to the butter. Excellent!

Our Quetico Heaven-

Catch a northern...,


Eat a northern baked in parchment paper & foil with Jack Daniels marinade- add wild rice and veggies...

jack daniels marinade Mmmm !

Going in after trout closes, going to be stuck with Northerns. Good to hear my chosen method of cooking works for the hammer handles as well.