If you fish our lake, or listen to the conversations at our two favorite watering holes,  you may have wondered if the amount of small northern has risen in the past few years?? 

Well you are not imaging it!  If you look at the last couple of DNR fish surveys on our lake (dnr.state.mn.us)  there is a rise in the northern population, more importantly the amount of smaller northern.  We are not alone!  There are a large number of lakes within the state that have seen an uptick in northern populations  Because of this  the DNR has raised the limit on northern in the northern half of the state  from about St. Cloud north to help with the control of the smaller fish.

It is now legal on Garfield to take up to 10 northern with two over 26”, all fish between 22 and 25” to be released.    Leaving the bigger ones benefits the lake because even Northern eat Northern, and smaller northern eat more little fish (walleye, sunnies, crappie) than on big fish.

If you are like me,  and you love to eat them but hate to clean them because you have trouble getting all the bones.  On the web there are a few good videos on cleaning the fish that take out 99% of the bones. Check out You Tube “How to Fillet a Pike (and get 5 boneless fillets”  They say boneless, but as a qualifier I will only go up to 99%.

Once you get the  hang of cleaning them, its pretty easy and they are TASTY! 

10 Fish!  That is a lot of meat you say…remember, we are targeting the smaller fish and once you get the meat out, you end up with strips…strips you say, what do I do with strips?

I am glad you asked. 

Think walleye fingers, the ones you pay upwards of $10 a plate for appetizers in restaurants, only with northern…

Cut the freshly cut northern strips into about 3 -6” long, 1” wide pieces.  Bread with your favorite fish breading.  If you are asking, I love Ritz and Cornflakes, make into crumbs in a food processor.

 Deep fry to a golden brown, a squeeze of lemon juice, a bit of tartar sauce, maybe your favorite beer on the deck and you have yourself a perfect lake side appetizer.

Feel free to show your catch on the GLA web site or share your own recipes.   I will be sharing a few more.

The Cabin with the dock that fades into the lake