[Cheesehead]

Stuffed Pike ( Щука обыкновенная )

Scale and clean a large northern pike (27" or more). Do not fillet but scale and gut. Salt the fish inside lightly.

Dice up an onion and saute in butter. Fry up several pieces of bacon until well done and crumble the bacon up. Add the onion, bacon, and bacon fat to enough bread crumbs to stuff the pike along with some sage, salt, and pepper. Add enough milk to moisten the stuffing.

Stuff the pike with the stuffing mix. Sew up the pike with the stuffing inside. To make this easier, don't cut the pike all the way down when you clean it but only cut enough to gut it - this leaves less to sew.

Place the pike in a baking pan and place bacon strips over the pike. For a large pike, you may have to cut the pike in two pieces to fit in the pan. I used nearly a full package of bacon for a 32" pike I recently baked.

Mix 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce, and 2 tablespoons butter and bring it to a boil. Pour this mixture over the pike. Bake the pike for 1-3 hours, basting every 15 minutes at 400 degrees. It is done when the bacon is cooked and the pike begins to break apart.

This is as good as it gets!

[Geno Prussakov]

All I can say is WOW!! Sounds delicious... The only thing I am now missing is a northern pike "27 inches or" larger...

In actual fact, your recipe came just on time, M. I am planning a trip to Finland now. Should be fishing up there in 25 days again. Can't wait... And now I have yet another reason to fish for a 27-32 inches "Northern crocodile".

Thank you.

Geno

[Cheesehead]

Finland sounds nice. I am sure you will catch a few nice sized fish there. Try using a spinner baited with a whole smelt. The big pike really like smelt.

[Geno Prussakov]

Originally Posted by Cheesehead

...Try using a spinner baited with a whole smelt. The big pike really like smelt.

Thanks for the advice. Will definitely try it (and report how it went).

Geno