Bone Picking 101 continues

Here you see a fried, delectable, fillet. Notice the yellow, dotted line. That's the lateral line you are seeing from the inside of the fish. This is what your minnow saw just before he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, it was darker and not just fried in Chef Robert's breading.

Pictured below is the other half of that northern with the fillet upside down. You can see the lateral line better on the hide side of the fishm especially when some of the breading falls off like it did here. This is what your partner's minnow saw when this northern bit your hook instead.

Next Step: On a cooked fillet, break the fish along the lateral line with your fork or fingers. In this picture (left-below), the bottom piece is the Rib Section and the Top Section is where the dreaded Y bones are located. If you are starving, you can wolf down the rib section (bottom half) as you go. OR, this is the section you give to the kids, the wife, or guests who insist that they can tell the difference between walleyes, northerns, and bass. Trust me, you'll be amazed at how many times they have NO clue. I guided for 23 years and cooked a zillion shore lunches. 99% of my discriminating clients could absolutely not tell me which fish was which by tasting them, but they really loved those northerns! Funny part was that they insisted that northerns would taste bad even after eating a plateful of Rib Sections and declaring how excellent those "walleyes" were. Even after I politely explained to them that they just ate a bunch of northerns, I would be met with denials, disbelief and shocked declarations of exquisite walleye tasting knowledge. Everyone knows that northerns taste terrible. Hey, I was a guide and I got sick of hearing all of those clients' pronouncements of all-around fishing experience and exposure so I took it into my own hands. This is what happens when the misinformed continue to spread ridiculous nonsense...plus, it was very entertaining as well!

The photo on the right is just the other side of the fillet showing the fork separating at the lateral line of the fish from a "hide" side perspective. Again the bottom half is the rib section and the top section where is the Y bones are located

Next Step: Y bone removal
To remove them bones, them bones, them Y bones, you need to perforate the Top Section of the fillet with a fork. Follow the dotted line below, perforating the fillet back and forth from about where you see the fork tines at the tail of the fish towards the head of the fish which would be to the right. You'll need to use your other hand and fingers to hold down the fillet as you pull the fork out. I would have demonstrated this but I needed that hand to hold the camera.

Refresher Shot: The key to knowing what you are poking with a fork is by noticing the subtleties in the fried fillet and its general orientation relative to the hashbrowns and pork 'n beans on you plate. In the Rib Section, you'll notice the curled up piece that almost always occurs at the lower edge of the fillet. This is the belly of the fish and the actual curl ends up just in front of the belly fin notch. Noticing the "curl" (enhanced in pic below) is what will tell you immediately where the boneless section of the fish is located. This is a thinner piece of fish and usually crunchier - perfect for the youngin's settin' at the other end of the table.