I've never smoked fish myself, but I've eaten my share over the years, even some Northern at one point. The problem with Northern is they are a low oil content fish, so as I recalled they turned out quite dry. That's why most of your store bought fish are a high oil content fish, like lake trout, salmon, white fish or ciscoes. Oily fish when smoked produce a nice moist but oily product that I've loved since my parents took me up to the north shore as a kid in the 1950's. Back then, there were smoked fish places all along the scenic drive north from Duluth along Lake Superior. My Dad would get a few ciscoes, fetch a bottle of beer from an old metal cooler and we'd have smoked fish along the shores of the big lake. If you're ever heading for a scenic drive on the north shore there is one must stop place - Russ Kendall's Smoke House. They make the best smoked fish I have ever eaten. They're located just south of the Knife River on the scenic drive.
Click Here For Northern, I would also try pickling them. This is the recipe that seems to be passed around a lot on the fishing forums -
Click Here 
