Like I have said repeatedly, if a recipe says to brine for more than 90 minutes they are freaking clueless... The over-salting does not exist and the texture is completely different.
Properly smoked the skin is a complete non-issue.
I have smoked a lot of pike and many other white fish and never had a problem getting a pellicle. Set up a fan and you will not have a problem either. It is the single most important step in the smoking process.
