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I guess I'm weird but I don't like the flimsy fillet knife blades, I have been using a little Gerber pocket knife to fillet my fish because I love the stiffness of the blade and it keeps it's edge very well so it's always sharp, but it's only 3" long so it's too short for most fish lately and I have started using the TD method, (I call it that because he's the one that taught me how) anyway where you cut off all the rib bones in your initial cut and then go back and trim them out after... Well I need a tough enough knife to cut bones if desired and yet sharp enough to do the fine cuts that we need while filleting... So I have been looking at a Buck 223 Silver Creek knife, it looks like it might fit the bill for what I want, but I heard it may not be a stainless steel and it rusts if you don't take care of it... Does anyone have one of these knifes and if so what do you think of it? Also if you have a knife you think will do what I want please recommend it... Thanks J
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Jeff,
While I'm no expert, I use one of those Rapala wooden handled fillet knives. They are inexpensive and hold an edge well. I have some Kershaws and other knifes but I think the Rapala is as good as any. For what it's worth.
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Hey Gary I'm sure glad to hear you're still out there, been worried about you since I haven't heard or seen much since your operation in March... Hope all went well there for you... Are you getting out much lately? Got the Kokes dialed in on the gorge by now? Hope you're able to get back after them....
Hey appreciate your knife recommendation and I have one of those, but I bent the tip on it trying to fillet (carp) for catfish bait and the end of the knife likes to bow back up on the tip side so it doesn't lay flat against my cutting board when I'm trying to skin the fillets and so I leave meat on the skins... I'm probably just doing something wrong, but I wondered if I used a stiffer knife if it would stay flat against the cutting board... I try using one of those electric Mr. Twister fillet knifes and it works pretty well, but I don't like cleaning them up and it also doesn't cut as clean as I'd like to.... Guess I hate wasting any meat and would like to do as good as I can at getting it all.. That's part of why I'm a slow filleter...
Anyway I hope you're back on the water and hope to run into you again soon.... thanks so much for the advice, it's probably just me and the way I use the knife, because I see lots of reviews saying stiffness is not a good thing in a fillet knife... Anyway catch ya later... J
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+1 I agree with Gary, I however do love my electric filleting knife as well and I prefer the long thin flexible blades.
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Jeff, PACKFAN has my vote. I have a Rapala electric fillet knife, with the long blades. Those fillets I gave you at the Flotilla were all done with that knife. The opposing "saw" action of the blades makes pretty short work of even the thick upper rib bones of big Wiper. And they are still thin enough to cut the meat off the skin and not leave any meat behind. Mine is strictly AC house plug in type, but they have them in models that are battery powered, or can be plugged into a DC outlet in the boat or vehicle. All depends on how pricey you want to go. Of course, I have a Rapala filleting knife I keep in the boat for cutting up carp. It's sharp, thin, stainless so no rust, and has a good non slip grip handle.
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"OCD = Obsessive Catfish Disorder "
Or so it says on my license plate holder
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Hi Jeff, I went with one of those Berkley cordless fillet knifes and i would never even consider picking up an old manual fillet knife again. I love the electric knife. I bought some additional blades to get a longer thinner blade and it rips through anything. I can fillet anything from a 6 inch perch to a 40 inch pike with easy. They take very little effort and i get about 20% more meat on my fillets. I bought an extra battery and the one battery will charge before i run the other out of battery.
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[#484848]Yep ...... An electric is the way to go. I prefer the American Angler for power and durability.[/#484848]
[#484848]If you don't care for electric, you might try the Uncle Henry steelhead knife by schrade for a more durable blade.[/#484848]
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I have an electric and 10" manual knife. Both have there place. For panfish type of fish I prefer the electric. For larger other species bass, cats, wipers and pike I prefer the regular fillet knife because I do not cut through the rib cage. I also think I get a better fillet on fish that have a torpodo shape with my regular fillet knife. Both knives are Repalas. As for bending the tip might as well replace it. It will never be the same!
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We use the Rapala ones as well. We have one with a wooden handle and one with the black handle. The advantage to the black one is the handle material can handle the water better than wood one. Both use the same blade. Each spring we'll ready our knives with a good honed edge on them. Then they are good to go. If we have a good catching season we may occasionally run them through the sharpener that comes with them to touch them up a bit.
We also got a Berkely (cordless) that was gifted to us and Mister Twister has a plug-in one we've read good reviews about that we'll use when cleaning a lot of fish - they are great at getting through any bones then we'll use the fillet knifes for the finer, detailed part of filleting.
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i use an electric fillet knife it works great.
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https://youtu.be/JBLKqeFTUKA
old school flimsy works great for me as long as its very sharp. Electric ones are nice for larger fish with thick bones to cut through.
and You can get a cheep flimsy one for under 10$
just my 2 cents
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I have the old manual knife. It is a Berkeley and works for what I need it to do.
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Jeff, being an old "fish butcher" I've learned a few things about knives that apply to myself, but I think sharing would be good.
First, my "go to" knife for most fillet jobs is a rapala 8" fillet knife. If you can't shave with it then sharpen it or it won't do a very good job. Properly sharpened, it will glide through the average fish, rib bones and all, and leave nothing for the scavengers on the carcass.
Second knife I use, and this is only for heavy bones/big fish, is a 10-12" butchers knife, again, razor sharp. It is stiff as a board and will cut through the heavy ribs and backbone on the big fish without grunting at all.
I do think that it is mostly in the technique though. I almost always fillet the whole side, ribs included, with one pass and cut out the rib bones and pin bones from there. When I'm done all the meat from belly to back is on that fillet with only a sliver missing where the pin bones used to be.
I've tried the electric knives and they are OK, but they are somewhat unwieldy and batteries and cords are a pain when you're on the boat or shore making quick work of a carp. I prefer the fine control of a fillet knife myself.
Good luck deciding, I'm off to the marina now to net about 100 suckers and fillet them up for bait. I'll be using the butcher knife for these ]
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My electric is the same brand as yours and I have been using it for I would say 20 years or so, still going strong and the blades are fairly cheap. When I find them on sale I usually buy a couple sets. I also have a couple Rapala electric knives that I have received for gifts over the years that are ac & dc powered but I have hardly ever used them.
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[#0000ff]Most serious anglers have more than one "pole". And those of us who keep and consume at least some of the catch usually have more than one knife. Unless you are only filleting one species of a standard size you will likely benefit from having an assortment of knives to handle the different cleaning chores you will encounter through the year.
I have experienced working on commercial and sport fishing boats...where being able to swing a blade was vital to proper fish cleaning. And I usually kept a small rack with several knives of different lengths, thicknesses and degrees of flexibility. All had their uses.
Since I retired in Utah I use mostly an electric knife for slabbing, skinning and rough trimming. But I also keep and use several other "standard" knives for specialized chores...like fine trimming and rib cage slicing.
More important than what you use is how you use it. If you know how to operate a good regular fillet knife you can usually do fine on most Utah species. But for fighting through heavy rib bones on some larger species you will wear yourself out and dull your knife in the process. Can't beat a good powerful electric with a good set of blades.
In addition to a bunch of knives I keep in my own special drawer at home, I have a traveling fish processing bag with two electrics...both American Angler. One is 110 volt for use when power is available. The other is a 12 volt with a motor that is almost as powerful as the 110. Then I have a couple of big heavy-bladed butcher knives and several sizes of the old Rapala wood handled knives. Oldie but goodies. Then there are variety of other small blade knives for fine trimming, etc. I don't use them all...all the time...but it is good to have what you need when you need it.
[inline "BOARD AND KNIVES.JPG"]
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I have observed TD filleting fish especially catfish and he knows this skill very well.
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While an electric knife has its place a fixed blade is nice to have as well. Based on what you described you might want to take a look at the cutco. You can adjust the blade length for stiffness which is a great feature plus the steel is good and stays sharp for a good long while.
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I keep my old Rapala knife as a backup, and recently bought a couple of Dexter Russell knives like the commercial guys use.
http://www.fishermansheadquarters.com/eq...russel.htm
My filet knife is a #xxx1609 8" high carbon, and I bought a sheath to match. I also bought a 3" bait knife #xxx1612. So far, I'm delighted with both of them. I do them a wipe with a bit of vegetable oil after I clean them, but that's the only extra care they need.
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Can't beat the American Angler electric and then a Dexter Russell for finishing up
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I think you just need more practice with a good fillet knife, I can help you out with that this summer hopefully. I'll drop my fish off at your house then pick up the fillets later.
I like the american angler electric for heavy boned fish, but prefer to use a fixed blade for the more delicate cuts. Trout I use my Kershaw blade trader fillet knife, it comes with a 7 inch and a 9 inch blade. The Rapalas are good also. I agree that all of them need to be kept very sharp. A dull knife is a dangerous knife.
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