Any recommendation on a Fish fillet knife?

[akula83]

Hey guys, I know there are a lot of Fishermen out there, anybody have a fillet knife they just love? Mostly for pan/bass/trout. Thanks.

 

[Mistwalker]

Hey guys, I know there are a lot of Fishermen out there, anybody have a fillet knife they just love? Mostly for pan/bass/trout. Thanks.

I'm not big on filleting...I tend to broil them whole, fry them whole, or split and roast over a fire but I watched my father fillet a million fish in my childhood and teenage years...ours and everybody fishing around us at the time it seemd. His favorite of all is to this day is the Rapala...though he's getting up in years and does little of it now.

 

[Ebbtide]

The big question is how much do you want to spend?


Helle

Helle blade, my handle (the affordable & fun way to go )

Iisakki Jarvenpaa (hard to find, but nice)

Dozier made

We only fillet large fish... Like the ones that don't fit on the BBQ whole.
Guts, gills and scales come off, then off to the fire they go.

Or, if we have to transport them in the cooler. Fillets take up less space.

We've taken apart hundreds of fish with my good old Schrade Sharpfinger, so it is all relative

 

[batosai117]

I'm not big on filleting...I tend to broil them whole, fry them whole, or split and roast over a fire but I watched my father fillet a million fish in my childhood and teenage years...ours and everybody fishing around us at the time it seemd. His favorite of all is to this day is the Rapala...though he's getting up in years and does little of it now.

Not to track away from the OP's question, but what do you do when you cook the fish hole? Do you still gut them or you actually just slap the whole fish on the grill?

As for me, I'm cheap when it comes to fillet knives wally world for me since I live by salt water. I wouldn't want to ruin an expensive knife

 

[udtjim]

The Rapals's are as good as anything out there and very reasonably priced. The 7 inch wood handles model would work well for what you want to do.

 

[Mentor]

I tend to use a Rapala for most fillet tasks, but if I want to classy it up, I use my Grohmann.

All the best,

- Mike

 

[Ebbtide]

When we cook fish whole, the guts and gills come out, the fish gets scaled.
Leave the head on
Can't miss out on the cheek meat

Try this...
Chop garlic (4 or 5 cloves) and a fist full of parsley.
Put that in a cup and cover with quality olive oil.
Salt the fish and put on the grill. No oil on the whole fish.
When the fish is done, plate it & cover with the garlic, parsley & oil.
Good stuff

With reasonable care carbon will survive in a marine environment.
The Sharpfinger in the picture was my "go to" knife for a decade, before I found the internet.
Cut bait, filleted & gutted fish (all saltwater, boat & beach) and it never suffered any damage.
It did look like an old hammer though.

Once after a long hot day with much too much beer I did forget to clean it.
It had a powder coat of orange on it.
A little WD40 and 0000 steel wool fixed that.
Just rinse the knife with fresh water when you wash the rods & reels.

 

[batosai117]

When we cook fish whole, the guts and gills come out, the fish gets scaled.
Leave the head on
Can't miss out on the cheek meat

Try this...
Chop garlic (4 or 5 cloves) and a fist full of parsley.
Put that in a cup and cover with quality olive oil.
Salt the fish and put on the grill. No oil on the whole fish.
When the fish is done, plate it & cover with the garlic, parsley & oil.
Good stuff

With reasonable care carbon will survive in a marine environment.
The Sharpfinger in the picture was my "go to" knife for a decade, before I found the internet.
Cut bait, filleted & gutted fish (all saltwater, boat & beach) and it never suffered any damage.
It did look like an old hammer though.

Once after a long hot day with much too much beer I did forget to clean it.
It had a powder coat of orange on it.
A little WD40 and 0000 steel wool fixed that.
Just rinse the knife with fresh water when you wash the rods & reels.

Thank you, that's good to know :thumbup:

I've always cut up my fish and chunked the head for the gulls or other fish to eat, this sounds like a better way to get all of the meat

 

[Ebbtide]

A lot of people, the old timers say that the bones add flavor.

You haven't lived till you saw a little old Sicilian lady eat a big ol' bluefish head

 

[desmobob]

My favorite is an old Normark (Rapala) folding fillet knife with a wood handle. They still make the folding model, but now it has a rubberized plastic handle.

Just right for knocking the sides off of some genetic-inferior stocked fish...

Great knives for the money, I think.

Stay sharp,
desmobob

 

[Hassilov]

I have a Normark Falcon purchased 7 years ago. It's not fancy, it's just an inexpensive knife that works pretty well. Swedish stainless steel and a hard plastic sheath which I quite like. The plastic handle won't hold fish smell which is a plus. Now they're known as the Normark Rapala Deluxe Falcon and are made in China. I can't comment on the Chinese Rapalas, but there are still several interesting Swedish and Finnish models in this link:

Normark Rapala Fillet Knives

and other brands here

the Bear & Sons look really cool

 

[Bwilson]

If you plan on filleting a lot of fish - use an electric. We use electrics quite a bit for pan-fish because it's faster. There is a small learning curve to avoid wasting any meat but once you get the hang of it life will be much easier. If money is tight you can use a mister twister electric but the switches burn out in them with heavy use. American angler electrics have lasted the longest so far but they also cost twice as much.

 

[myright]

I use a Buck filet knife and love it.

 

[Rupestris]

I use a Henkles 6" boning knife. Not the Spanish or Chinese version. The real German one.

It had a miserable sharp guard on it from the factory but I ground it off and smoothed everything up. Works well.

 

[Grampa]

My BRKT Canadian Sportsman does the job for me!:thumbup:




p.s. Some might not like the stiff blade, but I prefer it because I know where it is! It's not flexing every which way somewhere inside the fish! Not a popular view, I know, but I don't waste meat!

 

[Ebbtide]

Gramps, when I want to keep every bit of meat I only use the tip of the blade and make repeated cuts, riding the bones all the way.
The one cut and zip the fillet off is reserved for the times when speed & quantitiy was a factor.
I've always had success with a flexible blade, I guess it (mainly my old Schrade Steelhead) is what I'm used to.

To quote Hunter S. Thompson
"We killed like kings."

 

[Mistwalker]

Not to track away from the OP's question, but what do you do when you cook the fish hole? Do you still gut them or you actually just slap the whole fish on the grill?

As for me, I'm cheap when it comes to fillet knives wally world for me since I live by salt water. I wouldn't want to ruin an expensive knife

Well...yeah...minus the guts and scales....not that primitive lol. Sorry, thought that would be taken as a given...guess I'll have to remember this sort of thing in the future.

 

[batosai117]

Well...yeah...minus the guts and scales....not that primitive lol. Sorry, thought that would be taken as a given...guess I'll have to remember this sort of thing in the future.

I figured the scales would be flaked off I was just mainly wondering about the guts, those taboo shows on National Geographic have people eating all sorts of stuff, so I just wondered if the guts would be left in when grilling

I forget who, but another member also answered about the guts. I should have known better. I'm a big fisherman myself, that's all there is to do on the Gulf Coast, but I like to fry my fillets, I'll have to get a grill going for next time (going fishing Thursday).

 

[Joezilla]

CRKT has got this new surf and turf folder that I've had my eye on.

If I'm ever blessed enough to have my fillet knife on me, its that walley world special ya'll were talking about. Don't really have much experience with anything else I'm afraid, this one's worked for so long. If I'm with my father, we normally use grandad's old Rapala that is a stellar knife.

 

[Joezilla]

When we cook fish whole, the guts and gills come out, the fish gets scaled.
Leave the head on
Can't miss out on the cheek meat

Try this...
Chop garlic (4 or 5 cloves) and a fist full of parsley.
Put that in a cup and cover with quality olive oil.
Salt the fish and put on the grill. No oil on the whole fish.
When the fish is done, plate it & cover with the garlic, parsley & oil.
Good stuff

With reasonable care carbon will survive in a marine environment.
The Sharpfinger in the picture was my "go to" knife for a decade, before I found the internet.
Cut bait, filleted & gutted fish (all saltwater, boat & beach) and it never suffered any damage.
It did look like an old hammer though.

Once after a long hot day with much too much beer I did forget to clean it.
It had a powder coat of orange on it.
A little WD40 and 0000 steel wool fixed that.
Just rinse the knife with fresh water when you wash the rods & reels.

Ebb is that a May or an Ingram?