Best Fillet Knife?

M

mrd74

Joined
Dec 1, 2001
Messages
607
Most outdoor fillet knives are made of some sort of mystery stainless steel of questionable quality the type of which isn't revealed by the manufacturer. There are a few exceptions, one being Knives of Alaska which uses AUS 8 which is what I consider to be a respectable mid-range steel. I'm looking for opinions and recommendations from those of you who have found fillet knives that don't leave you wanting for something better.
 
I used to use a Dexter Russell High-Carbon wide stiff boning knife to fillet fish when I worked on party/charter boats in Gloucester. My preference is the 1376, with a six inch blade. The commercial groundfishermen use 1375, five inch "rippers" to gut fish, and a lot of the party boat crews use the 1377 and 1378, seven and eight inch boning knives respectively, to cut fish. Properly maintained, these knives take a razor edge and a light oil (I know a couple of gillnetters who used to put them in water bottles with the tops cut off full of olive oil) will keep them from rusting. They are easily sharpened on a stone and the edge can be maintained with a butchers steel. I've sharpened mine before I began cutting and touched it up as needed on a Dexter-Russell sharpening steel. We used to cut a large volume of fish, upwards of 500 cod, haddock, cusk, and ocean catfish (wolffish) per trip, and when fishing was good for them, over 700 bluefish in a night. I still use it on the occasional codfish or ocean catfish I take home for dinner off the lobster boat, and haddock, striper, flounder and bluefish I catch recreationally. I've cut up porbeagle and blue shark with them and they stayed sharp, even with the tough skin of a shark. They are inexpensive so you can buy a few to keep on the boat, and if you lose one overboard, no big loss.

Pete
 
Though not technically a fillet knife (it doesn't flex nearly enough), the Bark River Canadian Sportsman is definitely worth checking out. I use mine for extensive kitchen duty, which does include fish.

David
 
the usefulness of flexibility in a fillet knife I find is dependent on the type and size of fish you are cutting. With a flat fish, especially small ones like gray sole, I prefer to use a short, flexible fillet knife. When cutting larger fish, like steaker codfish, bluefish or striped bass, I like a longer, stiffer blade. For general cutting of fish I prefer a blade with some belly, like a boning knife, rather than a thin tapering filet knife like rapala or similar styles (the conventional filet knife). Again though, when I cut fish on the party boat, speed was a consideration. We needed a knife that was versatile enough to cut several different sizes of fish, from 21 inch haddock to three foot pollock, and we didn't have the time to switch knives. Oftentimes it took two guys cutting for 90 minutes to 2 hours to finish cutting the fish we had aboard the boat for the day. a comfortable handle is something to consider as well, especially if you are going to be cutting for an extended duration and a large number of fish.

pete
 
I have mostly used a 6-inch V-nox boning knife for small fish, and a 10inch V-nox "american style" curved butcher for bigger fish. Thats what I was supplied with.

I much prefer my misono-handmade, 8-inch chefs knife for any type of fish.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top