Fishing knife

[P.K.Hansen]

I'm going to make a fishingknife, but since I
'm not fishing myself, I don't know what is the most usefull bladetype. It will have to be an allround knife.
What would you use for the handle? I'm thinking about using pakkawood, but maybe thats too smooth for fishing.

 

[Rob!]

Hi PK

I learned a few basic lessons on this subject last summer. My brother wanted a 13" fillet knife (9" blade). He charters for salmon on the great lakes. (no salt water) He asked for 1/16" steel for a really flexible blade. I used ATS 34 and I think that may have been a mistake. I now understand that ATS 34 doesn't do the flexible thing very well. It tends to stay bent if you push it too far. About the time I started doubting the choice I decided to make a matched set. The second was also from ATS 34 but was 1/8" stock and tapered contiuously from the ricasso to the tip. It flexed more evenly and returned to straight well. I handled both of them with Stabilized redwood burl.

He likes them both depending on the task. He says the thin one does a better job of removing the skin and the other one does everything else better. Then he grinned and asked if I wanted to test out a 3/32 blade. <sigh>

Hope this helps some

Rob!

 

[knifemaker3]

P.K.
I use 440-c in 1/16" thickness on all of the fillet knives I use. But I only offer them in 6"- 8" lenghts of blades. I've never had a problem with 440-c not returning straight if bent a little too far.
Hope this helps!

------------------
Craig Blankenship
Blankenship Knives
http://www.blankenship-knives.com

 

[Guy Thomas]

I used to fish the Gulf of Mexico for snapper and grouper and have cleaned countless fish from mullet to sharks (cutting shark-skin will dull a knife in nothing flat!). My favorite two knives were the Normark
Presentation Fillet Knife and the Normark Presentation Hunting Knife (the hunting knife is no longer in production unfortunately).
The fillet knife has a 6" blade, 1/16" thick and 3/4" wide at the hilt. It tapers nicely to a delicate tip and is great for skinning and filleting. My complaints with it were that the handle material (some kind of molded plastic) became very slick with fish blood and slime (the new model has a soft grip) and since the blade was rather delicate, cutting through heavy rib cages could only be accomplished right next to the hilt.
The hunting knife has a 4 3/4" blade, 3/32" thick and 3/4" wide at the hilt which is the same handle as the fillet knife. This knife retains its blade thickness and width to withen the last 1 1/4" of the blade. Since it is a more robust knife I used it far more frequently than the fillet knife, so I actually carried the hunting knife and kept the fillet knife handy for more skilled cleaning.
I think a design that incorporates the best of these two knives would be a great knife for fishing. A 3/32" thick blade, 3/4" wide at the hilt and an overall blade length of around 5" or 6" that tapers more in width and thickness than the hunting knife to give it better flexibillity and a handle material that wouldn't become so slick (material unknown, ideas anyone?), oh, and a stainless blade material that wouldn't need sharpening so much (my knives are nearly 25 years old and I don't know what stainless they were using then but sharpening took place several times in a cleaning session!-Guy T.