High end filet knives

I mainly fillet blue gil, specs, and sunfish, with the occasional perch, large and small mouth bass, and northern pike.
 
I've always heard good comments about Leech Lake Fillet knives point to note is they're sharp on top for the first cut behind the gills to help save the primary edge.
 
Isaacherring said:
I mainly fillet blue gil, specs, and sunfish, with the occasional perch, large and small mouth bass, and northern pike.
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I would think with those smaller fish you really would want a very thin blade. I'm no expert though. I don't care much for eating fish. In the summers as a kid we would catch 30-40 Blue Gill and the like a day though (catch and release, barbless hooks)
 
There's also the Spyderco Sprig if you like what the Southfork has but wanted something a bit smaller.
 
Last time out at the surf, I caught too few smaller fish. I had my Warther 4 1/2" fillet blade in S35V with me (their fishing knife) and a couple of Fallknivens in VG10. I much preferred the thinner blade on the Warther and the S35V held an edge much longer than the VG10 - much better. Warther also has a 6" version.
The Warthers in S35V are not "high end" but they work well and the steel is good quality. The Fallkniven blades were a bit too thick (2.5 mm) and I don't think that they were quite as hard as they could have been for dealing with fish.
I eat any fish that I catch, unless they look funky.
I have the Kalahari Sportsman in S35V and their older, smaller knife in 12C27, but didn't bring them with me on the last trip.
 
80% of my filleting was done with an electric knife, crappie, sand bass, redfish, flounder. Small fish like blue gill are gutted, headed, scaled and cooked whole. Other small fish like trout and catfish are headed, gutted, skinned, and cooked whole. Those are processed with small stout blades.

I have a couple rapala fillet knives from the 80's, somewhere, but only use them on the spot where there's no power source available and fish need to be cleaned asap.
 
I use the Bark River Kalahari Sportsman and love it. I sharpen it with on my paper wheels and it stays stupid sharp through salmon and steelhead season.
 
First, 4 production with a custom in the middle...

Case • Murphy (modified handle) •Orvis by Kelgin custom • Original Schrade Steelhead • Helle

But the meat eating king of them all is the flat ground

Dozier Fillet
 
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I always used a Rapala.
Cleaned hundreds of fish between sharpenings.
(panfish, carp, and catfish, for the most part)
 
Dunn knives in Kansas makes a couple models in S60V. I had one but found the shoulder to be a little thick close to the edge. Rick Menefee comes to mind. He does a superb job with 154 CM
 
I've thought about making some but didn't know if there would be enough interest. If enough folks want some in 3V I can order another bit of thinner steel and add some to this batch of 3V one off's that I'm currently grinding on before sending to Peters for heat treat. I've kind of been thinking about doing myself a 6.5" one like below for trout and bass and maybe another smaller 4" one for panfish. If folks were interested I could do a small batch of these sometime this year.
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onojoe said:
I do a fair amount of fishing and my son works on a sportfishing boat out here in CA, so I have looked at a lot of filet knives, or as many out here would call them fish processing knives. We will filet rockfish (1lb) to yellowfin tuna (100lb+) We always go back to the tried and true cheap Forschner breaking knives. They are 8 and 10 inch and can filet most anything. For smaller fish we use a Forschner Filet knife. Forschner was bought out by Victorinox recently so they may be under that name now. The common thread hear is an easy to sharpen, thin blade that has proven itself in commercial kitchens.... However I have been looking at the White River Filet Knives. They look awesome. I just haven't pulled the trigger on one because so many of my knives end up overboard.
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Yup, not high end, but they make quick work of fish. I used to work on a boat at point loma sportfishing. I had the 6, 8 and 10" forschners. used my 6" forschner probably more often than anything, but the 8 got used quite a bit too. I only used the 10 on sharks, that thing is like a machete.
 
Doesn't seem to be much more support for Grohmann but I stand by my previous statement. Get one that suit your needs.
I would love a custom one day but to be honest, Grohmann has made me a life long supporter.
Let us know what you choose and how it works out!
 
I have the northarm 9" and it's really really nice, I love the Cnc textured blade finish. My dad has been using a grohman for a really long time now and loves it so they are proven winners, we catch mostly pike and some big ones too. I also have a spider on sprig and it's a great utility knife to help break down meat but in terms of a fillet knife it's just not the same thing, awesome blade though and highly recommended, between the northarm and sprig you can handle anything.
 
gdpolk said:
I've thought about making some but didn't know if there would be enough interest. If enough folks want some in 3V I can order another bit of thinner steel and add some to this batch of 3V one off's that I'm currently grinding on before sending to Peters for heat treat. I've kind of been thinking about doing myself a 6.5" one like below for trout and bass and maybe another smaller 4" one for panfish. If folks were interested I could do a small batch of these sometime this year.
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Can't private message you. Did you end up making any 6.5 inch 3v fillet knives? One of my favorite steels but can't find a maker who uses it on a fillet knife.
 
Midwest Firecraft said:
Can't private message you. Did you end up making any 6.5 inch 3v fillet knives? One of my favorite steels but can't find a maker who uses it on a fillet knife.
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I got some prototypes in AEBL in the process. I had a few distractions between life and health issues (a Crohns flare up, tumor, and then I fell on an arrow and got impaled in my throat). They look like they will be some killer knives. Plans are to do a small run of these in either 3V or Elmax two runs out. I've got a few local guys that want some too and planned to have a small few extra blade blanks available. I don't know why my PM's aren't working; I'm not too computer savvy. Why don't you shoot me an email with your name, phone number, and that your interested in a filet to gdpolk AT sbcglobal DOT net. I'll give you a call.
 
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