OT: Fishing Question

D

DRM

Joined
Sep 4, 2002
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I should've asked this question on this forum first since you folks are far more responsive, and seem to know much more about using knives than others.

Anyways, I was never an angler, but my kids have had a few opportunities to fish with friends and relatives lately, and now they're hooked (no pun intended)! So I guess there's going to be a new hobby in the family.

My question for you anglers is what you use to clean and fillet your catch? I've seen two extremes: wide, stiff Japanese debas, and the more common fillet knives with long, thin, and flexible blades.

Have any of you used both? What's your preference, and why?
 
I am an avid fisherman, but I practice catch and release. I don't know what to tell you for sure but I will give you a suggestion. Pick one and learn the techniques to do it that way. I am sure they both work fine. It is like hand saws I guess, but in reverse. European cut on the push and are thicker and more ridgid, Japanese cut on the pull and are thinner and more flexible. Plenty of fine work has been done both ways, so it kind of comes down to preference. That often comes down to which you learned first or have the most experience with.
 
DRM said:
..My question for you anglers is what you use to clean and fillet your catch?...
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It depends on what you are fishing for. Different species have different bone structures and require different tools and techniques, however, most casual keep and eat fishing in this country is for pan fish, catfish, or small game fish such as trout or small bass, all of which are cooked whole. Filleting is reserved for larger fish such as large catfish, bass, salmon, or ocean fish.

A scaling blade is nice for fish that have scales, but any kitchen knife will do for gutting and removing the heads.

Most likely the only "fishing knife" your kid will need is to cut bait, and then only if he's fishing for catfish or ocean species.
 
lemme guess....KS.....bass or trout mostly?

won't need a knife at all.....:rolleyes:....slap that baby in the pan whole. :D


For filleting, I go with a stainless Martinni off-the-shelf fillet knife. Why? hangs nicely on my belt, doesn't get in the way, cleans easily, and if I break it (which I haven't yet) I'm out 8 bucks.

Maybe someday I'll have enough to make knives for me.....:(
 
Right you are Daniel, Kansas & Arkansas; bass, trout, catfish, crappie, & some bluegill.

So, do you think a small deba would suffice to gut'em, scale'em and chop off the head, tail, & fins?
 
Deba =
deba.jpeg



Too much for me to have "on my person" while fishing. A small one would probably be better for a kid (than a fillet knife) - less "stabby".
 
I agree with Dan. One of those inexpensive ;), slim, thin, longish, and - most important- flexible knives with good-sized handles do the job. Check the end-caps at the K or W-Mart or most outdoor/sporting goods store :grumpy: If you drop it over the side of the boat--no big loss.
 
I agree with Dan. One of those inexpensive ;), slim, thin, longish, and - most important- flexible knives with good-sized handle should do the job. Check the end-caps at the K or W-Mart or most outdoor/sporting goods store :grumpy: If you drop it over the side of the boat--no big loss. :)
 
DRM,
Good question and plenty of good answers.
I've been fishing out back for about a week know. High water from the hurricane.

I have an old fashion fillet pocket knife with the "scaler" on the back of the blade. Most of my fish are on the smaller side. Allot of bluegill and bass. I do use my BAS to chop the head off first. It works great, then just scale and scrape the guts out. ;)

It seems to be less trouble once the head is off. They don't flop as much. :rolleyes:
 
Why would you take your fish cleaning knife fishing with you in the field? The idea is to keep the fish alive until you get home, then kill them and clean them. That's what live wells are for, or stringers, or catch bags, or buckets with water in them. It's much more convenient to clean them at the kitchen sink.

Nothing decomposes faster than dead fish. Unless you haul ice with you, by the time you get dressed fish home, they won't be fit to eat.
 
For me (fishing trouts and other fish in that range) a small finnish hunting/fishing knife does the job perfectly. I use a Martiini and sometimes my Eka

eka-249008.jpg


This is the EKA H8, it is short and does not get in the way - and it is thick enough to knock the fish unconscious with the back of the knife before you kill it.
I went fishing with my dad since I was 7 or 8 years - and for years just used the knife that was there - a finnish knife my great-uncle brought home in the early thirties. It looked a bit like this

anglermesser180513.jpg


I guess every knife will work if you are used to use it. However I never used these longer and slender filleting knifes like this

anglermesser_dreizack.jpg

anglermesser902919.jpg


as I clean my fish in the flowing water, holding it with one hand and working with the other.

Andreas
 
Ben Arown-Awile said:
Why would you take your fish cleaning knife fishing with you in the field? The idea is to keep the fish alive until you get home, then kill them and clean them. That's what live wells are for, or stringers, or catch bags, or buckets with water in them. It's much more convenient to clean them at the kitchen sink.

Nothing decomposes faster than dead fish. Unless you haul ice with you, by the time you get dressed fish home, they won't be fit to eat.
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I agree with your philosophy Ben, but some states require you to kill the fish when you take them into possession.
 
Ben has a very good point. I'm lucky in that fishing is less than an hour away from me, though I still clean at home.


munk
 
munk said:
Ben has a very good point. I'm lucky in that fishing is less than an hour away from me, though I still clean at home.


munk
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Me too. As long as the gills are red the fish are fine. If they go pale pink or white then they aren't fit to eat. We've always cleaned fish at home, especially cats. They live for hours outta the water and still have to be killed before cleaning or they wiggle all over the damned place.;)

I have a Rapala fillet knife that I've used for years, and years now.
 
Yvsa said:
...We've always cleaned fish at home, especially cats. They live for hours outta the water and still have to be killed before cleaning or they wiggle all over the damned place...
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When I lived in Oklahoma and caught lots of catfish, I had a catfish cleaning tree in the yard. It was a tree that I drove a large nail into. I cut off the head and sharpened the end so it was a spike sticking out of the tree.

I impaled the fish through the head on the spike, cut a slit in the skin just back of the head and pulled the skin off with a pair of pliers. It came off like a sock turned inside out. Then one cut severed the head, and if I did it just right, the guts would remain attached to the head, and I would have the cleaned fish in the other hand.

The heads and guts would drop down into a bucket, but I usually didn't bother with the bucket as the barn cats would be waiting and would grab the fish heads and run off with them as soon as they fell. The whole process took about 15 seconds for each fish.
 
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