Fish Filleting Knife

[Spalj]

What do you like for your walleye fish filleting knife?

[Steve Foss]

I've used a dozen different brands of fillet knives. From $10 to $100+. Know what? To this day, my preference is the simple Normark fillet knife with the wooden handle.

The talent is in the technique, not the knife.

[Great Outdoors]

What do you like for your walleye fish filleting knife?

Rapala electric fillet knife, either 120 volt or cordless.

[Tominator692]

I use an electric knife and I'll put my filets up against anyone's. Steve Foss has it right, it's technique.

[bobbymalone]

electric filet knives are for fish stick factories

My favorite filet knife is a sharp one

[TrueNorth]

Some cheap knives stay sharp for a short amount of time. So Bobby, what type of knife and how often do you sharpen it?

It seems like the guys that fillet fish often like the electric version. However, I enjoy using the traditional method and its not easy to get a razor sharp knife.

[bobbymalone]

So Bobby, what type of knife and how often do you sharpen it?

I have a few wood handle rapala jobs and a cork handle browning knife. The browning is my go to. I think it was $19.99. I mostly like it because of the cork feel. I have no clue what sort of hatori hanzo steel it's made out of... It's cheap enough that I don't feel like I need to baby it. I give it a couple passes across the stone every time I start. Maybe give it another pass if I'm party filleting. Maybe once or twice a year I'll give it a legit sharpening with one of those kits.

I like the idea of turning animals into food with my hand and a blade, not a machine. just my way of doing things. I like razzing the electric knife people

[Wanderer]

I agree with Bobby on blade care. Just pass it it over the hone/ sharpener to keep that edge tuned and you'll be in good shape. The the good ol Rapala knife has just the right amount of flex to it IMO. I have a couple electrics but only use those for carving ham and turkey during the Holidays.

I've seen guys do a great job with em but I don't clean fish like a processor much so I haven't developed the technique. I get annoyed if I mess up a fillet so I just take my time.

[Great Outdoors]

All right!!!!

I like razzing the standard fillet knife people!!

It's usually while I'm having a few beers, waiting for them to finish up their half of the fish we both started cleaning at the same time!!!!

[magnum mike]

There is NO WAY an electric knife is faster than a sharp filet knife in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. I have seen and heard this same old rap for as long as electrics have been on the market. Electrics have their place and I use them for slabbing perch and crappies. They saw through the heavy scales and thick rib bones of pannies much smoother than a fillet knife and they don't get dull. For walleyes however, it's another story.

The last time this came up in a fish cleaning house was at the WigWam on Lake of the Woods. One of the "professional" fish processors made a comment about my old fashioned knife. The challenge was thrown & accepted. We counted out the same number fish and wagered a beverage for the first to finish. 16 fish later, we threw the final fillet on our piles at almost the same time. The difference was my pile had no bones including Y bones. It was the best tasting Crown & water of the weekend!

[TruthWalleyes]

Dang man, you must be fast. I'm 10x faster with my electric.

[Ballyhoo]

Standard knife any day over an electric. MM said it best. electrics are awesome for pan fish but for walleyes nothing beats a straight blade. It gets so noisy in the fish cleaning house with the hum of electrics that you can't give your buddy grief on how slow he is. Technique and repitition make you fast. I have seen some of the guides on LOW clean fish and they are fast. Seen quicker than 15 seconds per fish several times and the filet looks as good as they can get.

[Great Outdoors]

Dang man, you must be fast. I'm 10x faster with my electric.

I agree with you, magnum mike must have drank a lot of that Crown and water before he wrote his post!

The old standard knife is Okay for those that don't clean many fish in a year.

[bobbymalone]

I didn't realize it was a race

[magnum mike]

Fast comes with practice and I have had PLENTY of practice. I was the camp biotch in Canada for many summers. You either got fast or you lived in the fish cleaning house. I have been cleaning fish for nearly 40 years. I can't even begin to count how many walleyes I've cleaned over the years. I would say I fish quite a bit and I fish year round. I don't always take a limit but if there are fish to be cleaned, I'm ALWAYs the guy with a knife in hand. I might be alone or there might be a dozen guys in the group. When you have a pile of 40+ fish in front of you, there is incentive to be efficient. I actually don't mind doing it but I'm not looking for "new opportunities".

The bottom line is I believe a sharp straight knife in the right hands is faster than an electric for walleyes.

[Getanet]

I've always used a regular Rapala fillet knife, but with Father's Day coming up I've got my eye on an electric. Gander currently has a Rapala cordless on sale for $59 (after a $30 mail-in rebate). Claims 80 hours of use on a charge.

I'm slow with a regular knife. My uncles/cousins whip through their walleyes with an electric - but I've noticed it's still nice to have a regular fillet knife around to do some trimming and clean up the fillets.

So I think the answer is you can't have too many options.

[magnum mike]

So I think the answer is you can't have too many options.

[harvey lee]

I clean all my fish with the Cutco fillet knife.

Hands down the best knife I have everowned or used.

I have no reason to go to a electric knife as mine gets the job done and it does not take long.

My main goal is a nice fillet with zero bones.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I have about 5 cheap Normark fillet knives that I use on walleyes.

I hit them with an electric knife sharpener before every use and they work great.

I use an electric if I have a large amount of panfish or perch but cannot come even close to saving as much meat with the electric as I can with the Normarks!

If you cannot save the belly meat you are throwing away about half of the fish and most guys that I have seen use an electric usually cut out all of the belly meat with the rib bones!

Cliff