Best bang for your buck fillet knife

[vtshantyman]

bless you lol

[markjsolomon]

Any one use the Lansky sharpening system to keep the edge on?

[bigredonice]

I've filleted with many knives, as long as the edge is SHARP and the blade flexible it will work fine.   Key word is SHARP.   If you don't know how to sharpen a knife with a stone, then its time to learn.

electric knife is 10x easier and just as efficient, however.

[JonPerry]

i just got done filleting some crappies just after dinner with my new leech lake knife. i couldn't believe i could have so much fun cleaning fish. after picking it up at Reeds, i emailed the web site to inquire on the sharpening process best used once it needs a touch up. Don's son Mike got back to me within the hr. to let me know that if & when it needs sharpening, crock sticks are all they need. i can't see needing to touch it up any time soon, & was impressed with the rapid response from him. needless to say, i'll be getting rid of my other knife in short order. that sharp spine is the cats a$$.

[dkfry]

I got my Leech Lake knife last week and its a beauty. Did not get to use it on any fish yet though.

[walleye tattoo]

I have three at the camper and two at home in the garage the one in the house is the wife's until it comes time to fillet fish I grab here's and find it dull so it gets a sharping and I get yelled at for not warning her  go figure.Best fillet knife old patric cudahay boneing knife.

[silvercreeker]

Check out Havalon knives.  Replaceable surgical blades, and unbelievably sharp blades.

[Border Jumper]

Got to go with the leech lake knife, a bit on the expense side but well worth it.

[4x4elk]

Well after reading all these posts # 1 if you have allot of fish to do go out and buy yourself an electric knife can't go wrong! # 2 in My opinion just doing lower #'s like 10-15 fish at a time go and get a cutco fisherman knife I love mine use it as back up for the electric keeps an edge for ever and if you do dull it send it back and they re sharppen them for free.

[dkfry]

i just got done filleting some crappies just after dinner with my new leech lake knife. i couldn't believe i could have so much fun cleaning fish. after picking it up at Reeds, i emailed the web site to inquire on the sharpening process best used once it needs a touch up. Don's son Mike got back to me within the hr. to let me know that if & when it needs sharpening, crock sticks are all they need. i can't see needing to touch it up any time soon, & was impressed with the rapid response from him. needless to say, i'll be getting rid of my other knife in short order. that sharp spine is the cats a$$.

Thats good to know. Sounds like the kid may be taking the biz over. I'll have to get one of those Lansky Crock Stik setups to try, they are not that expensive.

[TType86]

Ive been considering a new fillet knife myself. Im ready to get a quality knife! I like the leech lake knife but 7.5" seems a little big for my bluegill fishing. I usually use a 4" or 6" knife. Any thoughts on using the leech lake on gills? Is it good and flexible enough to justify primarily cleaning bluegills with it even though its 7.5" long??? Thoughts on the longer blade for gills?

[Skipper]

They are really great knives... They are about right as far as walleye and pike go, but a 4'' is still pretty handy for panfish.

[grand610]

Do any of you use a Kershaw knife?  I have 3 of them for hunting knives but wasn't sure about the fillet knives.

[dbike988]

I bought a used fillet knife from a local baitshop for $4 recently and it seems pretty nice.  The blade says Swedish Stainless.  I wouldn't mind a little more flex but man is it sharp.  All I used is one of those cheap "V" sharpeners.  A few quick passes through the sharpener after each fish kept it cutting nicely.  Now I just need to learn to cut fish better!   

[Knoodles]

Strongly suggest an electric fillet knife.  I will never go back.

[dkfry]

Ive been considering a new fillet knife myself. Im ready to get a quality knife! I like the leech lake knife but 7.5" seems a little big for my bluegill fishing. I usually use a 4" or 6" knife. Any thoughts on using the leech lake on gills? Is it good and flexible enough to justify primarily cleaning bluegills with it even though its 7.5" long??? Thoughts on the longer blade for gills?

Pretty sure they used to offer a 5 1/2" Leech Lake knife but I do not see it anymore. As far as 7 1/2" for pannies, yeah maybe its a little on the long side. Don't matter to me I'll use it for pannies. Honestly I've been using the electric with the narrow blade for pannies for a while now.

[bushbunny]

I have a custom made fillet knife, an old Schrade Uncle Henry, a Rapala, two Kershaws, and a Rapala electric.  They all do the job if THEY ARE SHARP.  Something to think about!!!!

[ICE_MONKEY]

I like my cutco.

[jayman_1975]

Just got a Cutco for Christmas. It's the bomb.

[fishlessman]

just got my green handled leach lake in, its almost tooo pretty to use this has to be the sharpest knife ive ever bought, usually a new knife needs to hit the stone to get it where i want it, not this one, extremely sharp out of the box, its scary sharp

[gooseblaster49707]

Strongly suggest an electric fillet knife.  I will never go back.

\.
even with an electric you still need a manual knife to remove the ribs and take the rib fillets off.  i started a post about manual fillet knives awhile back and had alot of replies.   
.
going to add that no fillet knife other than a saw blade or electric is made to cut bone.
.
the harder the steel of the blade, the softer the stone is needed to sharpen it.      an old carbon steel knife with a hard blade needs a ''soft'' stone.   the new, made in China soft crap stainless needs a piece of carbide or super hard stone to sharpen.     not joking, actual fact.
.
once the blade has the correct angle on it and is sharp, all you need is a good piece of ceramic to true the edge. rapala or smith makes a nice set, cheap.
.
look around, read up on the topic and learn how to sharpen/keep sharp a knife.            IMO, nothing beats an old carbon steel bladed knife or the 20+year old rapala knives.  kershaws are nice and EZ to work with.  anything made in Tawain and/or China need to be avoided like your EZ mother-in-law.

[Knoodles]

\.
even with an electric you still need a manual knife to remove the ribs and take the rib fillets off.  i started a post about manual fillet knives awhile back and had alot of replies.   
.
going to add that no fillet knife other than a saw blade or electric is made to cut bone.
.
the harder the steel of the blade, the softer the stone is needed to sharpen it.      an old carbon steel knife with a hard blade needs a ''soft'' stone.   the new, made in China soft crap stainless needs a piece of carbide or super hard stone to sharpen.     not joking, actual fact.
.
once the blade has the correct angle on it and is sharp, all you need is a good piece of ceramic to true the edge. rapala or smith makes a nice set, cheap.
.
look around, read up on the topic and learn how to sharpen/keep sharp a knife.            IMO, nothing beats an old carbon steel bladed knife or the 20+year old rapala knives.  kershaws are nice and EZ to work with.  anything made in Tawain and/or China need to be avoided like your EZ mother-in-law.

I never use a "regular" knife to take out rib bones, I slide my electric knife right under them and they come off like hot butter.  So I disagree with needing two knives to clean a fish.  Can actually leave a thin layer of the fillet where the rib bones were. 

You take one swoop on each side with an electric knife (behind head to end of tail) flip the fillet off and remove skin.  If you have not removed skin wiht an electric fillet knife before you need to.  It is amazing how easily the skin comes off. 

[wyoutdoors]

Agree, all one needs is an eletric knife. I use the same kitchen round-tipped electric which was picked up years ago for $9.99. A deft hand can fillet a perch or crappie in under a minute including the removal of rib bones from the fillet.

I did go old school on some smallmouth and used a Rapala. Took longer as I hadn't worked a fillet off of the rib bones in over 10 years lol. Itwas enjoyable but if I have bucket of perch, it's back to the electric.

[Lifeguard]

I agree to a point, only need an electric.  Most fish I only use the electric, but when it comes to de-boning pike I like a non-electric.  Rib bones are way easier and faster to get with an electric.  But for those of you that want a good filleting knife, the Wusthof knives are hard to beat.

http://www.paulsfinest.com/Wusthof-Butcher-Series-Fish-Fillet-Knife-9-inch.html

http://www.paulsfinest.com/Wusthof-Classic-Fish-Fillet-Knife-8-inch-20-cm-Flexible.html

[wyoutdoors]

I don't believe a $40-$80 Rapala electric are needed either. A cheap-o from a discount store works fine, jmo.

[Lifeguard]

Mines a General Electric Wally World special.  Works great.

[Knoodles]

I agree to a point, only need an electric.  Most fish I only use the electric, but when it comes to de-boning pike I like a non-electric.  Rib bones are way easier and faster to get with an electric.  But for those of you that want a good filleting knife, the Wusthof knives are hard to beat.

http://www.paulsfinest.com/Wusthof-Butcher-Series-Fish-Fillet-Knife-9-inch.html

http://www.paulsfinest.com/Wusthof-Classic-Fish-Fillet-Knife-8-inch-20-cm-Flexible.html

As I typed my post about "only" needing an electric the ole boney pike was in the back of my mind.  I have never done this but watched it done and figured the old school blade would be the best. 

I need to put  a few deboned pike under my belt.  I generally throw them back because I dont want to deal with filleting and taking out all the bones.  I know it is not that hard I just never done it and not exactly sure how.  Once I do it for the first time I have a feeling I will kick myself for throwing back so many pike.  Love the taste of Pike in the winter!!! 

[gearheart]

For pike I'd leave the electric in the case.  For getting the "Y" bones the fillet knife could even be a little dull as the bones are very fine and could easily be cut through by mistake with a super sharp knife. 

[Booppr]

I have had a hard time with my electric rapala fillet knife. When doing a bucket of perch I missed so much meat on the first 3 I went to a regular fillet knife (rapala in the leather case with a sodden handle) and was getting a ton more new off the smallish perch I was cleaning. Any tricks for the electric knife.... I may see if newish blade is getting too dull.

[wyoutdoors]

I have had a hard time with my electric rapala fillet knife. When doing a bucket of perch I missed so much meat on the first 3 I went to a regular fillet knife (rapala in the leather case with a sodden handle) and was getting a ton more new off the smallish perch I was cleaning. Any tricks for the electric knife.... I may see if newish blade is getting too dull.

Might take some time to get used to it maybe. Angle of the blade is important if you're leaving meat behind. I try to keep mine as parallel as possible to the cutting board. In my mind the speed of filleting 2 doz+ perch far outweigh the little bit which may be left, which isn't much in my case!