Mr. Twister Filet Knife

[SDFlagChaser]

I am sure somebody has covered this, but I could not find what I wanted by searching.  right now I am trying to keep some sunfish and some crappies from a local pond.  I am throwing back all the bigger crappies and pumpkin seeds, the last two trips I have kept a total of 9 fish the gills and seeds have to be over 7 for me to keep and the crappies have to be between 9-10 inches.  as of right now I am just scaling them and chopping off their heads.  it goes pretty quick with the small amount of fish I do catch.  I have a 25 dollar gift certificate for cabelas that is just burning a hole in my pocket.  my question is, would it be worth getting the electric filet knife for my panfish.  (if it is quicker, I actually might start keeping bluegills that are a little over 6 inches, so i can keep more)  I also do catch other fish like walleyes and pike, so the knife would get plenty of use.  what are you opinions?  do i just continue scaling the fish, or will the electric knife be worth it?

[tjsnipehunter]

Go get yourself the Mr. Twister knife. I've cleaned fish with many different electric knives over the past 20 years and the twister is my favorite. Stay away from the brands with the curved blades.
Small bluegills are still not going to be fun with it but they should be do-able. For 8 inch bluegills and 9 inch crappies they are great. At first go slow because the blades will start out almost too sharp and will get better as you get better using it. Don't run it at full spead all the time either. Short bursts on each cut. It will take a little getting use to but it is worth it.

Tim

[Quack_Attack]

I have had a Mister Twister for years and it gets a workout in the summer on Walleye but I still prefer a 4" Rapala fillet knife (the one with the black handle) for panfish.

I find it easier and less messy to fillet and skin the pannies than to scale and fillet or gut as you do. I have used the electric filet knife for pannies and  it works fine for the larger size you now keep, it can get a little tricky with the smaller ones. Unless you like your fish with the skin on as many do, skinning with the electric or manual knife is faster and easier IMO.

[digger953]

definitly go with the electric quicker faster just take your time
you will mess up some till you get used to it
i thiunk there is a post on here somewere about using one with a video

[flyman1002]

I also think it depends on how many fish you plan on cleaning.  If you only ever plan on keeping a few pannies I stick to the small fillet knife.  If I got a good mess the Mr. Twister is the way to go.  As someone already stated the blades come to sharp.  It takes awhile to dull it up.

[walkonwater1]

I have never seen a need for an electric knife. I find that a good quality filet blade is all that is needed. No getting into the guts, no de-ribbing and once you get a system down it is plenty fast.

[fiesty]

we clean fish nearly every day, and prefer a high quality fillet knife then an electric...you can be a hell of alot faster (once you get the hang), and if you take a little bit of care with it you'll have it the rest of your life...get a victronix or dexter russell....

[icehoe]

I can clean 50 - 10" crappies in under an hour, (start, clean-up and packaged) with my mister twister.

[Richard Cr]

As long as you have a gift card use it for whatever. But for the rest that may be thinking about an electric knife, an electric bread knife is the same thing for a fraction of the cost. I believe Wally World has them for around $10-$12. Spend the rest of your money you would have spent on the name MR. Twister for some more jigs and bait