fillet knife?

[bigbritt]

i am in need of a GOOD fillet knife, i am sick of the rapala knives where the edge doesnt last long and doesnt sharpen well....any ideas out there where i can get a knife that will last me for a long time?

[bullheaded]

Go Electric, no problems with sharpining.

[waterwolff]

I have never tried electric but have had good luck with my Leech Lake knives I bought mine at the sportsmans show more years ago than I care to remember

[bigbritt]

i just feel like i am cheating with electic

[walleyeslayr]

The BEST knife is the "Leach Lake" fillet knife. It's available at Reeds in Walker and Brainerd- ot their HSOforum.. I think Gander also carries them. You will NOT be disappointed!!

I have had mine for 8 years and had resharpened one time. The maker is at the Northwest Sport Show each spring. He sharpens them for free. Or, you can mail the knife to him in Iowa and he'll sharpen it and ship it back for free.

AWESOME knife.

[BIG DS]

The leach lake is the best as far as I have seen. I have four different ones and the leach lake holds the best edge and sharpens a lot easier than the others I have.

[federline]

Quote:

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i just feel like i am cheating with electic

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Think of it as exercising the privileges that come with our current place in the food chain.

Electric is wonderful when you are staring down 40 perch on a table... And you can use it on the Thanksgiving Turkey, Christmas Roast, and Easter Ham, too.

[Corey Bechtold]

I have had great luck with Kershaw. I looked at the new Berkley fillet knives and they look exciting.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[hondavxr]

I used so many different fillet knives before, from cheap to super spendy. And in the end I picked a electric fillet knife. You can get cuts almost as good as a expensive knife, but the good thing is that you did it in a 1/4 of the time with electric. Once you go electric you will never go back.

[waterwolff]

Sounds like I may have to try a electric myself

[The_Duckslayer]

I have one that rus on 12V and has an adapter for use in the house. I love it! Cut righ down the back bone to the tail, fillet slab off the skin, repeat on other side, cut the rib cage out and your are done! The only thing that you have to be careful about when ya first start is not cutting through the backbone. Once you get the feel of it you will never go back to a manual knife, especialy when you have one of those "good outings" and bring home a bunch of fish. Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[TProGuy]

LEECH LAKE KNIVES!!!! They are pricey, but worth every penny. I have had mine for 12 years now, sharpened it three or maybe four times. I refuse to clean fish with anything but that knife. Buy one...you won't regret it.

[huntingmaxima]

I like my Leech Lake knife and would buy another if I had to.

[Mike L]

Check out Custom Cutlery & Ironworks, in Iowa, on the web. An outstanding knife.

[JigginIsLife]

I would not like this post to look as if i am following others post but without a doubt ELECTRIC fillet knife hands down. i liked to do my fish with my rapala knife, then i used an electric and hands down loved it and am getting one for x-mas!!

[captainstevo]

Ok so the idea I am getting (not only from this post) is that electric is the way to go, but I just haven't taken the time to become comfortable with one. I am however on the top end of the fillet scale among my fishing buddies, and I am the first to try new ideas and gimicks, however I have found and proven that the horrible and cheap Rapala fillet knife is one of the best on the market.

I spent a fair amount of time researching knives and how they are made for an adventure that some friends and I entered to make our own fillet knives. I researched blade styles, sharpening technigues from the factory, hardness, flexibility, and a few other aspects.

I came to the conclusion, to my suprise that the rapala knife stood above many of its competitors and the one thing that set all of the knives apart from each others was the skill of the sharpener and the fact that they let the edge go to far without maintaining it.

Anyway from all that ranting and raving I am just trying to say that the knife is not quite as important as the edge that is maintained on it as long as there is a basic quality to begin with. I would also like to say that the only two knives I currently use are my Rapala and my Leech lake that I use spairringly basically because i am not in the habit of grabbing it from the drawer.

[metrojoe]

I would consider spending the money on a good sharpener. Like posted above, even an expensive knife is dump if you don't sharpen it properly.

[sjburnt]

.

[dirtking]

I really like my leech lake knife - I have had it for a lot of years and will buy another when I loose it

[bigbritt]

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CaptainStevo, well said. If you learn how to sharpen one, those ubiquitous Rapalas are a wonderful knife!

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[magnum mike]

The electric works well for slabbing out a fish. There is no substitute for an electric slabbing for big crappies. The initial cut through the scales and running the blade through the rib bones is what knocks the edge off a knife. Another solution is to have a couple of knives. When power is not available in the fish cleaning area (most of the time) I use a big 9" Rapala for slabbing and one of my finer blades to finish. I have more different knives than I care to count and I use the birch handle puku from Rapala more than any of them. The Leech Lake knife is a work of art but if you spend your money on a GOOD power knife sharpener and I think you will be happier in the long run. I have a Firestone sharpener and it puts a razor edge on every blade I have including the kitchen knives.

[ruster]

Its not the knife, its the sharpener. Invest in a good sharpener and learn how to use it properly and you can make any knife as sharp as you want. I have 2 Rapalas, 2 Normark, 1 Chicago Cutlery and assorted no name knives in different sizes and they aare all sharp enough to shave with. I currently use a Chefs Choice electric sharpener to get the basic edge set, followed by a high quality steel then onto a leather barber's strop. Once you start to feel the edge dull a little just a few swipes on the steel and then the strop will bring that edge right back. I learned all this from my dad, I swear you could cut diamonds with his knives. All that being said I do use the electric to knock the sides off if I have a large number of fish to clean. Then use the regular fillet knife for the finer work.

[NAMASafetyDirector]

I got a Rapala re-chargable cordless fillet knife last year. It works awesome as long as it's somewhat warm where you are working.(mine doesn't work the best if it is extremly cold out) It's also alot more manuverable than the ones with the cords and obviously you don't need power! So to make a short story long...I wouldn't use a regular knife ever again! Electric are way faster and you can fillet a ton of fish before they start to dull! Let's face it no one really enjoys cleaning fish so why not make it quick and easy.

[JigginIsLife]

is there any way to sharpen the electric fillet knives, mine is comming in 8 days but i want to know before hand.

[delmuts]

something i would like to add! when choosing a knife , pay attention to how the handle feels in your hand!i have used many differnt knives for years, and no problems, but this fall i used a paring knife for trimming beef tallow. afer a while i noticed my middle finger seemed numb.i'm now doing therapy for pinched nerves in my right hand .