Northwest Fishing Reports

I had an awesome fillet knife,it would cut fish into thin strips like paper(if you wanted to) I don't know who made it,can't even remeber where I bought it. It would get dropped on the ground,dirt,etc. And still cut just fine. I would say it would survive anything(except fire) and thats what happened. While on a camping trip last summer,the mysteries of the universe moved the knife by the campfire(maybe it was me after a few cold ones).
Does any recommend a good quality fillet knife. And I mean "good quality" it would be getting used a lot.
But no fires this time. I swear!!!

i like my gerber. i have literally fillet up to 50 bluegill in a row and it was still smooth like butter.

cool,I'll check it out.

I have a Cut-co filet /fishing knife.I keep it razor sharp.The other I have is a Chicago Cutlery.Both knives are excellent filet knives.

tnj8222 wrote:i like my gerber. i have literally fillet up to 50 bluegill in a row and it was still smooth like butter.

Does anyone have a link to purchase a quality fillet knife? I need one for the cutthroat..,my current knife is dull and my switch blade is only good for bleeding and trimming the fillets.

There's always Value Village for a used electric. Those are good for perch-athon filleting sessions.

I use an electric if I have a pile of fish and I also have two rapala knives, a short one for trout and a longer one for salmon.

It looks like Bill W and I use the same knives.

I use a mister twister electric fillet knife for all my smaller stuff. Pretty much everything but salmon. The only fish I remember having problems with were a 15lb chum, and 11lb chanel and a 24lb king. I had to use a razor sharp butchers knife to get threw them bones.

But the regular knifes are use are bothe made by Rapala. One has about a 10" blade with a black and orange handle and the other had about a 4" blade with a wooden handle and a leather sheath. Both stay pretty sharp but not the best, but are VERY easy to sharpen.

A friend of mine got me to think outside the box filleting salmon. He uses a chefs knife and just whacks thru the bones. His goal was to leave as little meat on the bones as possible. Once he gets a side cut off he flips it over and then slides his knife under the rib bones to remove them. The main body of the salmon is almost thin enough to read a newspaper through after he's done.

The chef knife edge isn't as fragile as the edge on the rapala filleters.

Any links to the Rapala fillet knives that you all speak so highly about?

kuttkilla wrote:Any links to the Rapala fillet knives that you all speak so highly about?

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If you wanna check em out, Joes has em in their stores..

Raps has knives? I must of been living on the moon.

Sam Kafelafish wrote:

kuttkilla wrote:Any links to the Rapala fillet knives that you all speak so highly about?

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If you wanna check em out, Joes has em in their stores..

Thanks Sam-K for that! I will check them out next time I'm in Joe's...along with them digital fish scales. I've always wanted to weight my cutts with an electronic scale that Joe's sells.

rapala's have been around for awhile they are a good all around fish knife and i have several. i also have a cut-co knife that is very sharp and have yet to put it on a stone, i always have a good stone ready when i'm working panfish, just a few strokes keeps the rapala knive's good and sharp all day long:-"

panfisher wrote:rapala's have been around for awhile they are a good all around fish knife and i have several.

How expensive are the Rapala fillet knives? Are we talking about $40 or $60? I'm just trying to get a ball park figure. I mostly fillet larger trout (1-8 pounds) and would be using it for this purpose only...my Ken Onion switchblade does the trick for bleeding the fish upon immediate catch and trimming fins and fat from the fillets.

Under that kuttkilla...$20-$30 range usually...

Joes also (atleast the bellevue location has this knife set made by like Anglers Advantage and it comes with a long fillet knife, small fillet knife, an all purpose knife, and a small bait cutting board all in this flat plastic black case...I picked it up for like $10 thinking these would be a good deal and I could dump em when they got dull, but honest to god those knives are the best ones I've bought in a few years...

Kutt, If you are close to the Kirkland Joe's you may find the knife there. I'd probably go with the 4 inch blade for cutts. That's just my personal choice as it's easier to control a shorter blade. Normark has a nice looking filet knife also. I don't think there's any performance difference between the two. Rapala has the birch handle and is kinda old timey.

I have a couple of Rapala knives but they can be a pain to sharpen. I also have a couple of Forschners that hold an edge well and sharpen easily.

Sam Kafelafish wrote:Under that kuttkilla...$20-$30 range usually...

Joes also (atleast the bellevue location has this knife set made by like Anglers Advantage and it comes with a long fillet knife, small fillet knife, an all purpose knife, and a small bait cutting board all in this flat plastic black case...I picked it up for like $10 thinking these would be a good deal and I could dump em when they got dull, but honest to god those knives are the best ones I've bought in a few years...

Thanks Sam-K and Bill. I'll heeding your advice and visit my local Joe's. For today's fish I just used my old fillet knifes and they work well, but I'm always looking to improve my filleting skills with the best knives on the market.

I've always used Dexter-Russell knives. They'll run between $15 and $25, but I don't know of anyone around here that carries them so you'd have to go to their website www.dexter-russell.com. The non stainless steel knives, which are the ones with the wood handles, are the way to go. They sharpen a lot easier than the stainless ones, and if you take care of them they last forever. The 2 that I have now I've had for 10+ years, and I used them when I was a mate on a charter boat. As long as you clean them when you're done and make sure you dry them before you put them away, they are the best knives out there in my opinion.

I really like a knife that can be sharpened and honed.Some knives you see say Never needs sharpening.I dont buy those.I have a real nice sharpener made by Sunbeam.It sharpens and hones real nice.