Go to Fillet knife?

[l1ranger]

I like my cutco.

Go ahead and make fun of me, but that thing has filleted fish all over the world. Has cut limes, worked as a kitchen knife, cut chicken necks to catch crabs off the boardwalk in Chincoteague, cut up some cilantro and mahi for fish tacos in Guam, cut cane poles to fish in the Azores, and prepped said fish for dinner.

i got a cutco fishermans solutions extendable fillet knife and sheath as a gift several years go.
no complaints thus far - other than some rust I had to clean off last week when my brother left it sitting overnight.

 

[Win Heger]

We filleted a lot of fish over my years boating in NJ. Most of what we filleted were Fluke and Striped Bass. My boat knives were Dexter Russell, the ones with the white plastic handle. All we did was keep them sharp and wash down with fresh water after use, lasted for years.

I did have Phil Wilson build me a custom fillet knife, he's a fisherman and knew what I wanted. It was a wicked cutter, never owned a better fillet knife. This one was only used by me, only at the dock, no one was allowed to touch it. I lost several knives overboard from carelessness, not this one. I had a matching utility knife that I used to prep baits, again, a pleasure to use.

 

[TDOG1]

Through the years I've used most production boning/fillet knives, Dexter, Swibo, Case, Rapala, Forschner, etc, etc, etc. For smaller fish the Baracuta Z by Havalon is hard to beat. Minimal, and true scalpels. Havalon sells replacement blades however the Sharpmaker does a great job in keeping it literally razor sharp with just a few passes. I've cleaned hundreds of fish with the same blade. They lose their crazy sharpness after about a dozen fish but allow for surgical precision and the ability to stay on top of the rib cage. Also great for flounder (the see thru kind ). Right now, I'm using the longer narrow Frost Mora 9218 pg series for skinning. Nice no slip rubberized grip.

Bark River just did another run of there Kalahari Sportsman which though pricey, looks like a very nice knife. I have one in the mail. Phil Wilson does make a great knife. I have one of his Punta Chivato's, a classic fillet knife. For large fish the Microtech Black Marlin is a beast. It powers through whatever needs cutting, no chipping even on larger bones. I'm a nut for fillet knives, always on the search for the "perfect" fillet. After reading this thread, guess I'll be watching for a G96, nice blade profile for a fillet. Stay sharp, stay safe.

 

[HwangJino]

I fillet fish daily and will always use my sujihiki.

Perfect cuts and I must leave the meat intact.

The one on the right.

 

[CanadaKnifeGuy]

Bluefin?

 

[Stigand]

I fillet fish daily and will always use my sujihiki.QUOTE]


A sujihiki? You fillet a whole fish with a carving knife? Or do you mean you just slice the fillets up? I've helped Japs fillet tons of tuna and smaller stuff and they always reach for deba's..........slowest stupidest fillet knife ever invented, I appreciate they want zero wastage BUT for gods sake a chisel ground, thick, zero flex, pointed unbalanced lump of tool steel?

 

[K Williams]

Bark River Knives Kalahari Sportsman, and the Silver Stag Alaskan.

 

[K Williams]

I have spent 40 years searching for the perfect fillet knife. Typically I fillet 40-50 5lb+ fish at a time several times a month.
The problem is not just corrosion but to get as much meat as possible it is necessary to run the blade along the bones and with large quantities the blade deforms. Folks who believe a "touch up" with a steel every few fish like you do with meat will work are mis-informed. Steels only align edges there dont sharpen or fix nicks from bones........
You need a hard, semi-stainless blade period. Enclosed is a photo of a few of my knives, victorinox and green river are the best medium priced knives and the likes of bubba, and rapala etc are just rubbish. Their edges deform rapidly and hardness is inadequate;
I tried a few top end Japanese knives for a while including Shun which were excellent but just too thin and fragile for when you cant be bothered reaching for a chopper and take a head off.........the answer to your question in my opinion is the german Wustof 'trident' range, I use their 6 inch fillet, only fault is at 6 inches its too short BUT I can fillet 100 fish without touching it up;

Do you know the model number of your Wusthof knife? Thanks.

 

[MolokaiRider]

I fillet fish daily and will always use my sujihiki.

Perfect cuts and I must leave the meat intact.

The one on the right.

And now I’m hungry! Little bit of white chopped onion, soy, sea salt. Yum!

 

[Stigand]

Do you know the model number of your Wusthof knife? Thanks.

Hi, damn I cant work the photos on this forum they just won't post! The wusthof one I settled on is not their "classic fillet 4622" but a boning one that is identical but with a wider [not thicker blade]....I cant find it on line. What fascinates me is Wusthof only put .5% carbon in their blades but yet it REALLY holds an edge, feels awesome on water stones, and wont rust if left a few hours in salt; I dunno rockwell but must be some magic in their heat treatment. Been trying to start thread on skinning as I deer and pig cull for a living and the wusthof is entirely unsuitable for them but cant post pictures

 

[teebig]

The VG10 flex fillet by outrigger outdoors is a heck of a fillet knife. holds a very sharp edge and has good edge retention. https://outriggeroutdoors.com/collections/fish-game-processing/products/vg10-flex-fillet-knife