Fillet knives ?

[splashhopper]

I am looking at buying a decent fillet knife this weekend and am looking for input, pro and con, on Electric vs non-electric knives...

 

thanks

 

Splashhopper

[backbay]

I'd like to know the same. Can the blades on an electric be sharpened somehow?

[Terry]

if you are good with a knife then a decent fillet knife is the way to go

but an Electric knife can make a bad butcher into a not too bad cutter....

I am good with a knife but when I tried the electric it cut my cutting time in half and I did a better job

[backbay]

My fishing partner has an electric, and it's started to lose some of its effectiveness through use over time. I asked him if it could be sharpened and he didn't know. They sure work great when new, but in the long run, I also wonder if you're not better off with a good knife and a stone.......

[bigugli]

I've never liked the electric blades, whether for fish or in the kitchen. I keep 2 filet knives in regular use. A good flexible Rapala knife for most fish, but I also have a heavier blade for bigger fish. Mora of Sweden produces a knife with a harder steel and more backbone for cutting through the larger boned fish. They are lifetime blades.

[fishermccann]

Depends on how many fish you clean, 50 perch or one bass.

[duber]

I will take an electric any day to clean 1 or 50 fish.Its faster and I waste less fish with a electric.The replacement blades are 10 bucks at bass-pro.I've used mine for over 2 years and am still on the original blades.

 

My 2 cents.

[crappieperchhunter]

Not too many years ago I held the opinion that I would NEVER use an electric. Then my son got me the Rapala electric for christmas one year. Begrudgingly I gave it a go if only to show my son I appreciated his gift. My only regret is I never got one 10 years earlier. I have 3 regular filet knives now that never see a fish anymore. The electric does not waste anymore meat once you get the hang of it and your hands stay cleaner and it is also faster. I see no downside to the electric.

 

The electric knive is especially good on smaller perch. I thought it would butcher the smaller fish...but in fact the opposite is true. 90% of the fish I clean are Perch Crappie and Bluegills. With walleye, pike and the odd whitie as well.

 

Go electric you will not regret it.

[Guest gbfisher]

When ya have a pale"O" Perch...there's nothing like a good electric.knife. Clean 50 fish in under 30 mins. No bones No skin...

One or two fish is easy with a regular knife.

[Meegs]

for perch and panfish i wouldnt think of using anything else other than an electric.. but larger fish, whitefish, trout, pickeral, theres nothing like a good sharp blade. ive found the rapala knives with the black handle, not the wood one works best. best bang for yoru buck thats for sure.

[danbouck]

I better give an electric a try. the 50 perch gets hard after a while

[splashhopper]

Not too many years ago I held the opinion that I would NEVER use an electric. Then my son got me the Rapala electric for christmas one year. Begrudgingly I gave it a go if only to show my son I appreciated his gift. My only regret is I never got one 10 years earlier. I have 3 regular filet knives now that never see a fish anymore. The electric does not waste anymore meat once you get the hang of it and your hands stay cleaner and it is also faster. I see no downside to the electric.

 

The electric knive is especially good on smaller perch. I thought it would butcher the smaller fish...but in fact the opposite is true. 90% of the fish I clean are Perch Crappie and Bluegills. With walleye, pike and the odd whitie as well.

 

Go electric you will not regret it.

 

I was wondering about the crappies and bluegills too.. as my daughter, botbot on here, is all about "numbers" when it comes to fishing....

 

we must have thrown a hundred crappies and bluegills back already...

 

Thanks for the heads up on the smaller fish too..

 

appreciated..

 

Splashhopper and Botbot

[wallyboss]

One or two I will use regular knife more I'll use the electric just becasue it is a hassle getting the friggin thing back in to it's case.

[crappieperchhunter]

One or two I will use regular knife more I'll use the electric just becasue it is a hassle getting the friggin thing back in to it's case.

 

The first thing I did....before I even used the knife once...was throw the damn case in the garbage. Can't stand trying to repackage stuff in cases like that...too much farting around.

 

I went out and picked up a tuperware container big enough to just throw everything in. No frustrating repacking for me!!!

[paulyboy83]

I have an electric and it has definitely cut the cleaning time down. Who the heck wants to spend a couple of hours cleaning a bucket full of perch at 7 pm after a day of fishing and a 2 hr drive home! If I only have a couple of fish to clean I use the "manual" knife.

 

I would recommend getting the deluxe model of the rapala electric as it comes with 3 different ways to hook up to power. The plug in, alligator clips to clamp on 12 v battery posts and a cigarette lighter plug. 2 different lengths of blades as well.

 

Paulyboy

[tightline]

Me and a Friend were just having this very conversation in Canadian Tire yesterday...both of us thinking way too much meat yield and crappy blades...after reading this I'm going to go get an electric and try it out on some pike and walleye I have in the fridge from yesterdays outting...Thanks for the heads up on the Electric everyone!!

[bbog]

It's good to have both for the many reasons listed here. Both are convenient in their own way, the knife especially when camping on back lakes without power!

[NBR]

I have used both but find the electrics do a m uch faster job. With an electric you must watch your fingers and don't cut through the back bone.

[Jonny]

I've avoided electrics because I thought they were just a new gimmick to part me and my money. I'll have to take a second look!

 

I'm pretty sure an electric would not work for taking boneless fillets off a pike. It takes a little more finesse than usual.

 

And has anyone tried a regular electric knife? One for carving roasts and stuff?

 

I often fillet fish by taking the entire fillet slab off each side, then taking out the rib-cage bones. It seems to me that a regular electric might work for taking off the slabs too? (Then finish with a regular knife.)

[Bondar]

I use my electric and cut right through the rib cage on most fish than after i cut the slabs off i run the electric under the rib cage and than also use it to get the skin off , wouldnt use anything else in the kitchen perch take seconds to clean

a regular knife is great when sharp, but like said for one or 2 fish where there is no power unless of course you get the battery operated electric one

 

So electric is my vote

Edited June 20, 2009 by Wiser