Filet Knives

[Mike the Pike]

I am looking for a higher quality filet knife for years I have used the Rapala Knives the quality of the newer knives are poor quality they seem to become dull very quickly.....I have even paid to have them sharpened but I think the quality of the steel is just no longer durable.

 

So looking for recommandations willing to pay much more for quality

[Consigliere]

Depends how much you filet. I like electric for taking the filets of the fish and taking out y bones or ribs and taking the skin off. Do that on the boat so can get rid of the carcass in the water. Take them home and clean up the filets with a cutco knife to remove the brownish fat layer and any blood lines etc. I also keep all back bones for making stock and sometimes the heads as well. The electric is perfect for that. Recommend a glove with the electric. It can go through flesh pretty quick. That's my system. Me and a buddy go through a lot of pike and walleye that way. Using a rapala 12v for last 3 years without an issue

 

As for quality filet knives one thing is to use a hone. Often blades don't need sharpening just the blade needs to be straightened back a bit.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Consigliere

[misfish]

I am looking for a higher quality filet knife for years I have used the Rapala Knives the quality of the newer knives are poor quality they seem to become dull very quickly.....I have even paid to have them sharpened but I think the quality of the steel is just no longer durable.

 

So looking for recommandations willing to pay much more for quality

 

 

You will not find the same quality of knife that Rapala made back in the day. I still have my first one from 30 years ago. I also have one I bought from Pete a few years back. These knives are quality. A few nice swipe on a wet stone, and they are good to go. There are sharpeners out there, but I still like the feel and sound of a knife gliding over a stone.

[misfish]

I knew the electric would be brought up. Sorry, but they didnt have them back then ( Well they did, for carving hams and turkeys) and to me, it,s a lazy mans knife. No disrespect intented here.

[manitoubass2]

Dood, check out meanfield tactical.

 

My dad bought me one for my bday last year and its deadly good, 7" double sided blade and he does custom knives too.

 

Best knife ive ever owned for fish

 

 

[manitoubass2]

Check him out on facebook

 

He does buckknives etc too

[spincast]

henckel combined with a henckel steel Use the steel four or five times per side every use. 15 yrs plus going on mine and still slides through like a hot knife through butter

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/zwilling-ja-henckels-pro-fillet-knife/

[Old Ironmaker]

I still too have my original Rappala from the early 80's. It's 1/2 as wide now. If you are in the Hamilton area you can buy used Nella Cutlery boning and fillet knives from a few butcher stores.

 

edit: now that I see you're from Quebec I don't think you will be going to Hamilton to buy a great knife.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Old Ironmaker

[ehg]

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/victorinox-forschner-fibrox/flexible-straight-boning-knife-p12873

Have had this one for last 30 yrs. of home use daily.

Relatively cheap, best quality. Victorinox at any culinary shop.

Edited March 12, 2016 by ehg

[aplumma]

I have been making knife for years and the 440c is the main stay of the fillet knifes. The hardness can be between 54 and 59 depending on the annealing process. The cyro process yields the hardest measurements. A properly sharpened knife at 20 degrees will hold an edge that have lasted a few guides 2 or 3 months with proper touch ups. As you get into harder SS metals your flexibility suffers and while the blades are harder this is a two edged sword. The knife will hold an edge slightly longer but is more difficult to resharpen. The curse of knifes is the sharper the edge the easier it is to roll the edge which feels dull. Most knifes need a few swipes with a ceramic rod to straighten out the edge which can be done 3 or 5 times before a regrind is needed. I grind all of my knifes up to 1000 grit then polish the edge using diamond paste finishing off with .05 microns which is a mirror finish on the edge. The knifes at this level cut amazingly but a few contact cuts with the cutting board will roll the edge and need to be ceramic rod. Before I paid for a high end knifeThe best thing to do is to practice sharpening knifes until you can make a consistent sharp edge otherwise you will have an expensive dull knife that you will be disappointed with.

 

Art

[adempsey]

I spent some time researching this a while back and here is what I've concluded.

 

For a good quality knife you have to think more along the lines of a chef, not a sportsman.

 

Wusthof, Henckels, Global, Shun are all good companies.

 

http://www.wusthof.com/usa/Products/Global-Product-Detail-Page.jsp?/classic+ikon/fish+fillet+knives/7+inch+fillet+knife+4626/id-7510/

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/wusthof-ikon-blackwood/flexible-fillet-knife-p115832

http://www.wusthof.com/usa/Products/Global-Product-Detail-Page.jsp?/classic/fish+fillet+knives/fillet+knife+w/leather+sheath+4622/id-7866/

http://www.wusthof.com/usa/Products/Global-Product-Detail-Page.jsp?/grand+prix+ii/fish+fillet+knives/fillet+knife+w/leather+sheath+4625ws/id-7863/

http://www.wusthof.com/usa/Products/Global-Product-Detail-Page.jsp?/gourmet/fish+fillet+knives/fillet+knife+w/leather+sheath+4628ws/id-7868/

 

https://www.zwilling.ca/zwilling/knives-and-accessories/zwilling-kolorid/33103-201-zwilling-kolorid-filleting-knife-8-200-mm

https://www.zwilling.ca/zwilling/knives-and-accessories/30723-183-twin-signature-filleting-knife-7-180-mm

https://www.zwilling.ca/zwilling/knives-and-accessories/33013-181-twin-profection-filleting-knife-7-180-mm

 

https://shun.kaiusaltd.com/knives/knife/classic-flexible-fillet-knife

https://shun.kaiusaltd.com/knives/knife/classic-boning-fillet-knife

 

Global G-30 and G-41

 

 

If you want a knife more geared towards the sportsman, there are still a lot of options. I suggest you just educate yourself on the various types of materials used and the measurements for quality - such as hardness, toughness and corrosion resistance. That will help out a lot in deciding whether a knife is of good quality or not. This site has some really good info and tables showing the qualities of various types of steel.

 

 

Cutco is very popular, but if you do some research you'll find that a lot of people consider them inferior for the price they charge.

 

Dexter makes some less expensive knives that also seem popular. I think the Dexters are popular because they are cheap and highly functional knives (sharp and easy to sharpen). So, they are widely used commercially. Mora (Sandvik 12C27 or 14C28N steel) is an inexpensive alternative.

 

Grohmann looks good too as does Knives of Alaska and North Arm. The North Arm knife actually looks like a great choice (it's made with CPM S35VN steel, which is primo stuff). Found another decent knife made with CPM S35SVN steel, the Bark River Kalahari Sportsman. You can also get a model made with Bohler N661 steel, which they claim is better but I can't get much information about it.

 

Cabela's also makes two really nice fillets knives. The Cabela's Alaskan Guide (CPM S30V steel) and the Cabela's Silver Stag D-2 Fillet Elk Stick Knife (D-2 steel). Those are both good quality knives.

 

There are a lot of great custom solutions as well. You can find some excellent knife makers all over Canada and the USA.

 

Beebe Knives

Custom Cutlery

Dozier Knives

Edited March 22, 2016 by adempsey

[aplumma]

 

 

Here are a few I made this winter.

 

 

Art

[Old Ironmaker]

n my experience as Art stated basically is that a grinding wheel or sharpening stone in the wrong hands will ruin the most expensive knives in the world. The harder the steel the less flexible the knife, the softer the steel the blade dulls faster. I use a stiffer boning knife to get the fillets off the bone or cut through bone to make Salmon steaks for example. Then a longer flexible knife to fillet the meat from the skin or rib cage. For perch I pay the owner of where my boat is moored to do them in the 100 year old potato peeler and she then debones them. 3 bucks a pound net weight. A 2 man limit of perch would take us hours I would bet.

 

I would never order a knife if I couldn't see how it feels in my hand. For a knife one size don't fit all just like shoes.

[Old Ironmaker]

knife.JPG

 

 

Here are a few I made this winter.

 

 

Art

 

 

 

Some really sharp looking knives there Art (sorry for the pun). Nice work.

[spooner_jr]

This knife has easily the best warranty: send it back for any reason,any time. I've had one for 20+ years, been sent back twice.

 

https://www.cutco.ca/products/product.jsp?item=fishermans-solution#sm.00001su708l46kcvztb48xs3nuvgm

[adempsey]

Portrait of a killer right there, lol.

[dave524]

A Victorinox Boning Knife with a brass riveted , rosewood handle, that I had some one in the restaurant trade get me back in the seventies is my go to knife for larger fish as well as boning out a deer. Couple of original Rapalas for panfish. I have used a Spyderco sharpener since the 70's, just clean the ceramic sticks now and then with Comet Cleanser and its as good as new.

 

edit;I like this sharpener

 

http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=77

Edited March 13, 2016 by dave524

[FloatnFly]

like aplumma said, learning how to properly sharpen and hone your knife is key. once you learn that, your knife will be golden. I would suggest practicing on an old knife first, as misgrinding or honing will either roll your edge, of put a nice big burr on it, you'll be able to feel it just running your thumb nail down the side of the blade

 

out of everyone on this board, i would guess that I put my knives through the worst punishment. regrinding a new edge every 3-5 weeks is common with our knives. average life span of about 8months to a year for a knife at the shop

[Fang]

Ron Post custom knives

Sunridge Ontario

 

He's been at the sportsman show selling his knives for the last few years

 

I love mine. Have hunting, skinning, filet and a full set of custom steak knives from Ron

[dheitzner]

You beat me to it Fang; gotta check out Ron Post's work, he makes some beautiful, high quality knives.

 

Gotta say, your stuff looks really impressive too Art...love the look of the 3rd one from the top.

Edited March 13, 2016 by darcyheitzner

[manitoubass2]

Portrait of a killer right there, lol.

 

Only fish, so far, dun dun dun...

 

???

[GBW]

Only fish, so far, dun dun dun...

 

 

Then there was that Dora pic...

[manitoubass2]

Then there was that Dora pic...

????

[woodenboater]

knife.JPG

 

 

Here are a few I made this winter.

 

 

Art

 

really liking the top knife and the third one down Art. beautiful work

[aplumma]

Thank you for the complements The top knife is black walnut and the 3rd one is a rose wood and maple layered knife. The 3rd one is fitted to a customers hand he has arthritis and has trouble with his grip. I use a block of wood and some hardening putty and have then make a caste of their grip and work from there.

 

 

Art