what fillet knife should I get?

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking to get a good fillet knife that is easy to use for most types of fish. I currently have the rapala knife that they sell at Canadian Tire but I find it a bit too short especially when filleting salmon. Honestly I don't know much about knives and the different types of blades and shapes. I'm looking for something that's good quality and stays relatively sharp. It will be used for filleting fish(mostly pike and salmon). Of course ultimately I would like a knife that cuts along the backbone of a 15 pound salmon resulting in a perfect fillet in a flash as seen on tv but I know these guys are professional and there's a lot of a skill required for that as well. The goal is to get as close to them as possible . I read reviews and I'm currently thinking of getting the Dexter 19193 9-Inch SaniSafe Fillet Knife. However there are so many brands and so many types of fillet knives that each company makes that I'm kind of confused as to which knife is the right one. I would be happy if you can suggest a good knife for my purpose and explain the differences in stiffness, blade length, tapered vs straight blade, wide blade vs narrow blade etc.

Thanks

I use a Cutco branded filet knife. Got it three years ago and absolutely love it. It cuts through fish like butter. Pretty sure you can find them for $120 online.

Cheap knife,good sharpening stone. I would put priority on a sharpening system before buying a good knife. Better to learn to sharpen on a cheap knife before buying your forever knife IMO

I prefer my old rapala with the wooden handle over other higher end knives I own. Keep it sharp!

I agree here.

The key though is to keep the knife sharp. I sharpen it on a butchers "steel" after every use.

SDC

Got me a Bubba blade , expensive but stays sharp longer and great grip handle. I've use it on every fish out there.

I use a Rapala knife for the initial belly cut then switch to a heavy duty Olfa box cutter razor with the blade fully extended for separating the ribs from the fillet. Nothing is sharper than a razor. http://paxxindustrial.com/product.htm?Prod...gory=CUTTERS_L2

Buck folding filet knife

http://www.buckknives.com/product/silver-c...llet/0220BLS-B/

Cutco for Salmon.......easy

Electric rapala for perch filleting and another 6inch rapala for takeing out rib cage.

I don't think there is 1 knife for all uses............at least not for me.

have another from BC that has the "spoon" on end of handle if wishing to do fish whole and it's used for scooping out blood line and cutting out gills. Used a lot by the commercial guys.

Thanks for the input everyone! What's considered a good knife sharpener? My rapala came with one red thing where you just slide the knife through it and it sharpens it. Also for the guys that mentioned Cutco an Bubba blade, do you know the models of your knives?

For 50 yrs I've used the reg Rapala for small fish (Perch) and the larger 9" blade for Trout and Salmon. For the price you want get better.

Get a good quality (don't be cheap in this area) sharpening stone and look after it.

You'll be a happy camper.

Tailfin

There are a ton of videos for sharpening but I liked this one I recently watched covers a couple sharpening methods
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dnAbWpW6R74

Rapala corded electric
Rapala cordless rechargeable

Trust me on this. The batteries in the cordless are crap!!!

I have the Lansky sharpener set and they work very well on my old Rapala fillet knives. Also made a jig to hold my auger blades and I sharpen them too.

Nice video sean.