I don't fillet many fish and when I do I can't seem to get the bulk of the meat in one shot so I end up with a lot of little pieces. Mostly the fish I keep are perch or bluegill, for these is a stiff or flexible blade preferred?

for perch and sunnnies i like a more flexible knife

I like a knife somewhat flexible for pannies. My Cutco reall gets the job done very well. It really helps in taking the rib cage out without damaging meat.

I got a Cutco brochure, and catalog,in the mail today.The price for their fillet knife is cheaper than the Leech Lake knife.Not bad for a knife with a forever warranty.

An economy knife look to the new black blades in the Rapala. If you can locate one grab the special edition Rapala Muscinie steel with the serrated back...super knife.

A more costly set of knives but well worth it is the Alaskan Outfitters 2 knife set. Amazing steel, razor edge with a few wipes of a steel.

My Kershaw was probably the best fillet knife for the $ I have ever had. I see no need to pay more than $50 on a fillet knife these days. I dont care how good the steel is or the guarantee. I will lose it before the guarantee is up anyways.
Most of the time I use my electric and I seem to have that down pretty good now. Those knife dulling pannies dont bother me any more.
I do have a old Chicago Cutlery fillet knife that has been great. It came in a set we got over 20 years ago and still holds a good edge. Just not much metal left but its more flxible now.

Northlander, Ive never used a electric fillet knife is there a learning curve with one. I'm not the greatest at filleting especially going through the ribs so I finess around the ribs like I'm deboneing a bird.
I'm really interested in getting one but I'm worried the action may be fast and harder to control.

Ya there is. You have to take your time so you dont zip through the backbone especially on small fish. Once yo have done a few dozen fish of each kind you get the hang of it.
Get a rechargable if you can. The corded ones last a long long time but the cords are a pain to have hanging in the way.
I also like the ones with pointed tips not square.

Ditto on using the electric,Northlander.Nothing beats the ol' green Mister twister electric.The Cutco may be a good knife, but not in my sights right now.All I am doing is window shopping. Got plenty of the ol' Rapala blades laying around my place to use.

I started using the electric/battery operated fillet knife that my brother in law had and I think they work great. It took a couple fish to get the hang of how they work, but if you can handle a fillet knife I think you will pick up on using on of those pretty quick.

If they would make a rechargeable and 12 volt together(if possible), you would have the best of both worlds. Cords are a pain but if you run out of juice on a remote fishing trip with no electricity, that 12 volt hole in your boat is real nice to have. Had this happen on a trip that we were weight restricted so brought one rechargeable, ended up using a non electric the rest of the week which brought us to more catch and release!

I felt I did a better job if not rushing with an electric. My $.02.

There is the biggest issue with the battery operated fillet knife, battery life. I don't think there is one out that has a really good battery life, well something that is going to last a week of good fishing.

Thanks for the thread bogwalker and thanks for the input all I'm gonna invest in a rechargeable knife.
Also I thought I would mention the have those converters now that you can plug into a cigerate lighter for charging or for ac power supply. I forget what they are called

Just FYI, the converter you are talking about is called an Inverter.


-Gregg B.

Anybody see the "How to Fillet a Walleye" video on the Minneaplois newspaper site??

It was a folding, serrated edge knife?? I was impressed the way it cut through the rib bones and still sliced out the rib bones so easily.

Harvelee, how much does the Cutco knife run????