filet knives

    I like the Forschner fillet knives. Keep a sharpening steel nearby regardless of what brand of knife you buy and use it frequently. I sharpen before, after and during if its more than one medium fish.

    Knowing tha technique properly nothing beats Deba and Yanagiba knives.
    http://www.metrokitchen.com/category/japanese-knife-styles
    http://hubpages.com/hub/Deba-Knives
    http://www.amazon.com/Seki-Mag…giba-Slicer/dp/B000NOQUIY
    http://www.1couteaujaponais.eu…aSashimiKnife-MGR210Y.php


    Just 60 euros each.


    I have the Seki Magoroku brand and is purdy, I like the yanagiba the best. Is the famous knife to fillet the infamous fugu. ( deadly as a bullet)

    I'm a Speardiver, not a freediver

    Edited 2 times, last by monster slayer ().

    Forschner or Dexter Russel. I like Forschner better as the blade is a bit more flexible and tends to hold an edge better.


    Either one is often used the the commercial sector.

    Money no object?.....ahhhh the possibilities


    It comes down to the sharpening not the knife for me, the stones will probably cost more than the knife. I'd just get it sharpened by a professional every time if I had the money. Why have a expensive knife if you can't sharpen it properly? It's like having a gun without bullets, it will only be good as a conversation piece.

    Davie Peguero

    Davie, you are so spot on. Late last year while walking my dog on a brisk Saturday morning, I came up to a the usual weekend "garage sale". Bought a 5-6" knife with wooded handle for .50 cents. I use it now for about 80% of the fish I process. Regarding having knives sharpened, Miami/Hialeah is probably one of the last places in the world where a guy with an ice-cream type truck will drive through the neighborhood ringing their bells and whistles announcing throught their beat up speaker horns they sharpen upon request. Truly a relic, but I digress.


    Yes, Crispin Ga Tiesa makes a great stiff knife. Dan loves it and you can get here: www.getaknife.com


    Also, Loki Mama Rabosivitz, a Negerian Jew makes perhaps the best blades on the planet. I believe you can get a full set of his knives for $19.99 plus shipping and handling at www.timelife.com/cojelocontakeiteasy.net/dedocorto.es

    Quote from Rolo

    Yes, Crispin Ga Tiesa makes a great stiff knife. Dan loves it and you can get here: www.getaknife.com


    Also, Loki Mama Rabosivitz, a Negerian Jew makes perhaps the best blades on the planet. I believe you can get a full set of his knives for $19.99 plus shipping and handling at www.timelife.com/cojelocontakeiteasy.net/dedocorto.es


    Around here Berta legas de León y Elma Cano Prieto forge the best stiffers, Elsa Norión is a good choice for you too :D

    I'm a Speardiver, not a freediver

    Can't beat a good ol' Dexter Russell IMO. I've had my same old white handled DR for around 10 years now. Been through all the "normal" knives that you can get at the tackle shop/walmart/outdoor world and my Dexter Russell has still held true!

    I use a 8" Fibrox handle Forschner for most of my filleting.




    I like the Deba & Yanigaba techniques, but I'm scared to bring those on trips with me or in adverse conditions.


    Forschners (& Dexter Russell) are such great utilitatarian knives - sharp, do job well, & excellent value.




    For home use, a nice Yanigaba makes quick work out of sashimi platters...

    I also like Dexter Russell's. I have a "Tiger Edge" that cuts bones, triggerfish skin, shark skin and more.


    For normal filleting, I have an old rusty knife I bought in Venezuela (I think it's brasilian made), It's not stainless, but the good thing is that you can sharpen it very quickly and easy (using the concrete floor). The most important thing for a fillet knife is not the knife per-se but the sharpening. You must sharpen it oftenly.

    Marco Melis

    A bad day fishing is ALWAYS better than a good day at work.

    i wantedto add that the ceramic knives you can get on ebay now a days are not that bad too and keep and edge well for boning and red meat removal...kyocera makes a good 6" that is damn impressive

    i like to spear fish

    I also use a serrated edge dexter russel for cutting the skin first and also to saw through the rib bones. I use three knives to fillet fish.


    1. Dexter Russel 8" serrated knife for cutting into the skin and ribs.
    2. Forschner 8" breaking knife to cut the meat lengthwise to the spine and skinning.
    3. Forschner 6" boning knife to do all the trim work; cutting out the red meat, and cleaning up the edges.


    I also use a 10" Dexter Russel diamond rod for keeping the knives sharpened during the process. A lot of people make the mistake of using one knife to cut though the bones, skin and fillet. This quickly dulls the knife. Don't do it!


    If you only have one knife available, a trick with the big scaled fish, is to insert the knife at the tip of the tail to get it under the scales, work the knife forward while cutting away from the fish, not into it. This will help the longevity of the edge as you are not actually cutting through the scales, but pushing them out of the way as you cut the skin from inside/out.

    Quote from John Hanson

    1. Dexter Russel 8" serrated knife for cutting into the skin and ribs.



    For bigger fish, I use a $6 all stainless-steel Chinese meat cleaver for busting through ribs.
    The extra weight helps carry blade through. :)

    I've tried the cleaving technique before with a 10" Dexter Russel breaking knife that is ~1.5" in height. I was not very sucessful in doing it, unless the fish was hung and the fillet slightly separated from the main body. I had a tendancy to either cut into the fillet, or into the spine; making a mess or a big chore by having to cut chunks of spine out afterward.


    Perhaps my technique was off, the knife just didn't weigh enough, or was not wide enough. Either way, I found the serrated knife to be much easier, as I could just leave the fish lying on the table and much better control over the blade.

    Quote from John Hanson

    I've tried the cleaving technique before with a 10" Dexter Russel breaking knife that is ~1.5" in height. I was not very sucessful in doing it, unless the fish was hung and the fillet slightly separated from the main body. I had a tendancy to either cut into the fillet, or into the spine; making a mess or a big chore.


    Perhaps my technique was off or the knife just didn't weigh enough. Either way, I found the serrated knife to be much easier, as I could just leave the fish lying on the table.


    I understand exactly what you mean. I've "feathered" the top loin by mistake while trying to hack through the rib bones before. :(


    I was very anti-serrated knives until I tried it for snappers... what a difference in getting through those back scales and making initial cuts! Normal workflow - use serrated to score through scales/skin, clean cuts with forschner breaking, then serrated to finish off rib/pin bones. :)

    Quote from fuzz

    I understand exactly what you mean. I've "feathered" the top loin by mistake while trying to hack through the rib bones before. :(


    I was very anti-serrated knives until I tried it for snappers... what a difference in getting through those back scales and making initial cuts! Normal workflow - use serrated to score through scales/skin, clean cuts with forschner breaking, then serrated to finish off rib/pin bones. :)


    ;)
    Wish I would have figured that out with CA Sheepshead 15 years ago! Would have saved me countless hours of knife sharpening!

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