Electric Filet Knife Q’s

Interested in adding an electric filet knife to my arsenal.
Bought a Mister Twister a couple years ago to carve the turkey. Never felt I needed more than a regular filet knife (and I really liked the Havalon just fine). Well, I filleted some perch the other day with the turkey knife and…..it was fast, and clean, efficient.. nicer looking filet’s..
So now I’m interested!
I mostly fish for panfish. But who knows..? An occasional pike or a walleye, hmmm and those speckled trout and redfish in Fla..
So, I’m interested in your experiences: Brands; corded vs Li battery, etc
Thanks!

I had the Rapala cordless lithium which was a fine knife for me. Never had any issues though I know some people who have with some of the plastic pieces breaking inside. I gave it to my son’s friend and got a Bubba cordless and I really like that knife. I carved the turkey with it on Thanksgiving. Bought the kit, came with 2 batteries, charger and a bunch of blades, but by the size of some of them not sure what you’d fillet with them LOL.

I like the plug in Rapala one, it’s served me well for a long time. However, when I bought it the battery powered were pretty slow, sounds like that’s been resolved so I’d probably go with the new Rapala Lithium Ion

I have the Rapala like Captain mentioned and I like it, a buddy bought the Bubba and is also happy. Since I have not used his and vise versa I could not give you a comparison. His did come with more than two blades but not really a benefit in my opinion.

I love my rapala. Bought one after using my brother in laws at the lake all summer.
Only thing I added was an extra set of 7″ blades ( bought them at Sportsmans Guide for $10) I would like like another battery though as it gets used heavily in Canada and we only have generators for power so can be inconvenient if it’s dead. Don’t want to fire up the generator just for that. I’ve done at least 32 walleyes on one charge and was still going strong so not too big a worry.

BigWerm wrote:

I like the plug in Rapala one, it’s served me well for a long time. However, when I bought it the battery powered were pretty slow, sounds like that’s been resolved so I’d probably go with the new Rapala Lithium Ion

The lithium ion rapalas are plenty fast. I bought one of those Rapala “deluxe” ones where it had all those cords to hook up to car battery etc and that thing was slow as molasses. The regular corded Rapala is good and the Lithium is similar to that.

The Rapala Li Combo comes with 2 batteries, there’s also a Li heavy duty version with coated blades. The heavy-duty part I like, but coated blades are suspect to me, the charger looks better… Bubba looks gargantuan and I doubt I will need 4 blades.
The price of free fish dinner keeps going up..lol. Will never catch up to free elk though

Meh, I’ll stick to the old fashioned fish cleaning knives!!!

Rapala Li kit for me. The second battery comes in handy if you are not near line power. Carved the turkey with it on Thanksgiving as well, will also use it to carve the ham at Christmas.

glenn57 wrote:

Meh, I’ll stick to the old fashioned fish cleaning knives!!!

I thought so too Glenn, until I used one and bought one. I still clean panfish with my scaler and regular filet knife. But Walleye once you get used to it you can flat out fly through some fish.

Brad Dimond wrote:

Rapala Li kit for me. The second battery comes in handy if you are not near line power. Carved the turkey with it on Thanksgiving as well, will also use it to carve the ham at Christmas.

I don’t think my wife would let me near finished food with mine.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>BigWerm wrote:</div>
I like the plug in Rapala one, it’s served me well for a long time. However, when I bought it the battery powered were pretty slow, sounds like that’s been resolved so I’d probably go with the new Rapala Lithium Ion

The lithium ion rapalas are plenty fast. I bought one of those Rapala “deluxe” ones where it had all those cords to hook up to car battery etc and that thing was slow as molasses. The regular corded Rapala is good and the Lithium is similar to that.

Yeah, I’ve had my corded one since before Lithium Ion’s were a thing, that’s the route I’ll go when the corded one burns up but at my current pace of fishing may be never.

The new Rapala R12 knife is awesome! It will actually outperform some of the corded knifes I’ve used. Highly recommended

I have been using corded electric knives for walleye since 2000 after going on a guided trip on Lake Oahe when the guide used an electric to fillet the fish. I still use a regular Rapala fillet knife for most bluegill

The other day I filleted some nice perch. The next day I filleted some more with the cheap electric knife. Felt like I was cheating. The quality and appearance of the contrasting two unfrozen samples astounded me. The electric cuts were a lot nicer. So.. I don’t need an electric filet knife, but wow… I had two packages of 5 perch each. Guess which one we ate and which one I gave to the farmer who lets me hunt.

I have used the Rapala and Bubba side by side and would give the slight edge to the Bubba. Both are fine products though, no idea on longterm durability.

I go this route, choose your corded knife, buy a cheap power inverter and use one of your fishfinder batteries, portable, works great. DK.

John Rasmussen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
Meh, I’ll stick to the old fashioned fish cleaning knives!!!

I thought so too Glenn, until I used one and bought one. I still clean panfish with my scaler and regular filet knife. But Walleye once you get used to it you can flat out fly through some fish.

ok, let me put it another way, I have 4 leech lake knives, 4 rapala knives, 2 Norwalk knives and 4 other types of ” fish” cleaning knives. IF I brought another knife home my wife would do unimaginable things to me! and not in a good way either.

If I were shopping for a new knife, I would get the new PRO Brushless Bubba knife

I currently have the regular Lithium Rapala that’s been out for years. It works, but it sucks compared to the regular Lithium Bubba.

I can only imagine how awesome the new brushless Bubba version must be!

They list for $240 on Bubba’s site but are much cheaper elsewhere ($153 on Amazon)

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Thanks for the responses! The little guy on my left shoulder says I don’t “need”. My first inclination is to buy the corded knife cuz that would be frugal and telling. But “no”, I’ll probably buy the R12 because it reminds me of my fantastic cordless Milwaukee tools. A big tackle outlet has $20 off today, and a bunch of other excuses…lol

John Rasmussen wrote:

he corded knife cuz that would be frugal and telling. But “no”, I’ll probably buy the R12 because it reminds me of my fantastic cordless Milwaukee tools. A big tackle outlet has $20 off today, and a bunch of other excuses…lo

I stuff and roast the turkey, make the gravy so I get to carve it. My wife is especially happy to not have to lift the hot bird out of the roaster. On the flip side, she mashes the taters…

I have a cheap one and find it useful for small fish with tough bones like bluegills. Cleanup and putting it away are negatives. For a couple of fish, no. For 20 bluegills, yes.

I have the rapala lithium ion R12 heavy duty and am very impressed with it. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a cordless knife.

Mike Johnson wrote:

I have the rapala lithium ion R12 heavy duty and am very impressed with it. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a cordless knife.

those are on sale right now at scheels also. thinking about trying one
https://www.scheels.com/p/rapala-r12-heavy-duty-fillet-knife-kit/02267731893.html?store=90&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8NKcnNXQ9AIVvPLjBx0tsgg7EAQYASABEgLlIvD_BwE

With an electric fillet knife do you always cut through the ribs with it?

KwickStick wrote:

With an electric fillet knife do you always cut through the ribs with it?

yes

I have an old Mr Twister corded version that I use all the time. I think I am on the third set of blades now . The problem with the unit is that it cant be cleaned well due to the cover being ventilated . If I was to buy something new I would want it to be water tight. Fish slime gets into every nook and cranny over time

Lee wrote:

Thanks for the responses! The little guy on my left shoulder says I don’t “need”. My first inclination is to buy the corded knife cuz that would be frugal and telling. But “no”, I’ll probably buy the R12 because it reminds me of my fantastic cordless Milwaukee tools. A big tackle outlet has $20 off today, and a bunch of other excuses…lol

As I mentioned in the video I shared, I suspect the Rapala battery is the same supplier as the Milwaukee M12. They look nearly identical (shape/size/color).

Ordered the R12. 3Rivers- the video took me over the edge, as did M Johnson and Coletrain. I will post a review when we get some ice action. Thanks to all

I have had the Mister Twister one for many years and I love it. It takes a bit to get used to it. I can do everything with mine now. I do panfish and think I do a better job then with the old style of knife. When I go on my canoe trips I just take a regular knife and that is when I really miss the electric one. I have thought about buying the battery one, but I don’t want to carry it on the canoe trips and I do all my fish cleaning in my garage and the plug is close by, so I will stick with what I have.