I am looking at the Rapala Ion battery and heavy duty corded fillet knives? I know the advantage of being cordless but has anyone had problems with batteries? Do they have as much power as the corded model? Thanks in advance for any advice.
I have a corded model, Mr. Twister. But after seeing my buddy and his battery powered knives in remote Canada, my next knife will be one of them.
I have had the cordless Rapala Ion for 5-6 years now. It’s been great. Has all the power you need and will clean dozens of fish on one charge.. All I have done is buy one new set of blades after about 3-4 years. Highly recommend it.
Rapala Heavy Duty if you have 110V available. Faster blade speed and much tougher than any other one I have used. New blades are cheap.
Iv got the Heavy duty knife and have 0 complaints. I shy away from battery anything if possible cause it will at some point need $ thrown at it.
I have a Rapala lithium ion cordless fillet knife and would recommend them. It is nice to not have the cord in the way. It takes a little bit to get the feel, but once you do they work great.
I had the Rapala Ion battery knife and threw it in the trash. It just didn’t have the power to get through the bones of a walleye and hold a charge. I went back to the Mister Twister. Finally burned out one of them last week and replaced it for $24 at Walmart.
Unless you don’t have electricity, Mister Twister is the way to go.
I have a corded Rapala that is still going strong after about 10 years and a ton of eye’s.
I have had two Mr Twister knifes in the past 20 years and I love them. I do buy a new blade every 3-4 years or so. I do mostly pan fish cleaning and once you get the hang of it, they are great. When I do clean a larger fish, I am glad I have that extra power. I have thought about a battery model, but then I realized that I do 99% of my fish cleaning somewhere that I can plug in, so I just stay with what works.
When I do a canoe trip, I miss the electric and think about the battery models, but I don’t think for the small amount of fish I clean on a canoe trip (1-2 meals max) that the extra weight would be worth it.
PS- I was fishing on Sat and the guy I was with did NOT have an electric knife. We were cleaning 38 yellow bass and I was flying through my pile while he watched. He is not a rookie fish cleaner, but I was still out doing him 2-1. He stopped at Fleet Farm on the way home after cleaning and bought a Mr Twister.
Can’t speak to the cordless. But I’d say go heavy duty on the Rapala – not the cheaper/lower power one -if you go corded model. The heavier duty one is way better and worth the money. Mister Twister is ok. Used that – but if you’re at a camp etc. cleaning lots of fish, it doesn’t last as long or perform as well as the Rapala heavy duty.
What’s a yellow bass?
Yellow bass are the invasive fish of Iowa right now. Like the usual, someone puts them in a body of water thinking it will make it better, but the over take the whole system. Think a white bass but MUCH smaller. Big ones go about 10-12″. They are fun to catch, as once you find them schooled up, you can catch a lot of fish. That is also the reason they take over the bodies of water where you find them. NO limit in Iowa on them, and you can figure out why. At Clear Lake, IA, there is a yellow bass tourney in Feb. Normally take over 4000 fish out in a day, but it makes not a dent in the population. Here is a link http://yellowbassbonanza.com/
I used the rapala heavy duty this weekend up at leech. I like it a alot. Sadly think my leech lake fillet knife might go into semi retirement. I think I get closer to perfect results with the leech lake knife however I get through a group of fish much faster with the electriv.
I had the Rapala Ion battery knife and threw it in the trash. It just didn’t have the power to get through the bones of a walleye and hold a charge.
IDK if you are cleaning 10 pounders or what, but I used my rapala ion for a week in Canada and cleaned fish multiple times per day (enough for a small meal usually 3 at a time) and one battery. Never had issues getting through bones on the walleyes. Perhaps the blade was dull, IDK, but in the winter I have cleaned probably 30 fish at a time and never had a dead battery and no issues getting through bones. Usually a bunch of perch and a few walleyes and perch are harder to cut through than walleyes in many cases.
I’ve been following this thread and still can’t decide if I should go to electric. I know how to sharpen knives, proper blade angles and shaving sharp ect., and still can’t decide if the electric would be better? It hasn’t been sold to me I guess. A properly sharpened knife does pretty darn good
I’ve been following this thread and still can’t decide if I should go to electric. I know how to sharpen knives, proper blade angles and shaving sharp ect., and still can’t decide if the electric would be better? It hasn’t been sold to me I guess. A properly sharpened knife does pretty darn good
Yes, a properly sharpened knife works just fine. I do find that electric/cordless knives do a better job, less work on piles of perch or panfish than doing it with a manual knife. It cuts the job down considerably IMO. If you are only cleaning a few fish a time, no big deal, stick with the manual knife.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Mark Spesard wrote:</div>
I’ve been following this thread and still can’t decide if I should go to electric. I know how to sharpen knives, proper blade angles and shaving sharp ect., and still can’t decide if the electric would be better? It hasn’t been sold to me I guess. A properly sharpened knife does pretty darn goodYes, a properly sharpened knife works just fine. I do find that electric/cordless knives do a better job, less work on piles of <em class=”ido-tag-em”>perch or panfish than doing it with a manual knife. It cuts the job down considerably IMO. If you are only cleaning a few fish a time, no big deal, stick with the manual knife.
Sometimes it’s a few and other times a couple dozen. Might just be a good addition maybe. Do you fillet them the same way with electric as you do with a regular knife? Any special tricks to it?
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>CaptainMusky wrote:</div>
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Mark Spesard wrote:</div>
I’ve been following this thread and still can’t decide if I should go to electric. I know how to sharpen knives, proper blade angles and shaving sharp ect., and still can’t decide if the electric would be better? It hasn’t been sold to me I guess. A properly sharpened knife does pretty darn goodYes, a properly sharpened knife works just fine. I do find that electric/cordless knives do a better job, less work on piles of <em class=”ido-tag-em”>perch or panfish than doing it with a manual knife. It cuts the job down considerably IMO. If you are only cleaning a few fish a time, no big deal, stick with the manual knife.
Sometimes it’s a few and other times a couple dozen. Might just be a good addition maybe. Do you fillet them the same way with electric as you do with a regular knife? Any special tricks to it?
I fillet the same way I always did. I cut through the ribcage, remove the entire fillet from the fish, cut the ribcage out, then remove the skin, in that order. I know guys do it different than me, but this is my routine and it works. Oh, and I always have to cut from right to left when cutting through the ribcage so that means the fish is upside down when I cut one side. Don’t ask why, I just do! LOL
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