My New Fillet Knife!

If you heard loud squealing last night, that was me opening a very unexpected birthday gift. My husband’s folks collaborated with my Dad and they bought me my very own Leech Lake Fillet Knife! And the handle is purple!

While cleaning fish with my Dad last summer, I used his Leech Lake knife for a bit and it was fantastic! I found it hard to give it back. Of course he still cleaned fish 3x faster than me while using my little Rapala that likely needs a good sharpening. I’m sure I’ll never clean fish as efficiently as my Dad, but I sure love when I get to try.

I didn’t think I would ever own a knife like this, or at least not for a long time! I was nearly speechless, which is hard to do. My husband Billy smiled at me and said for all the fish I’ve been cleaning over the years, I deserve an upgrade.

Billy and I have developed a great system, I clean the fish and he guts the deer. I gutted my first deer or two when I began hunting, but beyond that initial cut I forget what I’m doing and it takes me forever. And it’s not like I have the opportunity to stand there and gut deer after deer several times each year like I can do with fish, so I’m not really going to get very good at it anytime soon. It’s a good system. And I CAN’T wait to try out my new knife!

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Just don’t go cutting yourself now. lol

What a gift!

It doesn’t get any better! I love mine… congrat’s to you and the gift givers!

Watch out for the top side of the blade though… hard to get used to both sides being sharp–even after years of use I forget–being old and weather-beaten lol.

Awesome knife. Ive seen those and drooled over them. Happy Birthday too!

Yes, congrat’s and welcome to the Leach Lake community.
Love mine also, though I didn’t know it until I tried something different. What I mean is I was looking for a good boning knife so I got a nice 6″ Wustoff boning knife. Beautiful knife as it goes it even cut through one of those flexible cutting boards without trying. Well I thought ive got a good fillet knife with a bit more backbone and bit more heft to power through the big fish.
Had a bunch of sunfish to clean and was so pump to use the Wustoff. I went through 3 sunnies before I set the Wustoff aside and picked up the leech to finish off the rest.
Pick up one of those v shape knife sharpeners to keep up the edge on the Leech, preferably one with 2 slots, one with an aggressive hone and one with a porcelain finish hone. These do wonders for when filleting a bunch of perch.

congrats on the new knife Sharon!!!
I bought one of them at the bait shop in Pennington Mn three years ago and havent looked back since.

after several friends saw what I was doing,they all bought one also.
taking cheek meat out is a breeze with that knife,and if you are the least bit worried about getting cut with it,buy a good knife resistant glove at any good kitchen supply store,or order one online.

as far as sharpening it,if it gets beyond what you can reclaim,send it to Custom Cutlery in Marengo Iowa,just pay the freight and they will sharpen it for free,usually a one week turn around.

Custom Cutlery is who builds them for Leech Lake knife company the last I knew,they also have a fantastic knife assortment for your kitchen,and they are not overpriced.

This is what I use, being not good at doing knife sharpening well over the years, to keep my Leech Lake Knife and others sharp. This the easiest to use I have found: http://www.kmesharp.com/kmeknshsy.html This should/could be your next birthday present??

I got the Custom Cutlery one w/o the sharp topside. Nicest knife I’ve ever used. You will have years of joyful use

Mine came with a business card and a band-aid- -they told me we hope you’ll use one and not have to use the other. I have and I did–jerr

They are excellent knives. I got one for christmas 2014 and have been very happy with it. They also make great gifts as I never would have spent the money on one for myself.

Sharon – I have had one since ’98. And If you fillet half the fish I have with that knife, you will be pleased. They rule……

Iowaboy1 you got your knife where i bought mine. The scenic store in Pennington Minnesota. Awesome knife love mine. Hopefully the wife gets me the 5.5″ panfish knife for my birthday.

Greg R. wrote:

Iowaboy1 you got your knife where i bought mine. The scenic store in Pennington Minnesota. Awesome knife love mine. Hopefully the wife gets me the 5.5″ panfish knife for my birthday.

I had looked at them there when I was on my june trip,when I got home I started shopping online for one and found that scenic by-way had them for 30 bucks less than what I could find.

I called them and had it mailed to me,the mail freight was only about four bucks’
felt better about spending my money with those guys anyway seeing as how it supported the local economy.

chomps wrote:

I got the Custom Cutlery one w/o the sharp topside. Nicest knife I’ve ever used. You will have years of joyful use

I bought mine many many moons ago, direct from the original maker when at a show in the UNI unidome in Cedar Falls. Mine no longer has a “sharp top edge” (I was running out of band-aids)

Thanks guys for all the info! I cant wait to start filleting some fish with my new knife! I’m surprised these knives don’t come with a couple of band-aids… I’ll be careful, but it sounds like cutting myself at least once is inevitable. Billy and I butcher our own deer and at least once each fall I poke my meat hand with my knife. It happens after many hours and hours of cutting meat. I’m glad I’m only a butcher for a small amount of time in Nov.

I have no experience with a leach knife. but do wonder why they sharpen the back. Just for other uses i assume. or was there a special purpose in mind?

trytoofish wrote:

I have no experience with a leach knife. but do wonder why they sharpen the back. Just for other uses i assume. or was there a special purpose in mind?

maybe this will help, google leech lake knife company and watch the video,the back side is sharpened so you use it instead of the normal side all of the time.

the video with the original owner of the company is about nineteen minutes long,but worth the time,I would have posted the link,but for some reason it wont paste here.

Take it down and have the blade engraved with the date and who it’s from. After all, it will be in the family for many, many years to come and not all will know the history.

Dutchboy, that is a great idea. My mother-in-law Rose did have it engraved with the year, so that it nice that we’ll be able to know how old it is someday.

Sharon wrote:

Dutchboy, that is a great idea. My mother-in-law Rose did have it engraved with the year, so that it nice that we’ll be able to know how old it is someday.

What a neat idea!!! Happy B-day

Damn you, Sharon. Now, I want one. Not purple, though.

I used a friends and cut my finger deep with the sharpened blade top. Never wanted to go near one again.

@RalphWiggum – now you know the envy I felt when you posted about LASIK eye surgery! Mwahahaha!

@Sharon Fair enough! I’ll take my 20/15 vision over your fillet knife.

@donaldmiller – that’s what happened to me with our Ulu Knife. I wasn’t even using the damn thing, just cleaning it after Billy made dinner and I sliced my finger right open. I haven’t touched it since.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

@Sharon Fair enough! I’ll take my 20/15 vision over your fillet knife.

You got me there, Ralphie.

you will love that knife………I have 4. 2 of the 7 inch 2 of the shorter ones, I believe there 4 inch knives!!!!!