Opinions on what is the best fillet knife?

Looking for a better than average fish fillet knife. Looking to give it as a gift so I’d like to be able to engrave something on it as well. Was pretty set on the Cutco fillet knife at a $100 and they will engrave it but I read some reviews of it not staying sharp. I have a couple Cutco kitchen knives and they are excellent.

I see Dahlstrong has one around the same price on Amazon and Wustohf has one around $150 which is a little much.
So what else is out there that that is a better than average knife?

I LOVE my Cutco Fisherman, I sharpen it sometimes and then I send it in to get back to factory sharp. I haven’t had the other knives though and I use electric knives mostly, but when I don’t it’s the Cutco!

How about an original Leach Lake Knife?

Honestly I have yet to see a better knife than a leech lake knife. I own one, my dad has 2 of the long ones and one short one, and I know several friends that have them. All of them are used regularly and no one I know has any complaints.

New West Knifeworks makes a really nice fillet knife.

Rapid river knives, grand rapids Michigan. I have 2 custom fillet knives a 4 inch and a 7. And 2 buck knives. They are awesome and guaranteed quality for the life of the blade. Plus free maintenance

Thanks all for the ideas. The Leech Lake knife looks nice but apparently had some issues a year or so ago according to this thread.
Hmm won’t let me copy and paste the thread link for some reason but it was a thread on this forum last year about knives being dull out of the box.

I wonder if they worked them out? Anyone buy one recently?
I will check out Rapid River knives and may still give the Cutco a try.

I give the Rada fillet knife as gifts to everyone who fishes that visits my cabin and so far everyone who has one loves them. $24 on Amazon. The blade is very thin and flexible, and for a quick edge I just run the blade through Chef’s Choice electric sharper. Makes short work of several walleye.

Have had a Cutco fillet knife for 40 years. The blade was always sharpened on Crock sticks and held it’s edge but was losing it’s shape. Sent it in last year to be sharpened and they sent me a new blade for no charge.

There’s a place in Montgomery that custom makes knive, Bruzek Knives. You can customize everything about them, and even get them inscribed. They are hand sharpened and a work of art. We bought one for my dad last Christmas. Very high quality and the guy is a perfectionist!

http://muskymystique.com/knives.html

I cannot attest to the quality of his blades, but aesthetically they’re pretty cool. Sheathes are very well made, custom.

http://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/reeds-leech-lake-fillet-knife/

Owners came in and chimed on issue. Their emails are in link, send one off and see for yourself.

Everyone has hiccups in business once in awhile, it’s how they respond is important. I’ll be ordering one of those leeches soon here.

I’ve have a Leech Lake Filet knife for several years now, and I really like it. It’s still sharp and I have no complaints!

Reed’s have leeches on sale right now $99.

I should get mine this week, I’ll report back on the big red.

I see you’ve made up your mind but I’d like to comment for anyone else that uses this thread in the future.
I’ve used a lot of fillet knives and cut a lot of fish up. Mostly panfish.
Over the years I’ve tried a lot of different knives. Rapala, amazon, wustohf, bubba blade, buck knife etc.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m more efficient with 2 different blades. When I cut the fillet off the fish, I tend to use my bubba blade most often. It’s a much stiffer blade than the rest and saws through the ribs well because of this. Then when I get all the fillets cut off, I grab either the buck or wustof because they are much thinner and flexible. This makes quick work of removing the skin.
If I had to choose just one of my blades to use for the complete fish, it’d be my buck knife fillet knife. It holds the edge longest and has a great mix of flexibility, backbone, and ergonomics.
-KRO

I agree with Kyle. It’s more about getting the right shape.

Also, everybody likes their knife better if they have a good sharpening system and know how to use it. I don’t care how many fancy knives you have, a sharp Rapala fillet knife will work better than those other knives if they are dull.

BTW, I don’t have any problem using any of the little pocket sharpeners out there. Way better to sharpen and hone often than it is to try to put on a perfect edge in the shop and then make the knife go without. I touch up knives every time I feel them falling off, that may be every 5 fish or every 15, but keep them sharp and you’ll be happier with your knife.

Grouse

You need a combination of 2, Mister Twister Electric (green and yellow will last forever) and a Leech Lake Knife.

The primary knife in the combo to have is the Electric, Makes life easy.

Sounds like they’re a lot of great options. Op was looking for a gift so sounds like he wanted something nicer.

Am I alone that a cheap rapala knife has met my needs for years and I haven’t felt a need to upgrade? Maybe I don’t keep enough fish?sharped it before and after each cleaning with the cheap yellow or red plastic handheld sharpener deal. Slice blade though the middle of it.

Leech Lake if you are willing to spend the $$$.

I have had a couple of Rapala filet knives. They both worked very well right up the day they didn’t. Very abruptly, they wouldn’t hold an edge. I don’t know this for a fact but I suspect the heat treat is different at the edge, and if you sharpen it enough times you will eventually grind past that and get into softer metal.

(Or I’ve been watching “Forged in Fire” to much )

I’ll second the suggestion on the Leech Lake knives. I’ve had mine for 3 or 4 years and have no complaints. I don’t saw through the ribs, I “skin” the filet off the carcass around them and that makes a big difference in how well the edge holds up. I finally had to touch up the edge this year. It wasn’t a “lean hard on it and grind a new bevel” kind of sharpening, it was a very light touch up with my Crack Sticks. The knife quickly became as sharp and it ever was and has held that edge all year. The other thing I really like about the Leech Lake knife is the handle. It’s resin soaked or something, in any event it’s very hard and doesn’t soak up any water or fish slime.

S.R.

I’m one who’s had bad luck with custom cutlery (Aka the leech lake knife).

Just can’t get it sharp. Super disappointed after forking our that kind of cash.

I’ve had good luck with crock sticks and also the “Accu Sharp” tool. What I’ve found is that you only push hard when you’re cutting a new bevel. When you want to get the knife sharp, you’re just barely touching it to the sharpener. It’s more like you’re polishing the edge, it’s really a very light touch. For me anyway that’s when the knife really gets sharp.

I think some of the guys on here have taken their knives in and had them professionally sharpened, maybe they’ll chime in with some other ideas.

S.R.

A lot of nice knives out there.

If you walk into the kitchen of almost any nice restaurant in Minneapolis or any other city, you will more than likely find professional chefs using Wusthof knives. They make an incredible knife in my opinion. I’ve had a couple chef’s blades, a fillet knife, a bread knife, and a couple others going on 20 years of regular use in my kitchen. Keep ’em sharp, don’t drop them, and they last.

That said — For me Rapalas are more than adequate for cleaning fish as long as they’re sharp.

Steve Root wrote:

I think some of the guys on here have taken their knives in and had them professionally sharpened, maybe they’ll chime in with some other ideas.

We bring our good knives for the kitchen into one of the local grocery stores, they will sharpen two knives per person for free.

I was the creator of that thread. I purchased a wusthof from Cabelas that I’ve been very happy with

I can’t really help on the knives recommendation here, my favorite is a custom knife I bought up in Alaska on my honeymoon, but what I can say is that EVERYONE should buy a set of sharpening stones and learn how to use them.

I’ve tried a dozen other ‘sharpening’ methods, including taking my knives to Eversharp in MSP, and nothing has come close to getting them as sharp as my stones. I’m not even really that good at using them, but it’s night and day compared to any other gadget or tool I’ve tried.

These are the two I have(you could get by with just the first one to get started if you want):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016VC46A

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Q377K4

They will work for every knife in your kitchen as well(except maybe serrated blades). I have a Shun chef’s knife(I like the japanese knives better than German ones), and it never got a nice edge put on it at the knife shop when I’d take it in, not anymore!

I learned how to use them on this site:
KnifePlanet.net. This guy has a bunch of great videos and a really good step-by-step guide on how to use them.

It will take a bit longer than other gadgets, but seriously, you will not be disappointed. I also find it kind of relaxing.

I have a leech lake as well and love it. Took some getting use to since its sharpened on both sides. Put my thumb up the back first time I used it to cut through some steelhead ribs and will say the fish wasn’t the only thing bleeding. Bubba blade super sharp but blade tip bent in first five minutes of use. I wouldn’t go that route.

Wow thanks for all the input! Lots to consider. I think I’m leaning towards the Cutco. There are nearly 300 reviews on their site and just a handful of unhappy people. The two folks here who own them and chimed in seem to be happy with them The Leech Lake is still a consideration as they are priced the same and a real eye catcher.

The best one, I have found, is the one in my buddy’s hands.

Like my cutco and in reality buying a cheaper rapala in two sizes and the work sharp knife sharpener your good to go. knife gets bad cheap enough to buy a new one. They are good knives good flex. I like them. Don’t break the bank. Expensive knives do get dull too!

How about a Silver Stag Knife?
DMFD Silver Stag