Filleting knife advice

I need to have a decent fish filleting knife in my life, not so much for fishing purposes, mainly for cooking at home. BUT with the capacity (ie. sheath ? floating ?) and ability / utility to take fishing if I should so wish.

No good fleabaying, no knives advertised on there unless from USA or Australia with ludicrous post, import duties and taxes and no idea whether you are buying a billy bargain or a long distance lemon...

Anyone got any reasonably priced UK supplier recommendations ? And by reasonably priced I don't mean silly cheap, you gets what you pay for in this life, but not interested in £150 Solingen / Sabatier showoff label stuff. And if taking it out fishing in the public domain then the more I think about it, for Fuzz compliance, a sheath is eminently desirable.

Cheers all

Windy

Normark used to be good knife

Snowbee Prestige Filleting Knife

https://www.heinnie.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=filleting

A sheath won't make a knife fuzz compliant, neither does it being a folder. The only knife that doesn't require a "good reason" to carry in the UK is a sub 3" non-locking folder.

Not being cheeky and stating the obvious but its just a thought that occurred to me, ask in your local fishmongers, they would know the best option, might even sell you one very cheap or even give you one, you never know..
I watch my local filleters on the beach sometimes and they are usually long and very thin, very sharp and a very sharp point which is needed sometimes to pierce the fish.

Try Russums online, we buy all my sons chefs knives from there.

https://www.russums-shop.co.uk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have one of the snowbee ones mentioned above, I fillet quite a few trout for the smoker, same make as the knife by the way, there a good knife, they fillet well.the wife loves smoked trout,and I don't mind it either, you must keep them razor sharp, and then they are easy to use,a good knife.?

have a butchers at these

Fish Filleting Knives @ First Tackle

http://www.veals.co.uk/acatalog/Knives_and_pliers.html

https://www.fishingmegastore.com/cuda-titanium-bonded-flex-fillet-knives~30461.html

Thank you all for the recommendations, will spend the next couple of hours working my way through the links....

Looking at it in the first instance I'm beginning to think that I might be best advised to get two knives, one for cooking at home - when length is not an issue (ooo er missus) - and a cheaper simpler one for fishing use.

sam vimes said:

A sheath won't make a knife fuzz compliant, neither does it being a folder. The only knife that doesn't require a "good reason" to carry in the UK is a sub 3" non-locking folder.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that Sam, I know that is the position, 'tis why my beloved ancient Opinel 9 is no longer automatically in my coat jacket*.

However when you may end up dealing with the servants of the public peace on the river bank it's a lot more convincing to argue "good reason" with a safely sheathed blade to hand rather than six inches of bright shiny perceived threat waving about...

Plus which, without a sheath, I will sooner rather than later end up with yet more scars on the hands and fingers than I have accumulated so far over the decades !

*come to think of it, Opinel do kitchen knives, if their range includes a reasonably priced filleting knife then that may well be job done.

For both fishing and cooking purposes I use Fiskars filleting knives.

The fishing one I have had for many years and have been very happy with it. Like all knives though you need to keep it sharpened and my local cook shop provide a very good service.

The cooking one is excellent and was not overly expensive. My other cooking knives are all Wustoph but I didn't like the feel of their filleting knife so opted for the Fiskars.

Windy said:

...not interested in £150 Solingen / Sabatier showoff label stuff

Click to expand...

Well, eat my words

https://www.nobleexpress.co.uk/cp/s...referal=3135&gclid=CP-M2NjGwNICFecW0wodSRkKUA

Not for the riverbank, but at that price for Sabatier quality it looks like a no brainer !

A knife with a cut price? Who'd have thunk it?

Windy said:

Well, eat my words

https://www.nobleexpress.co.uk/cp/s...referal=3135&gclid=CP-M2NjGwNICFecW0wodSRkKUA

Not for the riverbank, but at that price for Sabatier quality it looks like a no brainer !

Click to expand...

That is not a genuine Sabatier knife windy. It is a franchised Chinese knife. I won't bore you with the specifics, but there are over a 100 ranges of Sabatier knife now, the top ranges are Lion Brand and Veritable Sabatier. The one above is Chinese made, pressed rather than forged and contains very little carbon so a pig for edge retention.

If I were looking for a good quality filleting knife I would buy either the Robert Welsh Signature 16cm at around £40 or the Wusthof Classic filleting knife at around £70.

---------- Post added at 07:26 ---------- Previous post was at 07:18 ----------

https://www.robertwelch.com/m/kitch...s/signature_flexible_filleting_knife_16cm.htm

https://uk.knivesandtools.com/en/pt...JN6j8s98WBgE6eM6YFBMM41aSEcJqt7r6jxoCOVnw_wcB

Buying knives is a very personal thing, so if you can find a stockist locally pop in and have a fondle, what may feel great in my hand won't suit you or the other way around. I wouldn't buy that knife that you shared the link for, it'll be in the garden within a year.

I've used a wooden handled Rapala for 15yrs and it's been good. I've used it a lot for cutting up cows bellies and when doing that you have to sharpen it every 5 min's and the blade hasn't overly worn. I think you can get them for twenty odd squid so not expensive.
I can't see the point in paying top dollar for a knife unless your a chef.

look for one of these i had one for over 10 years the site is closed but you get to see what too look for

Gerber Gator 7.5" Fillet Knife

swizzle said:

That is not a genuine Sabatier knife... the top ranges are Lion Brand and Veritable Sabatier.

Click to expand...

How's about this one ?

Buy Sabatier Professional Boning Knife | Steamer Trading Cookshop | Steamer

And as Steamer trading has a (fantastic) shop in Guildford and also sells the Robert Welch and Wusthoff range of knives I think I will take your advice and pop in to try them in hand.

Mind you, at £25 versus £44 / £84, if the Sabatier is genuine and good then its a bit of a no brainer for someone who isn't a professional chef - different considerations apply for a pro using day in and day out.

As my Father taught me, the full version of the much quoted saying "The good workman doesn't blame his tools" is "...because he has only bought the right tools for the job and the best". Not a bodger my Dad.

There you go, now you have the go-to quotation for all tackle tarts trying to mollify the other half when the bank statements are discovered.... :wh

---------- Post added at 14:19 ---------- Previous post was at 14:17 ----------

coooky said:

...the site is closed but you get to see what too look for

Gerber Gator 7.5" Fillet Knife

Click to expand...

Looks exactly what I'd like for waterside use, sheath and sharpener and all, but can't find one actually listed for sale anywhere (as yet... ). Not listed on Gerber's own home site either.

What happened to Tacklebargains tho ???

sam vimes said:

https://www.heinnie.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=filleting

A sheath won't make a knife fuzz compliant, neither does it being a folder. The only knife that doesn't require a "good reason" to carry in the UK is a sub 3" non-locking folder.

Click to expand...

Keep up Skippy.....I've only just worked out what "fuzz compliant" means. I thought it was some secret,masonic,chef type knife expression. mg:

I know nothing about knives except that they are never sharp enough for my deadbaits but cut me to the bone anyway.

Fuzz? Masonic? Shurely shome mishtake?

Windy said:

How's about this one ?

Buy Sabatier Professional Boning Knife | Steamer Trading Cookshop | Steamer

And as Steamer trading has a (fantastic) shop in Guildford and also sells the Robert Welch and Wusthoff range of knives I think I will take your advice and pop in to try them in hand.

Mind you, at £25 versus £44 / £84, if the Sabatier is genuine and good then its a bit of a no brainer for someone who isn't a professional chef - different considerations apply for a pro using day in and day out.

As my Father taught me, the full version of the much quoted saying "The good workman doesn't blame his tools" is "...because he has only bought the right tools for the job and the best". Not a bodger my Dad.

There you go, now you have the go-to quotation for all tackle tarts trying to mollify the other half when the bank statements are discovered.... :wh

---------- Post added at 14:19 ---------- Previous post was at 14:17 ----------



Looks exactly what I'd like for waterside use, sheath and sharpener and all, but can't find one actually listed for sale anywhere (as yet... ). Not listed on Gerber's own home site either.

What happened to Tacklebargains tho ???

Click to expand...

Hi Windy,

Nope, that is another franchised knife I'm afraid, a genuine Sabatier filleting knife will set you back around £50 and there are a few things on the knife that will indicate what you have. A filleting knife is also much more flexible than a boning knife. While you are in there ask to try a Victorinox one as well, they are a similar price to the Robert Welsh but far less comfortable. The only downside though is that the packaging come with the image of a perch being filleted, that may be enough to put you off.

As a side thought, if you aren't going to be filleting on a regular basis, Robert Welch do a 16 cm flexible utility knife, it isn't as flexible as the 16cm filleting knife, but still reasonably flexible and at around £40 maybe a good compromise as you'll probably get a lot more use out of it.

https://www.robertwelch.com/m/kitch...ves/signature_flexible_utility_knife_16cm.htm

I have a bit of a thing for knives. mg:

Windy said:

How's about this one ? Buy Sabatier Professional Boning Knife | Steamer Trading Cookshop | Steamer

Click to expand...

No, Windy. A boning knife is very different to a filleting knife. It's much firmer for carving meat near the bone where you don't want it slipping, hence the name.
When I used to go sea fishing I always had trouble gutting skate, that was with a diver's knife, absolutely useless when you had to cut through the grisly bits. Bought a Marttiini and it went through skate like a hot knife through butter. You need that bend when it comes to skinning the fish too. So sharp you could shave with them.
https://www.fishingmegastore.com/marttiini-filleting-knife-classic-superflex-4in~20520.html or cheaper maybe elsewhere.

(favour returned for good advice, thanks.)

EDITED BIT: Just realised that one is only a 4" blade, go for a 6" one.

Really quite fancy that Marttiinnni knife in 6" flavour, but their hilt shape and style doesn't have much of a Quillion / Bolster / Heel / Finger guard. I am always very wary of knives without sufficient guard against the hand slipping forward on to the knife.

If you were as cack handed as I can be... and I haz the scars to prove it !. Nicely bendy though, and I just love their cocktail....*

For the waterside I think a cheapie makes more sense, but I'd still like something of decent quality that will bend properly and take and keep an edge.

Anyone any experience of the Mustad cheapies ? https://www.fishingmegastore.com/mustad-6-filleting-knife-with-teflon-coat~24139.html

or

https://www.fishingmegastore.com/mustad-fillet-knife~3845.html

which has the benefit of a very good looking finger guard. A trusted name in fishing circles, no ?

Then again, there are some floating cheapies that might have a little longer career as a fighting chance of salvage from the water when (not if) I drop it in... and its hard to go far wrong at a fiver Floating Filleting Knife @ First Tackle unless it isn't fit for the purpose. Anyone ?

Farlows is out of stock of the Snowbee, but it is in stock at Veals Snowbee 7'' Prestige Filleting Knife






* One of them common mistakes that, that the name of the Dry Martini cocktail has any connection with Martini Vermouth.
Best contender for the origin of the name is a bartender called Martinez in the USA in the late 1850's, some years before the Martini family started making and selling vermouth in Italy (1863), let alone got around to exporting it to America. Originally spelt Martinez in a number of old bartenders recipe books, cocktail menus and in the contemporary press.
Same as a Gibson is a DM with a silverskin onion or two, and a Bradford is the proper name for the atrocity that is a shaken, not stirred, DM. Both named after the barmen first responsible for their creation.
11 parts Gin to one part Vermouth. Man, they knew how to make a cocktail with force of personality back then !