Fillet knife size

[huntandski]

My friend finally took back his 6.5 inch knife I've been using for the last 5 months. It was far to small for my uses, but I got the job done with it so I saved money while I could.

Time to buy my own. What size blade do you guys like for yellowtail, dorado, and tuna?

Probably 9 inch? Maybe 8 inch? Idk.

Thanks.

[gigante]

30 years ago I bought the same Old Hickory type filet knife the use on the party boats. 10-11" blade. Cheap and dependable. Keeps an edge, easy to resharpen. Mine still works like a champ. Hard to beat. I'm not sure if filleting those types of fish make it a necessity to have a stouter blade though. Rapalas aren't that expensive either. I've had one of those for a couple decades. Bubba blades look like they perform, but a little pricey.

[deckhandmike]

Dexter Russell 8" stainless with the white handle will do everything for cheap. Don't get the wood handle one. It's a softer steel that rusts to pieces unless you use it everyday and keep it oiled. The 8" will be better than the 9" since its stiffer. The 9" actually works better for smaller fish since the flexibility makes it better for precision cuts such as spinning around a rib cage and de skinning a fillet. Both yt and dorado have a bit of a lumpy spine so the stiff knife will be a little safer to push on and won't bounce around as much.

What I use for yt and dorado is a 10" victorinox breaking knife to slab the fish and the Russell to debone and skin. The 10" also doubles as a nice bait knife and if you keep it clean actually one of my favorite kitchen knives. The simple 8" Russell can do it all though. Get a leather sheath for it too. Just don't store the knife in it as it will obviously rust.

Always wear a fillet glove!!!

[huntandski]

Dexter Russell 8" stainless with the white handle will do everything for cheap. Don't get the wood handle one. It's a softer steel that rusts to pieces unless you use it everyday and keep it oiled. The 8" will be better than the 9" since its stiffer. The 9" actually works better for smaller fish since the flexibility makes it better for precision cuts such as spinning around a rib cage and de skinning a fillet. Both yt and dorado have a bit of a lumpy spine so the stiff knife will be a little safer to push on and won't bounce around as much.

What I use for yt and dorado is a 10" victorinox breaking knife to slab the fish and the Russell to debone and skin. The 10" also doubles as a nice bait knife and if you keep it clean actually one of my favorite kitchen knives. The simple 8" Russell can do it all though. Get a leather sheath for it too. Just don't store the knife in it as it will obviously rust.

Always wear a fillet glove!!!

You have any experience with the Rapala soft handle knife? The 9 incher?

I ordered that on Amazon an hour ago.

[huntandski]

I actually just cancelled it and went with the 8 inch Dexter, wide version with white handle.

Now that I'm thinking about it, 9 inch+ blade seems kinda long to do the actual filleting with to get a precision cut.

[HighWildFree]

I've used the rapala knives a lot. I have both the 6" and the 4". Both work great for the price, a little weak for the bigger fish imho. Great for trout and the 4" works well for more precision work such as halibut.

[huntandski]

Yaa the curve on it looked like it gets a bit
Too flimsy.

[huntandski]

What is the difference between the narrow and wide dexter knives?

[deckhandmike]

Stiffness. Also the the thinner one comes in a carbon steel that is easier to sharpen but dulls way quicker and rusts to pieces. The 9" is actually more precise due to its flexibility. It's best for stuff like gopher cod and blue rockfish. Think of a fencing sword compared to a broadsword. You however need a blade with a little more stiffness for bigger fish.

When cutting rockfish on a party boat we use the thin carbon knife. But this is for high speed work. We are using the flex in the knife to spin and flick fish around. The longer blade also helps keep your knuckles away from the rockfish spines. But soon as you get into fish that require a "push" down the spine instead of a "flick" the stiffer blade is really nice. This even becomes more obvious if your knife isn't razor sharp which most people have a hard time sharpening a knife.

[deckhandmike]

The rapala just doesn't have the right feel to it. It's balance and angles are funky. The longer the knife the more pronounced it becomes. I had one for a while in my dive bag that I used to fillet fish on rocks before the long hikes back to the truck in big sur. Someone gave it to me and I'd say the best feature was a secure plastic holster which is why I kept it for a while.

[GMG]

A For the fish we targeted Albacore, BFT, YFT, DODO'S and YT. The Forschner Victorinox 6" and the 7" worked very well for us. The 7" blade was more flexible than the 6" blade.

[MJB]

I have an 8" Business Costco with the non slip white handle & one I found 6" wooden handle that holds a great edge and good flex.

The bubbas blades are nice and hold a good edge......buy once cry once.......I've used the 9" stiff blade for the big bft last year and it handled them like a champ.

[deckhandmike]

A For the fish we targeted Albacore, BFT, YFT, DODO'S and YT. The Forschner Victorinox 6" and the 7" worked very well for us. The 7" blade was more flexible than the 6" blade.

I use a 6" victorinox boning knife for albacore and smaller BFT as well. Works great.

My knife bag would have:
12" cimeter victorinox
10" cimeter victorinox
9" carbon thin dexter
8" stainless wide dexter
6" victorinox boning knife