decent filleting knives for under $70

[NAGG]

Frost & Swibo for me. (I still have a frost that I bought in 1994 ) I bought a couple of Bladerunners a few years back & their grips have turned to mush (sticky)

Chris

[fishfeeder]

I buy cheap knifes ($20 max) and spent my $$$$ on sharpening gear.
Better off having a few different knives with different blades for different jobs then just one knife for everything.

Cheers
Brett

[Cheech]

Iv just bought a Berkley 7" filleting knife today, got it for about $38 with 15% off from BCF. not sure on the quality yet.

Anyone else have one of these?

Blake

I have the 9" version. It is my second one. First knife went missing, so I had no hesitation getting the exact same one again.

[Micadogs]

I will also vote for F.Dick and Victorinox. The wooden handle on my Victorinox has lasted nearly 10 years in and out of dishwashers etc. Can still get a great edge on it. It is always our go to knife in the kitchen. The F.Dick is a dedicated fillet knife and just two runs on the diamond steel each side sees it stay sharp fish after fish. Both were well under $70.

[Si]

Always preferred cheap, soft knives. Most favourite is old carbon steel "green" (old butchers brand) knives over stainless. Even when skinning roos. A Couple of quick slaps on the steel every time you pick it up keeps it good. Hard knives that hold their edge are a pain in the but, very hard to quickly bring an edge back on to when they do go blunt.

yeah agree, high carbon steel knives offer an extreme scary edge. my trade knives are high carbon steel and i got a mobile sharpener to put a nice bevel edge on them. I havent needed to sharpen them for four years. i just use a good quality steel before use. cheaper too. downside is that due to less chromium in the steel they are more prone to rust stain although steel wool cleans em up. the high grade stainless knives from germany and japan with high chromium content dont give as sharp as edge but wont rust. furi make a good filleting/boning knife but will rust if left on the boat. i have used frosts and swibo for work and find them excellent.

[whiteman]

My step father was the mainstay filleter at Morgans Seafood for many years through to his late 80s. When he recently passed to that great ocean in the sky he left a box full of Mundials (stainless) with the plastic handle. All are razor sharp. He got them for around $15 each. A few different sizes but mainly ones with a 7" blade. Gave them a workout on a stone every week and touched up with the steel regularly.

[fisho_83]

F Dick and Swibo. Had a Berkley as well.......it was a lot cheaper. You get what you pay for in my opinion!

[La Vida]

Thanks for all of the useful comments guys, I think after reading this I will get several cheaper knives and get them professionally sharpened..while im asking questions thise knife sharpening machines are they any good? or a waste of money?? once again thanks heaps

[Spaniard_King]

Swibo and F-Dicks

Bought a chefs choice sharpener (from the USA) and it does the best job ever... never a blunt knife around here

[Dicko]

Another for the F Dicks, but I'm a bit biased.

Have a scout around the salvo's and similar stores when out and about. Have picked up several good brand knives out of their cutlery section over the years, and not much more than a few bucks each.

[fishfeeder]

I have a Diamond set of Lansky Controlled-Angle Sharpener, Bought them off ebay for about $90 from the states. It works fantastic, hard to stuff it up really. The only advise I can offer is to spend a fair bit of time to sharpen your knives properly and they will stay sharper for a lot longer and only need 1-2 swipes on a steel to put the edge back on them and that's after about 10 fish.

Cheers
Brett

[tunaticer]

Two schools of thought about knives to be taken notice of: Ones that hold an edge and ones that take an edge easily.
Having butchered a lot of animals over the years I know there is a definite niche for both. A good boning knife needs to quickly accept a new edge with minimal effort, a good carving knife should hold an edge better but take a few extra swipes to reset an edge.
Reason being is what you are cutting, bones and skin and sinews and cutting blocks / boards are hard on an edge and you need a blade that quickly and easily takes a new edge. For slicing meats or fillets where minimal hard materials are met a harder blade will hold an edge longer and the need to whet the blade is usually only a few times a day.
I have a range of knives ready for filletting fish and regularly use three different blades on any larger fish. A good filletter for running along the top and bottom of the fish to the backbone, a rigid heavy blade for hard rib cages to get through and a long firm straight blade for whacking the skins off.
I use a KaiCut 14" ham knife for the skinning, a Wilkinson Sword 8" filleter and a Shimano 10" heavy filletting knife for the ribcages. All three knives are around the $25 mark from the right sources.

[rayken1938]

I second the ham knife for skinning.
Cheers
Ray

[Silent]

Mine's 15cm high carbon boning knife made from brazil shown on blade, unknown brand (it has sharpen and polished off)
still sharp for over 20 years...

[AndrewB]

Dexter Russell available at Everton / everten ?