Sams Fish Filleting Course-Feedback/photos

[Willo]

Hi Hutcho
What brand and types of Knives did they recommend.

[craigie]

Good Pics and Write up Hutcho

Thought the course was tops even though I was a reasonable filleter before I went along (my opinion only ). I got heaps out of it and will be making some changes to my Fish Filleting technique.
Plenty of myths out there amongst rec Fishos, Flexible knives (not at all), oil the Stone (Wrong), when you learn things from people in the Fish Processing Industry your in good hands. If you want to get the most from your hard earned fish, these guys will teach you to waste nothing, Maximum recovery !!
Highly recomend it to any one, even the Ladies. We had a couple of females that went very well.

Now I know how to PROPERLY sharpen a knife with a stone and Steel, for me that was worth the price of admission alone.

All I need to do is catch a few more fish so I can practice what I've learnt.

Cheers
Craig.

[Lucky_Phill]

For me 2 cents worth ( as usual ).

I can't remember the last time I scaled a fish. I have been filleting fish for over 20 years now. I have kids and therefore went to great pains to learn how the get Skinless, Boneless fillets to the dinner table.

I think it is about time something like this is available to the public, and good on Sam's for providing it.

AS for the knives question. Buy a GOOD filleting knife and a GOOD steel. I have never needed a Stone to sharpen any knife, as the knives I have are " touched up " every couple of minutes while filleting me fish. I have a Diamond encrusted steel. Don't know if Stefan mentioned them ? And basically, Stainless Steel knives loose their ' edge' quickly.

Having Skinless, Boneless fillets of fish makes the cooking so much easier and also allows you to cook that fish in different ways. I would say $45 well spent fellas.

Cheers Phill

[basserman]

i think i might just need to get up to the brizzie area to go to this
oh and i guess i can visit the relos too

[craigie]

More than happy to give this a free plug because it was genuinely bloody good !!!! Totally agree with you Hutcho 8)

Looking forward to doing one or two of the B-B-Q courses


Cheers
Craigie.

[Volvo]

Sharp Knives=Wetstones. No two ways about it..
Might costya but worth every cent...
Cheers

[Hutcho]

Hey Volvo,

Where do you buy these "Westones" knives? Got any idea of the prices involved? I don't want a knife that is to "bendy"/flexible - gotta have a bit of stiffness in the blade to control the filleting.

Cheers.

[Big_Muddie]

Hutcho,

Wetstones are sharpening stones rather than knives. Japanese Whetstones and Arkansas Whetstones are the common varieties.

Some tackle stores may have then, camping specialist stores also. But the best place to find them is at a gun store (read hunting). They can be quite expensive but properly used give a fantastic edge.

[sharkbait]

Try garage sales and secondhand shops, I got two arkansas stones for $5 each, they are about $90 new. apparently the older the better because all the best stone was mined and used? heard that somewhere im sure...

[Volvo]

Hutcho, i purchased my Japanese Wetstones from Glenfords..Mindya they had to order them in and didnt have them on the shelf...
Purchased an 800grit
1200grit
and an 8000 grit
Wouldnt be without them nowadays ey ..Makes sharpening a breeze and an edge one can shave with.....
Advisable to have a read on proper ways of sharpening or getting the correct edge on your blade first though....
When i say wetstones , they are exactly just that..Need to soak them in a bucket of water for maybe twenty minutes to halfe an hour prior to use and then still keep them wet to aquire a slurry on their surface which actually does the cutting/sharpening..
use of Steels is a long winded argument which i shant go into as i do use a diamond steel and there is those who will say that they destroy an edge rather than aquire an edge....
What i have been doing of late is using a home made strop which actually if used right does a much better job than a steel and polished the edge of a knife real good..
My thinking is the edge on ones blade is halfe the battle in filletting along with the right method of taking the fillet of the side of the fish....
Cheers

[Hutcho]

Thanks a ton for that info guys. I obviously got the wrong impression of what a wetstone is! [smiley=stupid.gif] The stones used at Sams were "oil stones", are these wetstones they same thing? We had to keep dipping them into water to keep them lubricated when sharpening the knives and the water beaded off the stone because of the oil in the stone itself.
I know they are a bit $$$, but they will last a damn long time, and it makes life a lot easier to fillet a fish with a sharp knife than a blunt one. I'll stick my nose into a few hunting and camping stores over the weekend to find some of the stones mentioned above. Then I just have to go fishing i suppose to fillet some fish with my newly sharpened knives!
Do you guys have a variety of knives you use for filleting? I prefer a stonger/stiffer balde myself rather thena the bendy/flexible type.

Hooroo.

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Hutcho,
Don't know if you have seen this post. Might be of interest to you.
http://www.ausfish.com.au/cgi-ausfis...num=1069250262
Cheers
Jeff

[z17813]

For me 2 cents worth ( as usual ).

I have never needed a Stone to sharpen any knife, as the knives I have are " touched up " every couple of minutes while filleting me fish. I have a Diamond encrusted steel. Cheers Phill

Diamond steels actually do sharpen knives, so when you are using the diamond steel your sharpening the knife rather than just touching up the edge.

The difference between a standard steel and a diamond steel is that a typical steel just re-aligns the edge of the blade whereas because diamond steels are more abrassive they actually remove metal, sharpening the edge, rather that just forcing metal back into shape.

I'm sorry that is not the best explanation, but it's the best I can do.
I think that diamond steels are fantastic, particularly for kitchen knives. A good ceramic steel or a metal steel that does not have groves in it, are good for touching a kitchen knife after every use and then a regular use (after a few uses of the knife) of a diamond steel will keep the knife razor sharp.

Every month I sharpen my kitchen knives and filleting knives (if they've been used) on whetstone and then strop them after sharpening.

The Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker is a great gadet for keeping your knives sharp, IMO it is better than the Lansky systems.

[homebound]

Hi - sounds really useful and enjoyable. Im'still stuck in UK until May but would appreciate some info on future courses.
email: petersdesign@talk21.com

[Volvo]

Just come home after avisit to the local "Sams Seafood Store"..Sat back n watched a young lass Gill, Gut n scale a medium sized Red Emperor...
seemed they coulda sent her off to one of them courses make life a tad easier for the poor thing..
Consistanly wrestling with this fish due to what appeared like surgical gloves she was wearing..you know those rubbery ones lol..
Cheers