Best Fillet knive

My electric knife is about to give up on me. You crappie guides who have to clean 50 or a 100 a day should have a good handle on what works best.

What brand to y'all recommend?

The only electric knife I would ever buy is an American Angler Ultra. I use a fixed blade knife now (Bubba Blade), but I clean fish next to Chris Webb on a regular basis and he has been using his American Anlger (the same one) for a couple years now.

When I used electric knives, the only one I would use is an American Angler.

Is the Bubba blade as fast as electric?

In my opinion yes for me it is I love it no cords getting in my way u have a permanent sharpener roll your window half way down use the edge and sharpen away

I'm no guide by any stretch of the imagination, but I sure like my Bubba Blade.

I have two really old B&D electric knives I wouldn’t trade for anything new. Old stuff is better.

A Bubba Blade is like any knife, it must be kept sharp and used correctly. A lot of people don't like a fixed blade knife when they switch over from electric because they are used to pushing the knife through the fish, as opposed to slicing it with short strokes.

I can clean 3-4 fish per minute with a Bubba Blade, depending on the species. I'll admit, this took some practice to achieve. I can still use an electric, and do so from time to time when we catch a bunch of big hyrbrids or stripers, but I much prefer my fixed blade knife now.

Most people won't believe this, but I can clean a fish faster with a regular knife than an electric one. And you can cut closer to the backbone with a regular knife. Used an electric for about 2 yrs, then went back to the manual. Knife has to be sharp and kept sharp.
I'm with Lane on electric; only one worth the money is the American Angler Ultra with the shark blades.

Black and decker.

Rapala Heavy Duty. I have cleaned thousands oc crappie with them and still going strong

I love my Bubba Blade for slicing meat like brisket or Chicken or Turkey but I have pure heck trying to use them on fish. I tried the American Angler and sold it to Bill and went back to my trusty Black and Deckers from Walmart. I'll admit I suck at keeping the Bubba Blade sharp. I bought the Work Sharp sharpener but it just does not keep an edge for me when cleaning fish. I wish I knew how to use a steel like a butcher. I agree with Ken about tearing up less meat with it. Maybe if I put them on ice it would work better. May give the Bubba blade another try.

The one Bobby(Bobcat) sold me!!!! It sure has been busy the last few days!

Sharp ones

When I was guiding I would fillet 1500+ crappie a year and would get 2 years from the B&D 10.95 at Walmart. I still use them!!! Thanks Daniel

I used to use Rapala, but the triggers kept sticking and at $35 to $40 a pop I chunked the sucker in the trash and bought an American Angler ..... Like Rolls Royce vs a Yugo ..... I will probably never have to buy another knife the rest of my life!

My daughter asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year. After watching Mark fillet our fish last year with an American Angler Pro I told her that was what I wanted. While it is a great tool I still go back to the Rapala that my neighbor gave me last year. I have small hands and because of the size of the grip on the AA I just don't have the control that I have with the Rapala. I know it's hard to believe but the AA is my backup for now.

This knife just has a much smaller grip and my hands don't cramp up using it like they do on the AA. To me a knife is like underwear, they have to fit or you will be fighting them all the time.
https://www.rapala.com/rapala/knives/ele...-electricKnives

My Bubba blade is junk. Won't keep a edge on it. Very disappointed in it!

American Angler is the best iv used in 60 years! i bought 2 of them when they ran them on sale for $79.still using the 1st one for 2 years now and i clean crappie about 3 days a week.

I am no crappie guide, but I have worn out just about every type of electric knife on the market and several fixed blade as well. There was a time when my fishing buddy and I would have contests cleaning fish with the fixed blades. Done got too many wrist, shoulder, elbow ailments to want to use a fixed blade anymore, so, that leaves me in the electric knife camp. That said, out of all of the various electric filet knives, tHe ergonomically correct version that Wally World sells is the best one, I have ever used for several reasons 1) the ergonomic design in easyon the stress of cleaning fatigue; 2) the location of the blade release is well thought out and never gets in the way; 3) the supplied blade is correct for cleaning crappie and will go through them like hot butter; 4)the plastic gears are surprisingly durable and they hold up well. (Not to be confused with the old Montogermy Wards steel gear stuff of nostalgia) and last but not least 5) $10...seriously, the best knife I have ever used is ten bucks...sign me up...I bought two extras, just in case they quit selling them...like they did the Montongery Wards knives...

It is easy to know when your electric knife is giving up on you...just look at how far the two blades rotate...a new knife will typically rotate from one point to the next point...as the gears wear down, they will not rotate past half way...it is at this point when cleaning a limit of fish is both a chore and painful. At this point consider a new knife. Most people mistakenly believe they need a new blade, as the blade is not slicing the meat very well, so they go purchase a new blade only to discover the new blade isn’t cutting any better than the old one. Stubbornly, keeping the knife until it becomes painful or a chore (or hacking the meat to pieces) just to clean a mess (7 fish), is not necessary, although, if you give $80 bucks for a knife, you will want to get every dollars worth you can...I have done this part as well, and will admit is is not worth the effort or pain involved. I hope this explanation helps!

Crapicat, can you post a link to the exact knife you are referring too (please)??

EDIT: Is this the one you are using?? https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Electric-Knife-Black/53264470

No question for me.....the American angler model 31000......old one made in America !!! I’ve tried to replace it or at least have a spare for 20 plus years ...the ultra, can’t hold a candle to the original, all others that I have used have failed to compare. I do have to give thanks to the TFF though after reading this post, I happened to look on eBay and scored a new 31000 new in the package......1985 model , so thanks TFF for this post. Now I have a back up that has stood the test of time.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/BLACK-DECKER-...amp;athena=true I like this one Redgun.

Havalon barracuda manual blade is what I use. So sharp and no cords/outlets/noise/heat/breakdowns and repurchases. Piece of cake to clean your limit.

No Redgun, the one I use is the Black and Decker, that Bobcat posted a link to...they are showing 13.95 or some similar amount(the white one with the odd looking blades) ...don’t know if I caught them on sale or they raised the price...either way, for a throwaway electric knife, this particular knife has taken the work/pain angst out of tending to a limit of crappie. I believe I have had it now for six months and I haven’t noticed any slow down in effectiveness, which is pretty good for me...I normally go through a couple of the “better more expensive” ones a year...so $160 for two, versus $25 (if I pulled out another before Thanksgiving) ...I can live with that savings...in fact, I can use it to buy more bait!

Yesterday on my way home from work I stopped at Wallyworld and fondled the white black and decker. I like the way it felt in my hand. When my current Rapala "legs up" on me I may just have to give the 13.95 one a shot. I'm just not totally sold on the AA. Oh, I will use it from time to time but not when I have 25 or 50 fish to clean. My hand cramps up after about 15 fish.

>E

I believe, if memory serves, that this knife had metal gears, as did the montongomery wards, that I truly hated to give up. As I recall, the company discontinued them as they outsourced to other countries making lighter/cheaper to produce models (insert plastic gears and small cheap motors)...I do not know of one knife with metal gears and strong motors...if I did that is what I would purchase...without question.

Redgun, showed me a picture of a cooler of hybrids today, that he wanted to clean...I suggested he use his bubba blades on them, as no plastic gears will hold up to hybrid sized bones for very long...most of the fish cleaning stations on the coast use an NSF rated fixed knife, probably several sizes larger than the original bubba blade, and they are always sharpening their blades between fish. I do own one of NSF fish cleaning knives, and hate using them...Any rate, larger boned fish require heavier pointed blades, that the old American Angler used to offer in a salt water blade set. I always used those aggressive blades when cleaning hybrids/stripers...just a reminder for folks wanting to clean fish with heavy bones...good luck!