the mister twister electric has worked for me. i recomend it
Yes crappie is a lot easier to take the skin off the backside of a fillet as opposed to a catfish. Just stop before cutting all the way thru at the tail to leave you a place to hold while you run your knife along the bottom / skin side of the fillet. You can do just as you say and scale them first and then fillet them, some folks prefer the skin left on and just scale them first. Catfish are tougher for me, without the scales the skin seems thin and delicate.
It's been so long since I've scaled anything it would be harder on me than filleting. Don't remember the last time.
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In my opinion, catfish need to be skinned then filleted. As stated before, I have no experience with an electric knife, but quite a bit with a bladed knife. Someone with more experience filleting catfish with an electric knife will chime in here...
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I have always filleted fish using a manual knife. I have a small Rapala knife and a larger one, both I sharpen with a Work Sharp and they hold a pretty good edge. I used an electric fillet knife before and wasn't a fan. When I fillet with a manual knife I can feel the backbone and the rib bones, with an electric it just saws right threw them. I feel like I have a lot less waste with a manual knife and no bones. It takes more time, but I don't fillet a ton of fish in a year either. Thats just my experience though.
Its much different filleting a crappie vs. a channel cat vs. a walleye, each has a different approach. Personally, I never skin catfish. I cut the fillet off, cut at a 45 degree angel near the tail and leave a tag of meat on the skin. I use this tag to hold on to the fillet and then run right down the skin with my fillet knife. I then go back and cut the tag from the skin. It works every time and always have a clean fillet.
If you're gonna use an electric fillet knife for catfish, I recommend switching over to a regular fillet knife to cut the skin from the fillet. Less waste that way in my experience, plus you'll have more control and be less likely to cut all the way through the skin
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trypman1 LIKED above post
Well I got a tip from an old time last year. Go to Walmart and look in the cooking utensil section. Black and Décker makes a electric knife "EK500W" for about $15 bucks. so I bought two just to have one as a back up. I cleaned over 400 fish last year with no issue,,, same blade. I have tried the American angler both brown and blue model. Also tried the mister twister green/yellow. The B&D cuts better and is a better fit with less stress on the hand. you cant go wrong trying it for 15 bucks
Brush Buster