Filet knife

[rivieboat]

with the prospect of hopefully catching lots of crappie I need to know what kind of knife is best to use without spending much money---if such an animal exits appreciate any and all suggestions, thank you

[Frank300]

Bass Pro carries several fillet knives. Electric is best in my opinion. There is a guide in Texas that uses a non-electric knife called the Bubba Blade http://www.bubbablade.com/. I watched him fillet crappie faster than the guy next to him using an electric. This included rib cage removal. He would fully clean 2 to the other guys one. He resharpened every 10 fish using a 10 inch sharpening steel.

[IkenI]

I have a Bubba flex blade & while I liked it at first I feel the blade is too big for Crappie. The shorter Bubba might work but they are kinda expensive. One thing using it did for me was to cause me to go back to using a regular filet knive. I haven't used an electric knife in over a year. My regular Rapalas work best for me. Having said that, I'm not one to keep many fish each trip. My normal is about a dozen or so no matter how many I catch. If I were cleaning a limit or two the chain saw approach would probably be best. The Bubba does work well with bigger fish.

[usafret99]

Yea I use the rapala. About $40 I clean plenty of fish and just buy new blades when it stops cutting thru real good. Have had my current one for ten years. You see a lot of people in reviews complaining about it, but works great for me even if I have 60 crappie to clean. Might have to let the handle cool down a bit after about 30 fish but that's about it

[Frank300]

Chef's Choice electric knife sharpeners have a model (http://www.amazon.com/Chefs-Choice-120-Professional-Sharpener/dp/B00004S1B8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392575132&sr=8-1&keywords=chef's+choice+120) that sharpens serrated blades very well. It will save you from buying new electric fillet knife blades.

[crappiehoarder]

I've used all of those knives ;rapala ,mister twister and every manual knife out there. Now I buy a cheap electric meat carving knife and it does as good as any I have ever used and when it gets to where it is not doing very good go buy another one.

[IkenI]

I use Rapala knives , not Rapala electric knives.

[Ranger09]

American Angler 12 Volt hands down the best I have ever used. When you clean as many fish as a Guide does day in and out and to have a knife stay with you can brag on it a little. I have owned every make and model made in the 12 Volt Knife. I can tell you that the Rapala and Berkley 12 volts knifes will not stay with you till you can clean a single limit. Yes that's my opinion and a good one as I see it......Ranger

[Hat55]

Ranger sent you PM

[SeaRay]

American Angler 12 Volt hands down the best I have ever used. When you clean as many fish as a Guide does day in and out and to have a knife stay with you can brag on it a little. I have owned every make and model made in the 12 Volt Knife. I can tell you that the Rapala and Berkley 12 volts knifes will not stay with you till you can clean a single limit. Yes that's my opinion and a good one as I see it......Ranger

I have the American Angler in 120 volt and I really like it. My buddy was helping me fillet a bunch of white perch and did not have his electric knife with him so I let him use mine and I got our kitchen electric knife out. The difference surprised me. The American Angler cuts at a much faster rate which makes it easier to guide along the backbone and the rib cage. It probably was twice as fast as the kitchen model.