That brings up another question. Does it have to be a "fillet" knife, or will an electric knife work as well? I don't care about the name or how it's branded (or even color - avocado is fine) as long as it works and lasts.
Scott,
I've been using electric knives when filleting large quantities of fish, or very large fish, since somewhere in the 80s.
[Just for the record -- I still use "cordless" thin-bladed manual-powered fillet knives for small jobs and for final trim. I have several Rapala fillet knives dating back to the early/mid 1960s.]I see two differences between an electric fillet knife and an electric carving knife. The blades on the carving knife are longer and of the same size (height) from one end to the other. The fillet knives curve to a sharp end, much like a pocket knife, or even a conventional fillet knife.
From a fish filleting standpoint, I can't really tell a difference. They both fillet fish just fine.
In either case, when filleting with an electric knife, I do it by going the opposite direction when compared to using a manual knife. That is where it might be important to have a sharp pointed tip. You need that sharp thin and pointed blade to push from the back of the dorsal fin through to the front of the anal fin area, on your way to the tail (caudal) fin. With an electric knife, I start by clamping the caudal fin, and slicing up the backbone from the tail, cutting through the ribs, to the back of head and gills. Then I cut the fillet off by slicing just behind the head and gills. I cut out the rib from the fillet and then skin it with a conventional knife.
The biggest difference I've seen between an electric carving knife vs., an electric fillet knife is durability. A $30-$35 dollar electric carving knife seems to be a lot more durable than a $75 fillet knife.
As someone mentioned above, their electric fillet knife got really hot when used for any length of time. I've found the same thing with electric fillet knives, unless the electric fillet knife is operated from inernal battery-only power. Then, the knife runs out of power before it gets real hot. But, that's not a lot of fish. If used on 120 VAC power, then it gets darned hot if used continously for more than about 20-30 minutes.
When I did the 80 large bullhead from Sunil's pond, my old electric carving knife didn't seem to tire or heat one bit over more than an hour of constant use. It will fillet a large catfish about the same way as it will carve a birthday cake.
It will be great to hear from others who are using other electric knives for filleting.
I was in a local chain of sporting goods stores in Oklahoma after the latest Pond Boss conference. I saw what were probably the Black & Decker knives under that store's private label. I almost bought one to test it, but it just looked to wimpy for anything but manybe a few bluegill.
One of these days, my 1970 Hamilton Electric knife is probably going to fail, and I will need a good replacement.
Experiences, good or bad, with other products would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ken
