Here’s Your Guide to the Ideal Fishing Knife

One of the most essential pieces for people who enjoy trimming and butchering the meat they plan on eating, are boning knives. For people who love fishing and preparing meals for their families, there are fillet knives. While both types do the same thing more or less, they’re not the same. Flexible boning knives are primarily meant for butchering fish. The blade needs to be flexible enough to efficiently separate the skin of the fish from the meat along a flat surface and it needs to be flexible enough to cut through bones and gills.

When looking for fishing knives for sale, there a couple of things to pay attention to, the material they’re made from being the main one. The most commonly used materials are high carbon stainless steel and laminated steel as they make durable and sharp edges, but the flexibility the stamped steel offers makes it extremely suitable for fillet knives.

Another thing to look for when searching for fishing knives for sale is a full tang construction which will ensure rigidity, strength and balance. Impregnated wood or molded rubber handles are the best quality handles a fillet knife can have, as they are most durable, easy to grip and sanitary.

Fillet knives are generally long and thin, and very flexible. They have slightly angled edges and an extremely sharp tip. Their main usage is cleaning fish, however, some chefs prefer them for butchering poultry. Fillet knives have to remain sharp enough to slice very thin sheets of skin from wide sides of fish, and be strong enough to cut through bones. This makes knives made from high-carbon stainless steel ideal, however, a bit expensive.

Besides the blade of the knife, you have to pay attention to the bolster as well, which is the transition point between the blade and the handle. Bolsters on some knives include a finger guard, which is a great protection feature that offers a secure and stable grip. Additionally, the handle needs to be full tang. The tang is the part of the knife that serves as the core of the handle. Full tangs can often be seen running down the center of the handle to the hilt, though they are often times fully enclosed in molded rubber or replaced with stainless steel handles which are precisely weighted. Full tang knives are durable, strong and well balanced. There are other types of handles, but they require extra attention and regular maintenance, otherwise they will crack and warp.