Recommendations for fillet knives and boards for halibut

[beutelevision]

What do you guys recommend for fillet knives, especially for halibut? I have a Rapala fillet knife with 7.5 inch blade, but it does seem long enough to do the job. I keep it sharp but it still seems to take too much effort. Do you recommend a knife with a longer blade?

Also, do any of you use a fillet board? No matter how much I wipe down a halibut, it's slimy and slips and slides around. I don't have a fillet board yet, I just use a large plastic mat that I can wash afterwards.

 

[The Happy Wanderer]

You may be overthinking this...

I use a 6.5" (blade length) rib knife, extremely sharp. This allows dexterity and precision that a larger knife doesn't, and I get four perfect fillets in less than 15 minutes. Yes, I've been doing this for some time, so experience helps, but halibut is probably the easiest fish to butcher. I have a sheet of plywood (2' X 3') that works well. I don't have a problem with slippage anymore, but I used to do what Chicagoans do when the melting snow is dangerous: SALT. A little sprinkle of salt will give you traction without harming the fillets.

Halibut is one of the few fish that comes with its own set of instructions: cut along the dotted line. Make your incision from tail to head (this allows you to hold onto the tail with the other hand if need be). Cut deep to the bone. Then it's a matter of training your blade upward or downward to separate the fillets. Practice helps--which means you need to go out and catch more halibut! Win-win.

 

[Brock Norris]

i use a rh forschner victorinox 802-10 been using for 30 years superb but there are other knives now that are probably as good

 

[beutelevision]

You may be overthinking this...

I use a 6.5" (blade length) rib knife, extremely sharp. This allows dexterity and precision that a larger knife doesn't, and I get four perfect fillets in less than 15 minutes. Yes, I've been doing this for some time, so experience helps, but halibut is probably the easiest fish to butcher. I have a sheet of plywood (2' X 3') that works well. I don't have a problem with slippage anymore, but I used to do what Chicagoans do when the melting snow is dangerous: SALT. A little sprinkle of salt will give you traction without harming the fillets.

Halibut is one of the few fish that comes with its own set of instructions: cut along the dotted line. Make your incision from tail to head (this allows you to hold onto the tail with the other hand if need be). Cut deep to the bone. Then it's a matter of training your blade upward or downward to separate the fillets. Practice helps--which means you need to go out and catch more halibut! Win-win.

Thanks for your suggestions! I had never considered a shorter rib knife. Makes total sense that it gives you more control. And thanks for the tip about salt.

--Thomas

 

[Skyhook]

Bubba Blade just came in the mail. My son bought it for me after hearing me complain about trying to fillet larger halibut with the stiff, cheapie, American Angler knife I've been using for years. This new knife feels well made and seems to have the right amount of flex. I'll try to post a review soon, provided I can catch another large fish.

 

[Red Fish]

Dexter Russell, is great. I have a Rapala 7.5". I like a blade that is much longer than the width of your filet. And no knife with some big old funky handle, that's a no. Nothing that is like a hunting knife. You'll see the pinheads on the boats, Dexter 99% of the time. The best knife; the sharp one! What I was agreeing with before is that halibut is probably the easiest fish to filet because of its flat body. You don't need to have a $100 dollar knife to do a 100% perfect job of fileting.

 

[fish-ninja]

Knife-wise I use Japanese single bladed irons for filleting called deba. Super sharp and strong. Technique is pretty different so I would not recommend unless you wanna change the way to clean fish completely. For the board, I sometimes use cardboards. When I buy a large appliances, I keep some in garage. Clean/fillet fish on it and toss it after finishing it. For smaller fish, I use milk cartons. After using them up, dry them then cut it along the side to open it up. You end up with a foot square size water resistant flat surface that could be used as a cutsurface for anything. Just put it on a table. A little wisdom I stole from my mom...