“Weekend Experiment. One weekend we took a break from our research activities at Southern Illinois University Fisheries and Illinois Aquiculture Center, to spend a day fishing for crappies. On the trip a bit of friendly bantering ensued about which is best: an electric fillet knife or a traditional fillet model. The debate centered on the time it takes to remove fillets and the amount of flesh recovered. There was only one way to put it to rest - two fishermen, two knives, some crappies, and a cutting board.
And so we used our catch to conduct an experiment comparing the efficiency of both types of knives. One knife-wielder filleted one side of the fish, cutting the flesh away from vertebral column, rib cage, and skin. The other the filleted the flip side of the fish, using the other knife technique. Time taken to fillet each side and the fillet weights were both recorded. The process went back forth until all of our crappies were cleaned and filleted.
Overall, the electric knife was about twice as fast as the traditional knife but gathered about 15 to 20 percent less flesh. for a crappie that weighed 16 ounces, for instance, the traditional knife gathered 5 ounces of boneless flesh in 85 seconds while the electric fillet knife brought a little more than 4 ounces of boneless meat in 45 seconds. Differences in the amount of flesh recovered are likely due to the precision of the traditional knife for removing the flesh covering the rib cage. Cuts performed using electric knives are less precise and any mistake in electric filleting is exacerbated, making it much more difficult to correct filleting errors.
Our test shows that a traditional fillet knife minimized fillet loss when cleaning for crappies or, probably, other panfish, and is the best choice when time isn?t a factor. Other types of fish such as pike and trout that have different bone structure may show different results.”
Quinton Phelps and John West
August-September 2008 “In-Fisherman”
Rick
PS Does this sound like they fillet slowly?
How fast do you fillet a fish?
I am definitely not fast. I don’t use an electric knife but a regular one. It takes me forever cause I am so cheap I hate to waste any of the fish.
I lived near Canada packers fish plant In Prince Rupert BC for a while in the 1960s ( I think it was Canada fish but I might be wrong ) My friends wife worked there. Believe me those ladies could gut or fillet any fish in the blink of an eye. Hundreds perhaps thousands of fish per day. The knives they used were kept razor sharp. The fillets they produced wasted very little of the meat.You didn’t mess with those ladies or you risked getting a dousing of fish guts tossed your way. The offal from the fish went down a flume straight into the ocean besides the plant. There was a stationary whirlpool under the outfall about 150 feet across caused by an absolutely incredible number of all types of sharks circling constantly feeding on the fish guts. We used to joke about swimming through that school of fish. The efluvia from those fish guts was truly memorable. Trust me on this one, no one ever tried that swim. If the sharks didn’t get you the smell would have. :mrgreen:
Crabbing nearby was also incredible during canning season due to the abundance of food from the cannery.
[quote=““Rick Z””]
PS Does this sound like they fillet slowly?
How fast do you fillet a fish?
[/quote]
Let’s see…fillet knife @ 85 sec., electric knife @ 45 sec. A little over a minute for the fillet knife versus three quarters of a minute with the electric knife assuming per fish. To me it would all depend on the size of the fish and the amount of fish to be filleted. The bigger Specks have a little thicker bones that may take a little more time as I cut through the rib cage before cutting that bone section away from the fillet. It also would be dependent on how a person fillets their fish as I’m sure we all may have different ways of doing it. Not an easy question to answer unless the variables like those above are accounted for. If it took over a minute to do one fillet with the traditional knife and three quarters of a minute to do one fillet with the electric knife (assuming the removal of the skin and rib section also), it does seem slow to me. A whole fish at two fillets maybe but seems slow for only one fillet for either type knife at those times.
I use a traditional fillet knife but have been considering getting an electric fillet knife. I’m optimistic that I will reach my 25 Speck limit on some days.:lol: So far I haven’t had a full Speck limit on the fly rod yet so I think I will stick with my traditional fillet knife for the time being. I do know that the more I am in the practice of filleting, the faster I can go.
Say what you will but I’ll put my brother with an electric knife up against any of you…I’ve only seen him on Northerns, Walleyes, and Perch…but he is an artist…I was once a nonbeliever:p:p
A cousin & I compared speed and amount of fillet (weight) a few years back. While not as scientific as Rick’s quote we found that the results were similiar. The electric was faster but the regular knife more efficient. For now I will stick with the plain fillet knife. I can fillet a fish in less than 2 minutes taking my time and trying to get maximum meat. I also found that my efficiency improves if I: (1) Make sure the knife is sharp (2) Make sure I have a comfortable work station (3) Insure the fish has been chilled so that it has setup and (4) Don’t keep more fish than your are willing to do a good job on.
When I clean sunfish, I will french fillet them. By not cutting through the ribcage my knife stays sharper longer and I am able to maximize meat. It takes a wee bit longer, but that time is made up by only polishing the blade ever other fish and not having to actually sharpen it again.
As far as the electric, you can keep it. I’d rather not be governed by electricity or batteries while camping. A sharp knife is your best friend.
There definately has to be some operator input in the equation. I think that the test was drastically flawed in testing one man against another man. If you would have had two guys with a fixed blade fillet knife, there would also be a difference in time. I think that the real test would have been about 20 guys doing the test. This is still a very small sample size, but each man or fisherman would do half their fish with the fixed blade and half with the electric. At least you would have more of a constant in personel, but the technique would change and that is what you are testing.
On a personal note, I have both and don’t consider myself an expert by any means. If the number of fish that I need to clean is small I personally use the fixed blade. If on the other hand a friend and I both have a number of fish to do the electric comes out and if I loose a very small amount of flesh, I can live with that if it cuts my time down. And I think that it does.
I run just a bit faster than they do with the elecric (about 40 seconds) but I can clean a bluegill or crappie in just under a minute with a conventional - and do a better job. I use a ‘standard’ fillet knife almost exclusively any more.
So Rick - you clean a ton of 'gills. How about you?
Like I said, I don’t consider myself an expert and I only clean gills a couple of times a year. If you look at the professionals, the fish industry like a previous poster mentioned, they don’t use electrics. If it was really better or more productive, I think that they would even if it cost a little more. I do think that the average guy, can be quicker with an electric, if you develop a fair amount of skill, a fixed blade would be hard to beat not only in the finished product, more meat, but also in time.
A good sharp Rapala hunting knife can’t be beat for cleaning fish. Ditto, the Rapala filleting knife (sized to match size of fish) can’t be beat for filleting fish. Keep the knife sharp!
I learned to fillet fish from none other than the famous actor “Slim” Pickens. I was about 14 and was gutting and skinning a gunney sack full of black snapper and lingcod we had caught off the Oregon coast at Brookings. Slim was a regular there on the salmon charters. He said “whatcha doin’ there boy ?” . and showed me the error of my ways. He also showed me he difference between what most folks consider a sharp knife, and one that actually is sharp. There’s a world of difference. Though I was just a pup, I recognized him from the westerns I had seen. That was nearly 40 years ago, and I have filleted a lot of fish since then. For awhile I was the fastest on the docks, and I made lots of extra $$ in those days hangin around when the charters came in and cutting fish for the clients. I also got to keep a lot of salmon roe. Bottom line is, I imagine an electric is faster, though I’m sure a little more wasteful. Personally, I’m way to old school to ever go electric regardless, and unless you’re really cutting a lot of fish often, the time saved is really not much in the scheme of things. I figure to each his own, but I’ll stick with the standard, truly sharp, fillet knives. I once saw a man, there at Brookings, whip his knife out and slice a Gull cleanly in two with one stroke of his fillet knife. (they will boldly steal fillets right in front of you)…ModocDan
I like this thread because it brings back memories of perch fishing with my dad and his buddies on Lake Erie in the 60’s. We would bring back 200 to 300 perch (no limit then) and my job was to scale the perch and keep the mosquitoes off of them while they would filet. They could easily butterfly filet a yellow perch, walleye (very few of them back then), bass, etc. in well under a minute with a conventional knife. They tried electric knives to filet once and never again unless they were skinning the larger fish. I would have to agree that experienced guys with a filet knife could do as fast as an electric. Man, did we have some great fish fries back then!!
I’m horrible with either instrument, and should not be allowed anywhere near them.
I’ve never timed myself, but it sure seems like I’m going FAST if I can clean a fish in about 20 minutes. Yeah, I’m that bad at it! I just look on in amazement at the guys that are proficient fish-cleaners. I know HOW to do it…I just haven’t practiced enough I suppose. Of course, my knives are probably about as sharp as a plastic “Spork”.
I suppose that’s the main reason I generally only keep fish about once/year.
Now anyone who learned to fillet fish from “Jingles” is just all right in my book.
Like tigfly - I learned early - in fact just about the same era. When I was about 10 or 11 my Grandad would go help the commercial boys pull seine under the ice in the winter time. He would come home about three days a week with two #2 washtubs of small drum about a pound (we call them perch). Up until that time we had just scaled, headed and gutted everything. Grandad, my uncle, two cousins and I got pretty good - pretty fast. You can’t tell those small ones from crappie out of cold water.
Bluegiller - those old wood handled Rapala fillet knives you could buy for about $2 twenty (30?) years ago were a heck of a knife. I still like a little “stiffer” knife than most. I have a bone-handled Uncle Henry I’d sure hate to part with and an old Leech Lake I like almost as well.
Those old wooden handled Rapalas are the ones I have, 4, 6, 7 1/2, and 9in. My 4 1/2in. Rapala hunting knife is laminated steel (Swedish Moro?) and holds an awsome edge.
The tree huggers of this new generation would have the animal rights police lock that fella up in a heart beat these days. Personally always thought that they would make great 22-250 targets, but that’s another story.
