Why You Need To Make Sure Your Knives Are Sharp Before Filleting Your Catch
- By: Matthew Lanier
- on
- Found In: Filleting Fish, Fishing Tips, Weekly Newsletter: 10-15-23
You’ve got to make sure your knives are sharp BEFORE filleting your catch!
If you end up with a butchered fillet, it’s most likely because your knife wasn’t sharp enough.
Check out more on how to sharpen your fillet knives below!!
Make Sure Your Knives Are Sharp Before Filleting Your Catch [VIDEO]
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Get the Dexter Outdoors Edge-1 Knife Sharpener
Dexter Fillet Knives do not need much sharpening and will stay sharp for a long time.
The supplies you need are your fillet knife, knife sharpener, and a few hand towels.
Lay down the towels on a table in front of you.
The towels are used to raise the knife up off the table while providing you some leverage and grip as well.
If you don’t raise the knife up while sharpening, the very end of the blade will miss the sharpener.
That is the most important portion of the knife that needs to be perfectly sharp.
To start, hold the knife in your non-dominant hand with the blade facing straight up.
Secure the blade and make sure it isn’t going anywhere.
With the knife sharpener, start at the very back of the blade and work your way down towards the tip.
Apply constant, even pressure with the knife sharpener.
3-4 swipes with the knife sharpener are plenty with Dexter knives.
It’s just that easy.
Be sure to keep the blade straight up so you evenly sharpen your knife.
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Matt, Nice lesson!
I like the 2 towel, with the 2 thicknesses set-up/process to get the full blade & tip!
Thank you!
I think you made a sale…..well done….
Glad this was helpful for you William! Thanks for watching and leaving the nice comment!
Thanks Matt going to order the knives and sharpener!
Awesome! I know that you will be very happy with them! Thnaks for watching Terry!`
Even though I didnot watch the video believe me being a 20 year career navy veteran who was a cook then another 15 years in food service cooking in nursing facilities I can and do keep my filled knives razor sharp because I am a fish eater unlike alot of guys and gals that always release there catch i always keep my limit but am not greedy and release all the others after my limit is in my livewell I know how good fresh fish is and good for you as well they say fish is brain food well I need all the better brain cells I can get but I feel sorry for a man that doesn’t know how to cook for himself and needs the fairer sex to do it for him I can cook many different recipes with fish anyways just saying thanks for the intel and all you do👍😉
You are spot on Steven! Sharp knives are crucial to a clean cut!
I would love to hear some of those dishes that you like to cook with your catches!
Send me an email, or a message in the community with some of those recipes and we will get them added to the list we have for a Salt Strong Cookbook!
Thanks for taking the time to comment Steven!
I never used Dexter Knives but I know from cleaning/filleting thousands of fish there is nothing more important than a sharp knife. A quality knife will hold its edge longer and worth the money.
You nailed it Thomas! Gotta have asharp knife for the best results! Thanks for watching!
The design screams a wanton disregard safety design. There is 100% chance that someone will end up slicing their wrist when the knife slips out of the sharpener resulting causing you an easily avoidable legal debacle.
Hey Allan! definitely a valid concern for sure! Although, if you aren’t applying too much force with the knife into the sharpener you should never lose control of the knife. It should be a smooth pull through the sharpener with steady pressure just to make contact with the stones inside.
There are other ways to sharpen a knife and this is just one tool to get the job done.
Thanks for watching and leaving the thoughtful comment!
Thanks Matt, I have been using Dexter knives for years. They are used a lot by the fishing and meat industry. If you have ever watched the pros fillet a fish or bone out a piece of meat, they always have a honing steel hanging from their belt.
Appreciate all you do.
Correct! Honing is important after sharpening! The honing steel is usually magnetized, which also helps remove those tiny steel particles that are shaved from the blade during sharpening. Thanks for watching, Larry!
Thanks Matt
Thanks for watching Gerald!
OMG, NO, Please NO, NO! I would never use a device of this sort! Quick way to ruin an edge. Stick to fishing Matt. Take this down ASAP!
Dexter knives are great but this sharpener NO!
Well if you are going to criticize, then please enlighten us with what you think is a better way. I am interested.Thanks.
There are many different sharpening devices available and this is one option. This is not the end all be all for knife sharpening, but this works for someone who is unaware of how to bring a blade back to their knives.
A honing steel would be used after sharpening to bring the sharpened edge to a smoother straight one. Would love to hear your method! Thanks for watching!
I really do enjoy your videos Matt, with 8 rods in the yak. I guess I’m kind of a knife snob.
Sharpening knives is not an easy task and cannot be explained or done so easily for everyone.
Imo nothing beats a good hand stone. It may take a while to master it but then it will pay off. It takes a certain amount of skill and practice, like any other task.
Using only very light pressure let the stone do the work as you slide the blade across it. The important part of the whole operation is keeping a consistent angle. Typically,15° to 20° for a filet knife is best. Of course, the angle would change for different blade types… axe, chisel, razor, filet, etc. The larger the angle, the more durable the edge will be. Lower grade steels are not capable holding a fine edge angle.
If you sharpen your heavy-use knife to a low angle such as 15° it will be incredibly sharp, but the trade-off you are making is edge retention and durability. Conversely, if you sharpen at a wider angle, such as 25 degrees, the edge will still be very sharp, but you gain improved edge retention, thus eliminate the need for more frequent maintenance.
I actually like using two or more knives when cleaning fish, especially certain fish. Cutting through heavy scales, slicing through the body and bones and removing flesh is different than skinning. Serrated or scalloped knives have their place in my kit.
Always clean and thoroughly dry knives before storing, protecting the edge from rust and nicks.
There is a plethora of videos online about blade steels, sharpening tools, methods and fileting fish. Some are better than other and some ain’t worth our time.
Anyone in the know would never consider one of this V-notch or pull through devices for good expensive cutlery. But hey, if you need quick and dirty edge and don’t mind sacrificing your blade, go for it.
What Pull Through Sharpeners ACTUALLY Do to Your Knifes Edge & Why You SHOULDN’T Use Them: https://youtu.be/k0Ce2bjq1Xk
Sharpen a Knife with a Whetstone: https://youtu.be/kuvTNUQvclo
What Pull Through Sharpeners ACTUALLY Do to Your Knifes Edge & Why You SHOULDN’T Use Them https://youtu.be/k0Ce2bjq1Xk
Sharpen a Knife with a Whetstone https://youtu.be/kuvTNUQvclo
Good points of reference! We appreciate you helping with the input here on this.
I’ve got quite a history with knives myself as I have worked in many settings in which they were one of the tools needed for my job. I have owned MAC, Henckels, Wusthof, Calphalon, and even some Global knives, and have my favorites amongst each different brands for different purposes.
I also use more than one knife when preparing or cleaning fish. I agree that one knife, used for skinning, would not be the best one to use for actual fileting of the fish.
As for sharpening… I have a Dexter 3-Way Ceramic knife sharpener that I have had for over 15 years, and it does all of my sharpening work for all my knives. With your experience with whetstones, I think you would be really happy with one of those! Give it a look!
Here is a link: Dexter 3-Rod Ceramic Knife Sharpener 3-Way| Dexter Russell
We appreciate all of the thought and time in your comments! Thanks again!
And just one more video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4F7kFCNjnI “How to use a honing steel-two different methods” is very good too.
Honing steels are very important! This is most commonly the issue with “dull” knives. Honing straightens the edges and removes burs. Good info James!