Which Electric Filet Knife...

I'm in the market for a new electric filet knife.

I had a Rapala, but somebody felt that they needed my knife, so they borrowed it... permanently.

As I said, I had a Rapala filet knife... however I didn't think it worked that well. It seemed that the blades moved slower than several other brands I've seen and used. A friend who has a Rapala experienced the same issue as I, so I don't feel like it was just me.

I'm thinking about getting one of the Electric Fisherman from Mr. Twister, but I really like the skinnier blades. Especially the one that is narrower in the middle and then about an inch from the end, it widens back out. The problem is I can't find any other blades for a Mr. Twister than the standard one. Does anyone know if the blades are interchangeable across the different brands?

Or is there a different filet knife you might recommend?

Thanks.

Scroll down to the far bottom of this page & click on the links in the Similar Threads section ... you'll find a whole lot of opinions on the different elec knives & blades.

Personally, I have three ... and all of them are "old" but still running. I have a Mr Twister, an American Angler, and a General Elec model. I've got no kick against any of the three, but usually use the Amer. Angler because I have several sets of blades for it. I'd use the Mr Twister more often (at fish cleaning stations) if it weren't for the coiled power cord. Unless I'm right over/under a outlet, the coiled cord has a tendency to pull the plug loose from the socket ... if I have to stretch it to reach my cleaning spot.

Twister seems to only come with straight blades.
American Angler has several versions.

Out of the package, the blades are not interchangeable ... but, I did find this statement in a discussion forum :

"I have however found that I much prefer the Rapala blades (they are curved vs. the straight Mr. T blades) and amazingly enough, the Rapala blades fit into Mr Twister knife bodies with only a really slight beveling of the back edge. Hold the two up next to each other and you will see the edge that needs to be angled. Took me about 2 minutes on the belt sander."

Disclaimer : I have no knowledge of this being true, and accept no responsibility for its content/advice.

... cp :kewl

I'v got a mister twister and have had it for about 4 years works just fine

To answer your question, yes different blades can work with different brands. Berkeley makes a skinny blade, probably exactly what you are looking for, and even on the package for the blade it says it works on other knives. I bought one and sure enough it fits in my Rapala nicely.

I also have a GE knife I use all the time. It fits my hand better than most and my thumb placement does not disengage the blade lock like some models. I have also noticed thst the blade on some of the traditional brands marketed as a fillet knife tend to hang up on the skin as I remove it from the fillet. The GE removes the skin more easily from my experience. I usually find them at the hardware store with the kitchen stuff. A buddy of mine says you can run the blades that hang up on the skin on a bone to dull, them a bit, but I have neved tried it. The GE knife is pleny cheap and last several years, so I just stay with them.

I have a Mr Twister as well. Best on the market right now. Got one in use and one hanging.....Good Fishing

Black and decker electric kitchen knife. Walmart for about 12 bucks. Have been using it for about 2 years. If it quits throw it away and get another for the price can't beat it IMO

ill second that buffalo! my cousin had his finnaly give out, this last salmon season. it was 6 or 8 years old and believe me it had a hard life. lol im sure it cleaned over a pickup bed full of salmon fillets, let alone all the rest of the fish. great knife buy and use it like you own it. the blade speed and length is a big plus in its cutting ability. it peels fish meat like a razor. much better than the rapala i have.

American Angler here. Just bought a set of Berkley blades from Walmart fit perfect.

American Angler. Just bought a second one for the camper. The original is still going and it's about 15 years old.

Mr Twister, never been sorry.

has anybody tried sharpening the blades???? if yes, how did ya do it?????

I have the green Mister Twister. It works well and has never let me down. This is the only knife I have ever used so I don't have anything to compare it against.

ditto on american angler!

I've used both Mr Twisters and Am Angler.
I burned up 2 Mr T's and went to the Am Angler. I thought the Mr T's did a better job, they just seemed to cut better. I'm still using the Am Angler but I am using the Mr T blades in it. The Am Angler blades just didn't seem to be as sharp as the Mt T's out of the box.

I bought a Berkley last spring. It does okay on small crappie and bream, but anything else and it is awful. I'll probably get an american angler soon.

Ok, another twist to the question, I am relatively new to crappie fishing, and even newer to the filleting. I have not found a knife that seems to hold up well to cutting through the bones. Is an electric fillet knife the way to go? Don't you loose a lot of meat to the thickness of the blades?

American Angler electric only way to go. You may lose a little at first but when you learn to use it I think you actually lose less

Yes I have sharpened the blades. I used a chainsaw file and
it did real good.

About 6 years ago i bought the Repala series, it comes with a 12foot cord with both ac and dc adapters. a 6 inch and 8 inch blade a small cutting board and a carring case. I have put the miles on that knife from all my fish to quarting up deer. when this knife wears out i will replace it with the same thing.

Is there a reason to not just use the same knife I cut my turkey with? Or is the reason that it might make the knife stink.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by s freud

Is there a reason to not just use the same knife I cut my turkey with? Or is the reason that it might make the knife stink.

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Depends on what knife you use to cut the turkey !!

Seriously, though ... I use my American Angler to do both critters, I just use different blades.

... cp :kewl

Quote:

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Originally Posted by s freud

Is there a reason to not just use the same knife I cut my turkey with? Or is the reason that it might make the knife stink.

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Nope. That is exactly how I found out I liked using an electric knife for filleting crappies. The bad part was my wife lost her electric knife because I burned it up on the first batch of fish I tried it on. :yikes It was a Black & Decker...no big loss there. Now she uses my electric knife on the turkey. It all worked out in the end. :biggrin

I just bought my 1st electric knife about 6 weeks ago. I was in SprawlMart and since I wasn't sure I'd get the hang of an electric knife, or even like it (since I'd used a straight fillet knife all my life). I was going to try the B&D after hearing about it here. Low and behold they were out, so I got the Mr Twister. Had I not been able to replace that #&!^#*$ curled excuse for a cord, I'd have regretted it. After using it the 1st time, the cord got replaced with a 15' straight cord, MUCH nicer.

Since it's my 1st knife I have nothing to compare it to. I would however like to hold an AA just to see if it fits my hand a bit better. Nothing negative to say about the Mister Twister so far.

Oh....and I'm an electric knife convert :biggrin

The knives that are serrated seem to cut through bones better while filleting. The most important thing that will help keep more of the fish and make filleting a much easier job is to keep the blade sharp. All brands have worked well and some blades will interchange. I am trying to find a good blade sharpener that will do straight and serrated blades. Is there any 1st hand experience out there? Thanks for any details. I only use non-electric knives on large fish. Get a friend that uses an electric to show you the right way and you won't go back.

I have been using the AA for years. Could not find blades and bought a
MT. Tried the blades in the AA and they fit and work fine. Bought new blades for the MT
and it is ready if I ever need it. Any one know where to Get AA blades?
Joe

Grizzly jig sells them and also have the shark blades for them.

This is just the discussion I was looking for! I am looking to buy my first electric knife, I actually thew fish back last year because I had more than I wanted to clean. I am hoping the electric will remedy that.

I was torn between 12 DC and 120 AC, I clean most of my fish on the tailgate of my truck at the camp site and we always get an electric campsite. I think I will go 120 AC, on the rare occasion a outlet will not be available I'll just go back to my manual standby...

Does the B&D at Wally world come with different blades?

I had a Rapala for years and did great, finally died so I went and got one almost like it and its crap. I do have a pile of blades for it though. I may try sharpening them.

I was in Tractor Supply Friday getting rabbit feed and they had the Rapala brand on clearance for $19, normally $39.95.

So I own a Rapala now. It came with the electric knife and blades, along with a regular 9" fillet knife and a DVD. I watched the DVD this weekend, it never even made mention of the electric knife! It was all about using the regular fillet knife?
I was rather disappointed in the DVD, I hope I like the knife better.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by seagullplayer

I was in Tractor Supply Friday getting rabbit feed and they had the Rapala brand on clearance for $19, normally $39.95.

So I own a Rapala now. It came with the electric knife and blades, along with a regular 9" fillet knife and a DVD. I watched the DVD this weekend, it never even made mention of the electric knife! It was all about using the regular fillet knife?
I was rather disappointed in the DVD, I hope I like the knife better.

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If you are wanting to see videos on methods people use to fillet with an elec...youtube is your friend. I changed my method based on one of the videos. They knocked both sides completely off, then used fork to hold fillet above ribs and filleted ribs out, then held tip of fillet with fork and peeled meat off. I 'was' knocking side to tail, flip and take meat off skin and come back with reg knife to remove ribs. video way was much better for me.

I have a 12v rapala that clips to the boat battery. I mostly use it for catfish but have used it on bass and crappie. For catfish, I skin the fish first, then filet both sides off and trim the ribs out. For bass and crappie, I take both sides all the way off and then hold the tail end down with a fork and use a regular straight fillet knife to take off the skin and trim out the ribs. The electric knife is so much faster cutting through the ribs!

My electric knife has been going strong for about 6 years, but has developed a quirk. When it is connected to the battery, it is on. The on/off switch doesn't do anything. May be time for a new knife, think I will take it apart first and see if I can figure something out. I am fairly sure it happened after getting submerged.

You can find the kitchen electric knives for next to nothing at thrift stores like Goodwill if you want to try one. I think I saw some for about $2.

I saw Neon Moon's post when he bought his knife and I changed my Twister cord from spring to an extension cord and I love it. Happy happy happy

Check this out. I threw my Mister Twister in the trash after using one of these. Pretty amazing...oh yea- I have nothing whatsoever to do with the company or product.

BUBBA BLADE VS. ELECTRIC KNIFE - YouTube

i use a regular meat craving electric knife (black & decker) from wally world under 10.00 works as good as any other high price knife, you can find them in the kitchen stuff.