Anything that costs over fifty bucks gets analyzed pretty well before I buy it. In this case, I had to choose between the serrated blade and the slick one. Ordinarily that's a no contest for me since I don't know how to sharpen a serrated blade.

But, thinking about cutting rib bones on large catfish swayed me to the serrated one. Now I'm having second thoughts and since I haven't opened the package, I could swap it back to Academy.

Anybody used either one of them?

I'm like you. I don't care much for serrations. That said, I haven't purchased one of the bubba blades yet.

I'm not a fan of serrations on anything other than a bread knife.

cur',

I don't have a Big Bubba but if you want to sharpen serrations, the Spyderco Sharpmaker is the way to go. Worth the coin.

And I do like a serrated filet or kitchen knife when kept sharp. They'll shave hair and go straight through schit a flat edge won't.




Travis

Ditto

Don't waste your money on a Big Bubba. They are overpriced Chinese crap. Buy a USA made Dexter Russell for less than half the price. When I clean a large volume of fish I use an electric filet knife. They are not as precise as a regular blade, but they'll carve through decent size rib bones and they are fast. When you go down to the charter docks on the Gulf Coast where hundreds of fish may need to be cleaned as quickly as possible, you normally see electric filet knives. Dexter Russell is the most prevalent of the standard filet knives. Up in Alaska you normally see Victorinox at the charter docks.

I guess you missed the part that I've already bought one. And I wear out several electric filet knives each year.

Now...... if you want to discuss cheap ass Chinese crap, ALL the electric knives available to me certainly qualify.

I just ordered the sharpener. Walmart online is a good bit cheaper than the other sources.

Electric fillet knives are the answer to the question no one should be asking.

Watch the real pros working in fish packing plants and you will see knives barely long enough to do the job and fish being fileted unbelievably fast and we'll.

The most experienced use knives barely big enough though they can handle bigger... the least experienced use over-sized knives even though they do not know how to use them...

No I saw where you had already bought it, but were considering returning it. Academy sells the better Dexter Russell for half the price. Maybe the serrated knife will work for you. I certainly hope so.

I consume the fish those real pros clean. They don't do a very good job in general. They leave too much of the fishy dark meat that lies against the skin.

Count me as a fan of the Bubba Blades! Got 4 of them now. The 9" tapered flex, 7" tapered flex, and 9" tapered stiffy get the most use. I've thrown away every electric fillet knife I had. I can go thru a double limit of bass in less than 10 mins with the 9" flex. The Stiffy fillet will handle those BIG Santee Cooper cats with no problems, and does double duty at the camper as a chef/carving knife. All of mine have hold their edge. Just hit them on the steel couple strokes before I start cleaning fish and I'm good to go.

betting bubba won't filet a nice redfish as easily as our electric ones. Good thing about electric, they are cheap.... 10 bucks or so and though I fish a bit, not a ton, I"ve yet to wear one out. blades on them have needed sharpening though.....

I fillet a lot of fish and use the Dexter Russell knives along with a DR steel. On larger fish I fillet around the ribs and never even open the belly.

Not criticizing, but I catch catfish in the spring up to 15 lbs, and never cut through a rib bone for fillets. Just curious if I'm missing something.

I use another knife for the heavy stuff, switch to my regular fillet knife for the delicate stuff.

ditto

I was thinking about getting one of those Bubba's but went with a $20 Penn (non-serrated)

I can't believe they carry it.

Your serrated knives will shave hair.




Clark

I would get the smooth blade, Gene, as i have converted to not cutting through rib bones, as now i cut down to them and then cut down toward the belly just outside them, filleting meat off them.

I got one for a Christmas gift a while back. I need to see if I can find out where I put it.

Got my dad one for fathers day. Havent done a ton of fish with it but it has worked nicely on 4-5 20ish lb salmon. Still shap as when it came out of the package. He has the smooth blade version.

I would go with the non serrated.

I use a 8" Dexter or Forschner Breaking knife for my filet jobs
On fish with heavy rib bones,I cut over the top of the bones and not through them.I use a pair of game shears to cut off the ribs and the breast,those are some tasty parts I really enjoy.

This^^^, and you can get a $25 Academy Dexter Russell for half that on ebay.

Those fried redfish throats or breasts i ate once are great. I wish i knew how to cut/clean them.

This is the way I do them.

Thanks. Do you skin or scale them before frying? I saw them being cut from some big fish once on a utube but i couldnt remember what they were called. As i was typing this i finally remembered- fish collars. I think the

. My old departed buddy collected them from redfish and they were great but we never fished for reds together and i didnt learn how to prepare them.

Do you do it like this?

Sorry Gene. Didnt mean to highjack your thread.

I got the 9" version with a smooth blade back in the spring. It was a great spring and early summer. I've used it on most of our inshore stuff from 15" speckled trout to 39" redfish. Works great for me. The charter boats and deckhands buy 'em by the case.

They look good.

I use a pair of pliers to pull the skin off then use game shears to cut between the fins.More meat than bones on this part.

Not a fan of chinese stuff, but a smooth bladed Bubba knife has proved to be a good working tool around salt water over the last 2 or 3 years. Bright handle has kept it from getting lost. In my opinion, a decent value for the price.

Here is a picture with my 8" Dexter Breaking knife.It has been my favorite blade for many years.

In my area, it's all Dexter Russell for filleting fishing. Victorinox are bait knives.

This one is made in the USA