Floating filleting knives seem to be all the rage these days, which makes sense to us anglers. I’ve seen and heard about all manner of things being dropped into the water over the years and, unless it floats, you have little chance of recovering it. I even remember, over 25 years ago, a friend of my father’s dropping a reel handle over the side of Clacton Pier as we were setting up one cold Winter night and not being able to fish as a result. Mind you, 25 years on and they still haven’t invented a floating reel….have they?
Anyway, enough reminiscing, back to the knives. These filleting knives come in two models – standard and deluxe. Visually, there is no difference. Each has a blade of approximately six inches and comes complete in its rigid plastic sheath, complete with a spring loaded bait clip. The two differences are that the deluxe model has a slightly better grade of steel, making it better for those who use their knife a lot, and a glow-in-the-dark top to the handle. I’m in two minds whether this is a bonus, or just a gimmick……I really wouldn’t advise anglers to go rummaging around in the dark for a sharp filleting knife without adequate lighting! That said, it does no harm to be able to spot the knife in a hurry, I suppose.
The knives are very lightweight, which must be a result of the handles being made of a buoyant material and the blades are pretty sharp straight out of the box. As with any new filleting knife, though, it would pay to give them an extra sharpening before first use. The handles are well shaped and there is a rippled thumb grip towards the top, for those times when a bit extra grunt is needed. I’m right-handed, but tried them in my left hand and they seemed to fit just the same. I didn’t try cutting with the left hand, though, as I could see it ending in a trip to casualty!
As for the claims of buoyancy, I couldn’t really write this review without testing them. However, I stopped short of throwing them into the sea – that would be plain stupid! No, they went into my garden pond instead, where they floated quite happily above the koi carp and curious golden orfes! Oh, and that was with the added weight of leaving the sheaths on.
As with a lot of fishing tackle sold on the TackleBargains website, the price is as keen as the blades themselves – the standard model comes in at just £5.95 and the deluxe a mere two pounds more at £7.95. Visit www.TackleBargain.com to view the entire range of tackle, or click here to go direct to the filleting knives page.
