any opinions on electric vs the old standard rapala appreciated. worried about bones w/ the electric.
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any opinions on electric vs the old standard rapala appreciated. worried about bones w/ the electric.
This is going to be good! Kind of like asking which is better, Evinrude or Mercury.Quote:
Originally Posted by cjsfishn
My two cents worth... I have both. Electric is fine, but for Walleye, I can do a faster and better job with a good ole sharp Rapalla - and a stone to hit it couple of licks every few fish - than I can with my electric. I start with the electric but seem to always go back to the filet knife. Key is quality flexible blade (not cheapo) with good steel that holds the edge and keeping a sharp edge. With that I get a cleaner smooth fillet and can zip through them.
Now if I am doing a hundred little perch, that is different. You can't beat the electric to slab the slides off, and then take the rib bones out with your regular knife. And probably most guys do Walleye that way too. Just not me.
Have always use a regular knife. I clean fish very fast. Been doing it for 40 plus years. Per side - Perch are 3 cuts and a walleye is 6 cuts if you include the cheeks. I fillet and brother skins and tosses me fish from the cooler. Still have all 8 fingers and boths thumbs - LOL Shape knife and a steel are important. Beer break every 10 perch
I am just the opposite, I prefer an electric knife for walleye, and a good sharp small knife for perch, and a 12 pack of budweiser is standard. Does anyone still scale perch? I found I like the taste better and don't lose much meat if I skin them out. Just wondered if ya'll are still scaling them, and if so is anyone using the old washing machine still?
I switched to electric quite a few years ago. I can do it either way but prefer the electric. I'm now faster with the electric. I do finish detail cleaning with a good blade.
I was always the one that said I would never switch to electric but I can clean faster than ever. I switched a few years ago and love the electric knife. For many limits of perch though, I pay the cleaners. I prefer them with the skin on and the cleaners are to cheap for me to mess with it.
With small ones if I have them commercially cleaned I leave the skins on, they cook better and I don't notice any taste difference. With bigger ones - maybe 10" and up - I skin them even if I have them commercially cleaned and scaled. I definitely think skinning makes big ones taste better, takes that strong taste away.Quote:
Originally Posted by dreamcatcher
I don't scale anything I clean myself...skin them all, large or small.
i use electric all the time for walleye. perch gets dropped off at the cleaners just because for the price its not worth the frustration. when i clean my walleye i skin em then roll em over and take the silver rib skin out with the big bones in it then make two cuts in the tail end. one on each side of the zipper, take the zipper out and no more bones and then instead of tryin to fry up a big monster fillet i just cut each half in half and then your not fryin fish all night long(unless its a big party). works great for me havent had a bone in my walleye since i started doin it that way about 4 years ago. hope this helps.
USA made Uncle Henry.
Wow, didn't expect to generate that many responses with such a simple question. The topic came up between a buddy and i when we were cleaning fish Monday evening. Amazed about the diferrent opinions and techniques as well. Thanks to all who responded! CJ
Pretty much do ours like FishOn205. I love that zipper trick with the walleye fillets. No bones, ever.
We slab off our walleyes with an electric knife. Take out the cheeks. Knock out rib bones with electric. Use the Rapala to skin. Perch go to the commercial cleaners. I'm getting too old to hunch over that table doing a bucket of yellows.;)
My Dad taught me to fillet 30+ years ago with a 6" wooden handle rapala. never forgot it...just got home from ice fishing in Nebraska....my older twin brothers, my Dad and I HANDED it to 4 each 5-gallon buckets full of blue gill and crappie. That's when it began...Dad said no more sledding until the fish were cleaned. I graduated to an electric rapala knife (20 years later), not expensive at all, and can fly through walleye like no tomorrow. Come back near the gill, get to the spine, turn the knife toward the tail and let her go ALMOST to the end. Stop just before the tail (about 1/8"), use the knife blade to 'flop' the fillet over (away from fish head) and skin it right out. Hand the skinned fillet to my brother for the rib-out taking, take a sip of a frothy beverage, and hit the other side. LOVE the electric and now I clean fish for my Dad. Full circle baby! Tight lines fellas, love the chatter!