I fish a lot. I keep pliers, scent, knives and a salmon whacking club in the bait trays attached to the rails of the raised fishing deck on my boat. They are right where I can use them easily with pliers and knives on both port and starboard sides. I've learned that any tool used much on this part of the boat is temporary. It will literally swim away at some time within a couple years.

For under $8 I got this one:


Billed as a "fillet knife" it won't fillet much of a steelhead, let alone a salmon as the blade is too short. But I don't process my catch on the boat - it is illegal and I do it at home with big cutting boards and better, high quality knives. I use this cheap knife for processing bait, cutting the gills and gutting salmon and steelhead, cutting line and maybe a rope if needed. It even has the old-fashioned spoon attachment for scraping out the kidneys along the spine! The other knife is a garage sale knife. With a Smiths Sharpening tool, sharp blades are easy.

In the course of my life, good knives have gotten so much cheaper. So have hammers. 'bout time. C.B.