Opinel Intempora No. 221 Fillet Knife – Thin Flexible Swedish Stainless Blade, Full Tang Kitchen Filleting Knife

I process about 40 trout a season and this knife turns filleting into a pleasure. The flexibility is spot on, it bends enough to hug the backbone without folding over. The 12C27 steel holds its edge surprisingly well for how thin it is. At this price, it's a bargain.

I've used fillet knives triple this price that weren't this good. The full tang gives confidence and the blade flex is perfect for panfish and salmon alike. Cleaned five salmon with it last weekend, rinsed it, strop on the edge, good as new.

The blade is excellent, thin, flexible, and scary sharp out of the box. The handle is comfortable but feels a bit utilitarian compared to the blade's performance. Function over form, which honestly is fine by me for a working knife.

Cuts snapper fillets off the bone like butter.

This may be user error, but I find it almost too flexible for larger fish, the blade wanders a bit when I start the cut on a big king salmon. For panfish and trout it's superb. If you mostly do big fish, consider something stiffer.

Figured a thin blade at this price would dull fast. Two months of weekly fish nights and it's still gliding through skin-on fillets. I touch it up on a ceramic rod occasionally and it comes right back. Good little knife.

Bought this for my dad who's filleted fish for 50 years with cheap hardware store knives. He called me specifically to say it's the best fillet knife he's ever held. High praise from a man who compliments nothing.

I know flexibility is the point, but this blade practically folds when I try to cut through pin bones in thicker sections. Works okay for delicate flatfish. Just doesn't match how I fillet, so it sits in the drawer while I use my old knife.

The thin blade follows the rib cage on flounder so precisely that I waste almost nothing. Cleanup is fast since the stainless resists fish odor. My father used Opinel pocket knives his whole life, so buying this felt like tradition, and it lives up to the name.