Spyderco Forums

I do lots of river and lake fishing so im looking for anyone's input on a good/great pocketknife for this application.

1. First off i want super sharpness, don't need H1 since i will take care of knife after fishing.
2. Needing light to either fit in waist tacklebox rig or in shorts pocket. G10 or FRN doesn't matter.
3. Decent to good rust prevention (VG-10?)
4. Must have lanyard hole (if needed)
5. Pointed blade drop point or delica shape 2.8-3.25 inches

I found the following and would like all you fishers to contribute as to which you would prefer:

Dyad, Delica combo edge, Para 3 combo edge, or any other model. Thanks

Well this is a bit off topic but my favorite fishing knife is any SAK that has scissors. I like them for cutting up small pieces of bait and their steel is among the best corrosion resistant steels that I've used. For a Spyderco I'd probably go with one of the Lightweight models.

General utility on the water,,,, I use a Delica plain edge clipped to shirt pocket.

Fish cleaning,,, strongly recommend a fixed blade knife, much easier to maintain.

Regards,
FK

Evil D wrote:Well this is a bit off topic but my favorite fishing knife is any SAK that has scissors.

I 2nd this.. :D John :)

Multi tool with pliers and pretty much any knife.

The only folder which has seen any fish blood has been my PM2. I too would recommend a fixed blade.

I use my PM2 S110V in this role. I think I would have a difficult time finding anything better.

I think if I needed to go smaller than that, I'd lean more toward Delica 4 than Para 3 as I slightly prefer its blade shape for gutting small Trout. That, however, would probably change quickly once the S110V Para 3 hits the shelves.

What are you using it for?

Utility like cutting line?

Cutting bait and maybe gutting fish?

Cleaning and filleting fish?

For utility work any folder will work. For cutting bait or gutting I would pick something easy to keep clean. For filleting and processing fish I have to recommend a fixed blade. I don't actually clean fish until I get home but others process their fish in the boat/field. I really like the Swick for a fishing utility knife. I can tie knots easily without putting the knife down or back in it's sheath and is hard to drop it. I wont go fishing without a multitool. Pliers, scissors and a small blade all in one package and for me all three are indispensable.

Vg-10 Endura seems a good candidate for a folder. Emerson opener for one fast one handed opening, also doubles as bottle opener while fishing :D

Pretty much every knife mentioned here would work fine for your needs. The s110v Manix LW is probably worth a mention too. Nice lightweight package, easy to clean, very corrosion resistant and great edge retention. I also find the Manix lw carries very well if you choose to carry IWB while fishing.

The Tasman HB PE and Ladybug HB SE are excellent folders for everything bar filleting and all I used to clean fish where they're caught.

The mighty Sprig is all I use to fillet. :)

Please People!!! Please!!! Are we forgetting something??? :rolleyes: The best folding fishing knife ever in my humble opinion was Spyderco's ultra-classic C-17 Catcherman model :cool: . I personally think that Spyderco should deeply consider resurrecting the CATCHERMAN in the new LC200N>> I know Brother SURF would even like that one And I bet EVIL would give up his SAK variety Swiss Army Knife ( I hope it's at least a Victorinox :rolleyes: ) for an LC200N full SE Catcherman model.

I would even like to see the possibility of the Double Bladed Catcherman sometime in the future. The CATCHERMAN truly is one they had right to begin with. I have 6 of them and I use 3 of them regularly. I also have one of the super rare fully serrated AUS-8 versions>> Yeah some of Spyderco's older stuff was truly perfect right out of the gate IMO :cool:

I have used the Stretch with a VG 10 blade for surf fishing. It is light in the pocket. However, I usually prefer to use a fixed blade knofe for cleaning fish.

Wait for the Para3 in S110V and you'll have superior corossion resistence as a bonus.It checks all the boxes you mentioned IMO.

Marius

JD Spydo wrote:Please People!!! Please!!! Are we forgetting something??? :rolleyes: The best folding fishing knife ever in my humble opinion was Spyderco's ultra-classic C-17 Catcherman model :cool: . I personally think that Spyderco should deeply consider resurrecting the CATCHERMAN in the new LC200N>> I know Brother SURF would even like that one And I bet EVIL would give up his SAK variety Swiss Army Knife ( I hope it's at least a Victorinox :rolleyes: ) for an LC200N full SE Catcherman model.

I would even like to see the possibility of the Double Bladed Catcherman sometime in the future. The CATCHERMAN truly is one they had right to begin with. I have 6 of them and I use 3 of them regularly. I also have one of the super rare fully serrated AUS-8 versions>> Yeah some of Spyderco's older stuff was truly perfect right out of the gate IMO :cool:

Haha yeah the Catcherman is the granddaddy of all fishing folders but my finishing is not quite on par with Lance's lol. I'm completely satisfied with reeling in blue gills all day and I use a vintage Zebco 33 on an equally vintage Browning rod with a whopping 6lb test line so the bait I'm cutting up is about the size of a pea most times so I like the little SAK scissors for nipping off little pieces. I also usually prep my larger bait the day before I fish so I don't do a lot of bait processing while fishing. The most I do is sacrificing one of the wee little blue gills I catch for catfish bait.

I love pulling in Bluegills! Nothing wrong with that EvilD. I wish we had better Catfishing here. I lived in Oklahoma for a while and the catfishing there was nuts. Here, not so much...

This thread needs pics.

Yeah man bluegills are the poor man's sport fish lol. A good sized bluegill puts up a fight that'll rival a bass especially on a tiny little rod like I use.

They are pound for pound pretty strong little fish for sure. I pulled these in on a 28" lightweight ice rod with 4 lb test. With lightweight gear panfishing is fun!!!

I love bream! No shame in that game! Whole fried bream is probably my favorite lake fish...at least of the species I grew up with in the south.

JD Spydo wrote:Please People!!! Please!!! Are we forgetting something??? :rolleyes: The best folding fishing knife ever in my humble opinion was Spyderco's ultra-classic C-17 Catcherman model :cool: . I personally think that Spyderco should deeply consider resurrecting the CATCHERMAN in the new LC200N...

DING, DING, DING, DING...and we have a WINNER! While there are other capable and dedicated fishing folders out there, none (that I know of) offer a built-in clip and one handed opening. These features make it so convenient to clip to my waders and then quickly deploy to dispatch a freshly hooked salmon. I also love that it's so lightweight and easy to clean. Spyderco please bring back the Catcherman!

bearfacedkiller wrote:I love pulling in Bluegills! Nothing wrong with that EvilD. I wish we had better Catfishing here. I lived in Oklahoma for a while and the catfishing there was nuts. Here, not so much...

This thread needs pics.

Thanks for those great pics BFK because you really hit home with me. I've fished in fresh and salt water and in the Pacific Northwest ( trout, Steelhead & Salmon) but I've not found many fish that I like better than Bluegill and especially Crappie. We have a lake close by ( Lake Jacomo) which is one of the best Crappie lakes in the entire midwest IMO.

Oh I dearly love Halibut, Red Snapper ( one of Surf's specialties :D ) and Swordfish>> but I'll take Crappie any day of the week if I can't get any of those three which I also dearly love. OH did I mention "Walleye" :cool: Yeah we have some great eating fish here in the midwest part of the USA>> and Crappie along with wild Rainbow Trout are among my very favorites.

Oh by the way did I tell you all that they taste better when you process them with a Spyderco C-17 Catcherman model :rolleyes: Yeah that's probably stretching it a bit :o But that is the blade I use most along with my TEMP 1 models for the big fish I help clean. which makes the case for the fully serrated Catcherman to return in either H-1 or LC200N. I rest my case :D