The best stiff fillet knife for big fish: a thick 9-inch blade with almost no flex for tuna, king salmon and game, plus BUBBA's non-slip grip.
Buy it if: Offshore and big-game anglers, king salmon anglers and hunters who need a stiff, strong blade.
Skip it if: Freshwater anglers who mainly clean panfish, trout or walleye.
Most fillet knives are built to flex. The BUBBA 9-inch Stiff does the opposite: its 2 mm thick blade has very little flex, so you can power through large fish and big game with full control. BUBBA describes it as ideal for large game fish and as a utility knife for carving meat.
The blade is 8Cr13MoV stainless with a non-stick coating and a beveled, sushi-style edge for thin cuts. The knife is 15 inches overall with a full tang, lanyard hole and synthetic sheath. The handle is BUBBA's non-slip grip with a trigger grip and safety guards.
On Amazon, buyers most often praise the sharpness, durability, value and how well the handle grips even when wet or greasy. Several use it on large king salmon and venison as well as for carving. Opinions on size are mixed: many say it's very large.
This is a specialist knife. For panfish, trout or skinning thin fillets, choose a flexible blade. For tuna, wahoo, halibut and the biggest salmon, it's one of the best tools you can buy. When we checked, the listing was sold by a third-party seller with a delivery window of one to three weeks.
Here’s where its 9-inch blade sits against typical fish sizes. See blade length by fish for more.
This review is based on the manufacturer’s specifications, the Amazon listing and patterns in verified buyer feedback, compared against the other knives we cover. We haven’t lab-tested it. Read our method.