November 4th 2006 Bluegrass Fish and Wildlife Otter Pit report.

Fished Otter Pit today. Got a very late start. It was in the 50's air temp wise and the water surface temp has dropped down to 50 deg F. Didn't check any other temperatures at any other depths. It was calm when I arrived around 4:00 pm. The sky was cloudy but no rain. The clouds will hold the temps tonight. Saw that the moon was almost full as it peaked though the clouds before I left the lake a little after it got too dark. I would have stayed longer if the sky had let the moonlight though.

Went to a drop off that had been good to me the last two times out. Found Zero Fish there this evening. To be fair I only fished for about 30 minute or so but I did locate the brush that I found last time out and had marked on my gps unit. Still not fish there. Maybe I fished the wrong depth or something but last time the fish were letting me know they were there right away. This time zilch. That's why they call it fishing.

Went back to my normal spot and managed to catch one crappie that went 10 1/2" long and 8 ounces. It was a keeper and that was why I went fishing this evening. I did catch another small crappie before I left the water. Got home and with the two fish I got out my new Rapala ProGuide Deluxe Electric Fillet Knife Set.

I have to report that I like this new fillet knife. It comes with an AC/DC converter that can be plugged into an 110 Volt AC outlet and then converts the power to 12 Volt DC at a female plug. The cord on the fillet knife itself ends with a male 12 V DC cigarette lighter type Plug. So you can run the knife off a cigarette lighter outlet on your boat or vehicle or from a portable power supply like the Vector Battery Jumpers. Tonight I ran the power from the AC/DC converter as I was out on my back porch and there is an AC outlet that's has ground fault protection built into the circuit breaker for this outlet.

I fillet the larger crappie by cutting into the fish behind the Pectoral Fin (gill cover) and then when I hit the backbone I rotate the knife blade 90 deg and then slide along the back bone toward the tail cutting though the rib bones. Then I flip the fillet over and then run the knife between the skin and the fillet to get the skin off the meat. Finally I cut the rib bones out of each fillet when I am done.

The Rapala Fillet Knife Set comes with two blades and I used the short knife blade and it worked very smoothly. The blades were sharp and easily cut though the 10.5" 1/2 lb crappie. The motor is smooth and quiet on this unit. The blades snap in and out very smoothly as well. And the trigger switch has a good click when it's engaged to let you know that it's turned on. Also the safety lock has a loud click to let you know it's engaged or disengaged. There is a Battery Connection composed of 12 V Clips that attach to a battery post that you can plug the knife power cord into on the other end.

The power cord is 18 ft long which is more than enough reach. The entire kit comes with a plastic carrying case that stores everything neatly in place.

Overall I really do like this knife. I think it's better made than my other American Anglers fillet knifes. They work well but this one seems to be a little bit stronger quality. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to clean a lot of fish fast.

Next time I go out and have some fish to clean I will give the longer blade a try to see if it's as smooth as the shorter blades.
The short blade is 6" long while the longer blade is 7 1/2" long.

Regards,

Moose1am