A razor-sharp fillet knife, a blade-sharpening device and a filleting board are Kenton Anderson's tools of the trade. Anderson favors the Chicago Cutlery Pursuit fillet knife (www.chicagocutlery.com) and also uses knives by Rapala, Shakespeare and Wusthof.
The key to all fish cleaning is the edge on the knife blade. Anderson achieves razor sharpness by pulling the blade across ceramic sharpening sticks. A couple of good ones are the Lansky 2-Rod ceramic sharpener (www.nextag. com/Lansky) and the Smith Abrasives ceramic sharpener (www.sierratradingpost.com). Both devices have ceramic rods preset at the proper angle for knife sharpening and retail for less than $10.
A 2-inch-thick cleaning board lifts your fish off a dock or cleaning table enough to allow free hand movement. This is especially helpful in the skinning part of the process when the horizontal angle of the blade is crucial.
BILL KLEIN
