The Best Fishing Knives for 2026

A carbon steel blade under three inches is what earns the Opinel No.7 my top spot. It keeps me the right side of UK carry rules for a folding knife, and it takes an edge as keen as anything in this guide.

This is the one I reach for on the bank for the ordinary jobs: trimming line and hooklengths, opening bait, cutting cord. The beech wood handle warms up in the hand and the whole thing weighs next to nothing in a pocket.

It's a lock knife, so the blade won't fold back on my fingers mid-cut. Carbon steel also sharpens up more readily than stainless, which is why a few passes on a stone bring it back to properly keen.

The honest catch is that carbon steel will spot with rust if it's left wet, so it wants a wipe of oil and a dry after a session. It's a general folder rather than a fish-prep tool too, so for filleting I'd carry something else.

Where a plain edge slips on wet braid, the 75mm serrated blade on this Wolfcraft folder bites in. That makes it my pick for rope, cord and braided line that a smooth blade tends to skate over.

It's a compact folder, opening to 180mm and closing down to 103mm, so it drops into a tackle bag or pocket without fuss. A push button releases the blade and a safety lock holds it open, which stops it folding shut while I'm sawing through something tough.

The aluminium handle is textured for a non-slip hold, and that counts for a lot with wet hands on the bank. It feels solid rather than flimsy, and the German build gives me some confidence it'll last.

A serrated edge is the trade-off as much as the selling point: it tears through rope, but it's harder to touch up at home than a plain edge, and it's less tidy for fine work like paring a knot. It's a general cutter, not a fish-specific knife.

Some bank jobs ask more than a folding knife wants to give, and that's where the Hultafors Craftsman earns its slot. It's a fixed all-purpose knife with a 9.3cm German stainless blade, ground and stropped sharp, that shrugs off heavier cutting.

What sells it to me for fishing is the holster. It comes with a belt clip that snaps onto a belt or a trouser button, so the knife rides where I can grab it and won't sink to the bottom of a bag.

The blade is 2.5mm thick at 57 to 59 HRC, so it's stiff and holds an edge, and the Santoprene handle cover keeps it from turning in a wet hand. It can be reground when it finally dulls, and the corrosion protection means damp work doesn't ruin it.

It's a chunkier thing to carry than a slim folder, and being a fixed blade it needs the good-reason rule that goes with any sheath knife in public. As a workshop-grade tool it isn't delicate enough for filleting either.

Preparing a fish for the table is the one job a general knife can't fake, and the Rapala Fish n Fillet is built for exactly it. The 4-inch blade is ground extra thin so it flexes and follows the bones instead of tearing through them.

That flex is the whole point. It lets me run the blade along the ribcage and take clean fillets with far less waste than a stiff blade leaves behind, and the handground stainless steel arrives properly sharp.

A PTFE non-stick coating helps the fillets fall away rather than clinging to the steel, and the through-tang construction with a polished brass ferrule anchors the blade solidly into the handle. It ships in a tooled leather sheath for safe carry.

This is a specialist, not an all-rounder. That thin flexible blade would be wrong for cutting cord or general bank work, and as a fixed blade it needs its good reason for carry. If fish aren't being kept, it's more knife than the trip needs.

Buying this Wolfcraft outdoor knife puts two of them in the box, which tells its own story about where it sits: an inexpensive, honest fixed blade to keep one in the tackle bag and spare the other for the shed or the car.

Each has a 95mm stainless fixed blade, so there's no folding mechanism to seize up or wobble. The handle has a soft-grip zone and a pronounced finger guard, which keeps my hand off the edge when I'm pushing through something firm.

A hard plastic sheath with a belt clip comes with each knife, so the blade travels covered and clips within reach. Wolfcraft build it as an outdoor and DIY tool, and for rough bank jobs that plain practicality is the whole appeal.

It's a workmanlike knife rather than a refined one, so nobody's buying it for the fit and finish. As a fixed blade it carries the good-reason rule in public, and the stainless is fine but won't hold an edge like a dearer knife.

Not every job on the bank needs a proper blade, and the Sharkey is my answer to the small ones. It's a 12-in-1 keychain multi-tool that packs six screwdrivers, a pry bar, bottle opener, thread cutter, file and box opener into something barely bigger than a key.

The tool I actually use fishing is the flight-safe cutter at the top, which nips through line and thread neatly. The rest earns its keep on the odd jobs: tightening a reel-seat screw, prying a lid, opening a bottle at the end of a session.

A carabiner clip hooks it onto a keyring or a bag zip, so it's always there without eating a pocket. It's light enough that I forget it's on the keys until something needs doing.

The honest limit is right there in the category: it's a multi-tool, not a knife, so it trades a proper cutting blade for versatility. For filleting or serious cutting I'd reach for a dedicated knife and keep the Sharkey for the fiddly bits.