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The Perfect Pocket Knife for Fishing
3K views
May 22, 2024
I review the 5 key features that you need from a pocket knife for fishing, no matter if it's on saltwater, lake or river. We also have some specific recommendations for makes and models of pocket knife to take fishing with you, covering a range of budgets. It doesn't matter if you're chasing largemouth bass, striper, catfish or redfish on the Gulf Coast, every angler needs a trusty pocket knife that they can keep close, and open and close with one hand. Kershaw Shuffle (Manual, $): https://amzn.to/3reAet4 Kershaw Scallion (Spring-Assist, $$): https://amzn.to/3tcesrH Kershaw Link (Spring-Assist, $$$): https://amzn.to/3cwy6sn
View Video Transcript
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Hey everybody, Simon from LakeHub
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Today we're talking about how to pick the perfect pocket knife for fishing
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We're going to talk about five features you've got to have on your pocket knife if you're
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going to go fishing and why. Now I'm not going to be talking about fillet knives, I'm not going to be talking about
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multi-tools or nail clippers. Those are all great, handy, but what I'm talking about is just pocket knives
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The reason why is because you're going to run into situations when you're out fishing where you need to cut some line off
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Let's say you got snagged, you might have braided line and you can't just break it off
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There are other situations like you're going to get tangled up, you're going to catch something
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that you can't haul in, or just re-tying lures and jigs. Pocket knife is going to come in handy
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It's something I carry everywhere, every day anyway, but especially for fishing
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I carry specific knives when I fish. Of the five features that you've got to have on a pocket knife for fishing, number one
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is the ability to open and close with one hand. For that reason, I recommend a liner lock knife
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Here's what a liner lock is. You can see that when you open the knife all the way, it's spring loaded to lock the knife
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into place. The way that you open that back up is by pushing it out of the way with your finger
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The reason why that's important is for one hand, you can open the knife, push it out
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of the way, let it start to fall, close it. You can safely, quickly, easily open and close a knife with one hand
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That's opposite of a lock back knife. A lock back knife, as the name suggests, locks on the back of the knife
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You can see this mechanism right here and right here. When it falls into place, this is a stronger, sturdier locking mechanism, but you need two
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hands to close it. You need one hand to open it, two hands to close it
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For that reason, my opinion, lock backs are out when it comes to fishing
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You need to be able to open and close with one hand. The opposite hand is almost always occupied
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Feature number two, also having to do with being able to open and close with one hand
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is either thumb studs or a finger flipper
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With thumb studs and a finger flipper, you'll be able to open and close with one hand
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If you're left handed, you'll want to look for dual thumb studs
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This one has thumb studs on both sides, which is good for right and left handed opening
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You can open with one hand, pushing with your thumb, close. Same here, open with one hand, close with one hand
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This one, I should note, is a spring assisted knife. Obviously you can see when you just flip it and it jumps open like that, that there's
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more mechanics going on inside this knife, which is handy, but it's also more difficult
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to clean and maintain in the long run. Feature number three, you have to have a pocket clip
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That may sound kind of silly to say because most pocket knives these days come with pocket
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clips, but not all of them do. There are some features to note about pocket clips
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Feature number one is the depth that it sits in your pocket
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This is what I would call a standard pocket clip. You can see the top of the clip right here is below the top of the knife, as opposed
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to this one, which is a deep carry pocket clip. You can see the top of the clip is almost at the top of the knife
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This knife sits deeper in your pocket or deeper in your waistband. To me, it's a lot more comfortable
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It's out of the way, it's not poking into you, and it's not going to catch on anything
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while you're walking around. Feature number three is a drop point blade profile
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What I mean is this right here. This has a good curve on the top and a good curve on the bottom
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One, it's going to be comfortable for when it's folded up and put away and it's in your
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pocket and in your waistband. Number two, this curve right here is going to be really handy to use in a pinch
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Here's some other examples of drop points that are different styles and shapes
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You can see this one is less curve on the blade, but more on top
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Finally, the final feature that I'd look for in a good pocket knife for fishing is going
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to be a plain edge. What I mean by that is on the bottom there are no serrations
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It's a plain straight edge as opposed to a fully serrated or in this case semi-serrated edge
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You're really just not going to use the serrations when you're fishing
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As far as actual make and models that I would recommend, a couple of options
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One is the Kershaw Shuffle. This is the Kershaw Shuffle right here and this is the Kershaw Shuffle 2
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This is actually in a tanto point, so you can get this in a drop point
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They offer lots of different colors and materials. The Shuffle and the Shuffle 2, you're going to be $20 or less
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It's a great, affordable, practical fishing knife. If you want to go a little more high end, there's a couple more Kershaw models to look at
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This is a Scallion and then this is a Kershaw Leek. These are going to be more in the $40 to $60 range, but also great knives that check all
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the boxes for a great fishing knife. That's it. That's how you pick the perfect pocket knife for fishing
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Like and subscribe for more of these types of helpful videos for getting out on the lake
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having fun. So, get outside and go to lakehub.com for more information on specific lakes in Texas
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and beyond
#Fishing