"I have been making knives for over 20 years. I became a knife maker through necessity -
I couldn't find a commercial fillet knife that would stay sharp for a day of fish filleting."
 
Handmade Fillet and Hunting Knives
The Leech Lake Fillet Knife was designed and engineered by Donald Canney of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Don is an avid fisherman who has a home on beautiful Leech Lake located in northern Minnesota near the town of Walker, approximately 250 miles north of Minneapolis.  Leech Lake is well known for its superb Walleye and Musky fishing, where large catches of these and other sport fish are quite common.
 It has not been usual for Don to have filleted hundreds of fish after a single day’s outing.  Anyone who has had to stop and sharpen a knife after filleting only a dozen or so fish certainly knows the frustration Don has felt while using various stainless steel fillet knives.
 Why do conventional fillet knives get dull so fast? ...
 The first step in filleting any fish is generally the cut behind the gill.  When making this cut you are cutting down into the scales.  These scales are there to protect the body of the fish from the razor sharp teeth of other predator fish.  In many ways the scales are like a suit of armor, but much more abrasive.
 If a knife could be designed that would cut from beneath the scales, the rapid dulling of the blade which comes from cutting through the scales would be avoided.  Imagine the time that could be saved by not having to stop and sharpen the blade every 10 of 15 fish filleted.  In addition, your knife would never again ruin that beautiful fillet because of being too dull for efficient cutting.
 The Leech Lake Fillet Knife was designed with this idea in mind.
 The knife’s handle…
 All of the Leech Lake Fillet Knives are hand made.  Each handle is made from various hardwoods from all over the world.   The wood in the handles is heated and the natural oils are removed from the pores in a strong vacuum, the sheets are enhanced with a phenolic resin, which is sometimes referred to as the “Steel of Plastics”.   The woods are then layered in different colors and are ground to shape exposing fascinating design.  These handles are extremely durable as well as beautiful.
 The knife’s blade…
 The blade is made from specially designed high carbon/semi-stainless alloy steel.  The steel is then hardened and tempered to Don’s specifications.   Each blade is signed and dated as well as marked with an “SS” that signifies Don Canney’s “Super Steel”.
 What really makes the blade unique is the hook sharpened tip and the fact that the backside is sharp approximately two inches from the point.  Herein lies the secret of keeping the cutting edge sharp virtually throughout the season.
 A word of caution:  Remember that the backside is razor sharp.  It cuts fingers as well as fish!