Dexter-Russell Sani-Safe 12-inch Fish Splitter

A fish splitter is a heavy, stiff knife for the jobs a fillet knife should never do, and it is built for splitting where a cimeter is built for slicing. Dexter-Russell’s Sani-Safe 12-inch splitter is built to take heads off large fish, cut bait, make chum and break down big fish before they are filleted. The H in the model number marks its heavier blade, which gives the backbone to drive through bone and cartilage. The blade is built to absorb the shock of heavy splitting without chipping, and it offers significantly more impact resistance than a Victorinox Fibrox, though it is slightly heavier.

On a large tuna or halibut, the splitter roughs out the work at the cleaning table, and a flexible fillet knife takes over for the meat. It is also a capable bait knife on a party boat, where a long, sturdy blade makes short work of a pile of bunker or mackerel. It splits frozen bait as readily as fresh and takes the head off a large salmon as easily as a tuna. For delicate trout or small panfish it is too much knife, and a fillet knife is the better choice. Dexter honed and ground the blade at its Southbridge, Massachusetts plant. It suits commercial fishmongers, high-volume seafood processing plants and offshore charter captains who need a tool that can take a beating. Professional processors like the way the handle stays in the hand even when it is covered in slime, and the steel returns to a keen edge with a few strokes on a honing steel.

Pairing a Splitter with a Fillet Knife

Once the fish is broken down, a Sani-Safe 8-inch Wide Fillet Knife or a Dextreme Dual Edge 10-inch Stiff Fillet Knife handles the fillets.