Three edges are important to anglers fishing aboard pontoon boats, and all perform best when they are sharp as can be. One, the point of the fishing hook, is key to being able to test the mettle of another, the fillet knife, for without boating a fish you have no chance at peeling a fillet or two from the catch.
An angler is only as sharp as his fishing hook; it’s the primary connection between you and the fish. If it doesn’t hold its place in a fish’s maw during the battle to bring it to net, all the effort and expense you’ve exhausted to get in the position of having faked-out a fish is wasted. So are the fillets from caught fish if you try to butcher them while using a less-than-sharp blade during the cleaning process.
As March is “pre-season” across much of North America, you may have the itch to fish and time on your hands. Now is a good time to give yourself an edge before the fishing season gets into full swing.
Sharpening Hooks
There are several methods—and tools—that are popular for sharpening a fish hook. Nearly anything you can do to improve the sharpness of the point on a stock or used fishing hook is beneficial. Some hooks are woefully dull right out of the box, so it pays to check each one before letting it hit the water.
One popular hook-sharpening method is to start by holding the point between your forefinger and thumb, then slip a slender hook file between the thumb and finger so it comes against the angle of the point. Your finger and thumb help keep a proper angle by serving as sharpening guides as you stroke the point edges with the file. When you think you’ve achieved a good point, after several strokes with the file on three sides to create a triangular cutting edge, test it by dragging it lightly over your thumbnail. The point is sharp and ready for fishing when it digs in immediately under minimal pressure.
Sharpening Fillet Knives
It doesn’t do you any good to use sharp hooks to catch fish destined for the table if you can’t separate the fillet from the fish. Anyone who has had to clean a fish with a dull knife knows the damage that can be done, ruining prime fillets, so it pays to keep a good edge on your fillet knife.
To sharpen a fillet knife, many experts recommend that you end up with an edge with a bevel angle of between 5 and 10 degrees. I prefer less acute angles, of as much as 10-15 degrees. The more acute the angle and the thinner the edge, the sharper the blade may be, but an extremely thin edge will dull more quickly. Experiment, and soon you’ll find the right angle for you, the knife you’ll be using and the fillets you’ll be cutting.
To start, place the knife on the sharpening stone or file at the angle you’ve chosen, and try to keep it at that angle through the stroke whether you move the knife over the surface or the stone or file over the blade. Usually, holding the blade at an angle that allows from 1/16- to 1/8-inch of the cutting edge to be in contact with the stone or file is about right, and will create the proper edge angle.
A trick one of my fishing friends uses to attain a 12-degree bevel is to stack a pair of quarters on the surface of the sharpening stone and place the knife’s heel on top, with the blade resting at an angle on the stone’s surface—which will be about 12 degrees. That’s the angle you want to keep the blade at to get the dozen-degree edge bevel I prefer.
If you want to test how well you’re maintaining the angle as you sharpen, and where you are removing metal to do so, use a felt-tipped pen to coat the blade’s edges with ink. Pens meant for use on “dry erase” boards, with water-soluble ink, work best because excess ink can be easily washed off. You can see how acute and angle you are maintaining by noting where and how much ink is removed—or left behind—during stroking process.
Some people use a circular pattern and others slide the blade against the file or stone with the edge first or the edge trailing. Both work; the goal is to keep the angle constant and to remove the same about of steel from each side of the blade.
Once you’ve sharpened your fillet knife a few times, you’ll get a feel for the angle to attain and how to maintain it during the process, and you’ll be able to quickly add the right edge just by feel.
Keeping Pontoon Logs Sharp
The third edge is on the bow-end of your pontoon boat’s logs. They need not be nearly be as sharp as your fillet knife to efficiently cut through the water, but it’s all relative. And a dull leading edge on a pontoon boat may lead observers to think the owner may share the symptoms. To maintain your log’s leading edge, refrain from running into docks, seawalls, rocks, trees and other boats bow-first. First-hand experience and examples have shown me that once that edge is lost, there’s no looking back.
