Look on every beach or pier and you will see filleting knives all over the place, just measured mine, 6 inch blade which is about the norm. Its always in my bag when out with the ferts or gun or fishing, otherwise its in the house and never left in the motor. Great for nicking through the fur & skin and because the blade is so long and slim you can run it straight through from bottom end right up and out through the rib cage by the heart in one passing, thats how sharp they are. Also no need for fingers to get in the way either. As stated earlier, you only need to do this to empty the stom