the way i see it is, the best filet knife is the one that has the best balance in your hand, you have to think about it this way, how much and how often are you going to be fileting fish, are these fish all the same size and species or are you going to be fileting mostly rock fish or salmonids or pelagics, every species needs a certain touch, but it all comes down to feel in the hand, if the knife doesnt feel well then you will not slice, butcher as well, and are you going to be doing more than 1-5 fish a day or 1-5 fish a month, i do a lot of animal break down and i have my favorites for every animal i do, and as long as the knife is comfortable in your hand it becomes your hand, some are for pushing some are for drawing, some do both, all depends on your style and experience, when it comes down to material the knife is made of thats a whole different subject. carbon vs stainless, carbon is a corrosion prone material and doesnt keep an edge as long but is alot easier to maintain and sharpen than stainless, but it gets a great patina the older it gets, i have carbon knives i have had for almost 30 years, stainless knives dont take any maintaince to be pretty but it is harder to maintain the edge and when it goes you need to take away more metal to regain the edge to factory sharp, and my oldest stainless knife is 20 years old and it started as a 10in chef and is now a 8in almost boning knife on the shape, but for an all around  brand for recreational fish breaker i would go with a dexter russel, hope this helps, cameron