5 minute read
Benefits of Dock Overhanging Fillet Tables
BY ED MASHBURN
The KillerDock cleaning tables drain directly into the water which means less mess and less trouble cleaning up.
There are a number of things which make fishing fun and rewarding to anglers. Catching fish is fun, and eating good, fresh fish is one of life’s real pleasures.
However, between the catching and the eating some things must happen, and the one thing that makes enjoying a fish dinner less than positive is the cleaning of a mess of fish on a less than suitable surface.
Although fish can be filleted on pick up truck tailgates, old found washed-up planks and old, splintered rails on docks, these surfaces rarely produce much good feeling on the part of the fish cleaner. In fact, not having a good fish filleting surface can take most of the pleasure out of any potentially great meal after a good fishing trip.
But there are some things that can make filleting fish much less of a chore and much more of a rewarding activity.
THE ELEMENTS OF A GOOD FILLET TABLE
Aaron Williamson of KillerDock knows something about what goes into a good filleting table for a dock or pier, and he gave us his opinion about what a good table is and is not.
“A good cleaning table is the right size and big enough for your cleaning needs. A too small table surface doesn’t work well. A good cleaning table is clean and can be kept clean. Too many home-made tables are smelly and unsanitary. Appearance is important. A good cleaning table looks nice, and a lot of home-made tables won’t be good for fish photos background- they’re ugly.”Williamson said.
Perhaps the most important element of an overhanging fillet table is that it is very functional.
“We’ve got a solution there in terms of the placement on the stations for you to plumb up. So that’s been a really big help as well. To be able to overhang the water that much for everything to go in the water, whether it’s draining off the back of the table like a slotted table, which is sort of the classic thing, or we’ve got specific designs that we’ve patented, where the table goes back, drains down through the legs, and so it’s not draining out anywhere on you, Not on your feet, not on your dock or your boat, all of this is due to a little bit of a negative angle on the table. You’re facing your fish cleaning station over the water and there’s a little bit of a tilt towards the water. That’s really important because if the cleaning top is just a flat surface, stuff’s coming back to you. And so whatever of our cleaning stations you have, it has that two degree slope going away from you And the hose stations built in help you keep everything washed off to keep drawers clean,” Williamson pointed out.
The KillerDock cleaning tables with canopy make cleaning a big mess of fish much more comfortable and pleasant.
“A table with a negative slope surface drains easily, and it can have storage added if needed. An overhanging table increases the amount of room on a dock or pier and it takes up less floor space,” he added.
A very important element of any good fish cleaning system is the presence of a sink, and KillerDock addresses this.
“We have sinks that we build that are made of the same things as the tables, and we hand make these sinks. They’re still ceramic coated, they’ve got sink strainer and tail pieces for draining, and you can hook them up with PVC if you want to, or connect to another system or to direct the drains,” he said. “And one of the recent additions that we added to our sinks is that we’ve got a flush mount lid that sits over the sink. So now we make our own flush lid, so when you’re not using the sink, or if you just have ice in there, you can throw your fish in there and it works kind of like a cooler top or whatever. You lift it up, throw your stuff in, put the flush lid back down, and you still get to use the whole space. That’s really important. It’s just the increased usability again. It’s really valuable.”
Finally, a good cleaning table should provide shade because cleaning a bunch of fish in the hot sun is no fun.
“A good fillet table maximizes usable dock space, allows for the table to drain directly into the water, and it allows for the table to be mounted directly into the top and side of the dock which greatly increases strength,” Williamson said.
WHY IS THE KILLERDOCK SYSTEM SUCH AN IMPROVEMENT?
The KillerDock system addresses all of the elements of a modern, efficient cleaning table. Williamson explained that KillerDock uses marine grade aluminum instead of wood or steel and adds a high-end clear ceramic coating from SG Marine to protect the table from the harsh salt environment. In addition, that coating helps keep cleanup time to a minimum.
According to Williamson the units are easy enough for two people to put up, but strong and durable enough that the weather can’t take them down.
“They have a 150 mph wind rating. The canopy models will really keep you much cooler while the sun is up, and the overhead LED light will keep you going after the sun goes down,” he said.
“The beauty of the aluminum design is that it’s half the weight, but just as strong as steel,” Williamson noted. “With our models, after some of the hurricanes we’ve had and we got hit with some big storms recently, docks got ruined, got torn up really badly. And folks pulled their KillerDock out of the water still attached to the dock stringers, pulled them up, cleaned them off and put them on their new dock. Think about it. If you’re going to build a cleaning station yourself, there’s no way that’s going to happen. That homemade table is destroyed. But not so with our designs.”
HOW CAN WE CONTACT KILLERDOCK?
To find out more about this superb fish cleaning system call 251-2071743 or go online to www.killerdock.com
A clean, attractive and sanitary table top makes cleaning fish a quicker, easier chore.
