Here in the northeast, I only use a stripping basket when I fish with a sinking line.
And fishing with any kind of sinking line has become rare occurrence for me lately.
Like Steve said... use one if you want, but they're not a necessity
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Here in the northeast, I only use a stripping basket when I fish with a sinking line.
And fishing with any kind of sinking line has become rare occurrence for me lately.
Like Steve said... use one if you want, but they're not a necessity
A stripping basket can be more of a headache than it's worth.
It can inhibit your range of motion for mending and prevent learning valuable line handling skills for use in fresh as well as salt water.
Not to mention dangerous in big surf.
Up here in the northwest, when I fish the saltwater it is not in the ocean but rather in Puget Sound and I am fishing for either Searun Cutthroats or resident Coho or Pink Salmon every other year. The only time to fish for them is on a moving tide, either an incoming or an outgoing tide. Slack time is a dead time. I got sick and tired of the fly line taking off with the tide as I stripped it in, getting caught up around rocks that had sharp barnacles and would eat a line or getting lots of seaweed caught in the line. That made for lousy casting trying to get the seaweed off the line while false casting a heavy fly. For my purposes, the stripping basket was the answer to all of those problems.
Larry :D ---sagefisher---
If you choose to create your own stripping basket using a plastic dishpan or whatever, you will want to epoxy several pieces of heavy weed-wacker line sticking straight up from the bottom of the basket. They should be 2-3 inches and standing as close to straight up as possible. This will keep your line from forming incomprehensible tangles in the basket. Personally, I use a cheap dish basket strapped around my waist, though I did upgrade last year from a bungee cord to an adjustable nylon belt. Total cost, including weed-wacker line: <$10.
My way to fish the beach here in the NE (NJ specifically) is to locate a point on an inlet. Hit it when the tide starts going out and you find all kinds of gamefish waiting for the gravy train of goodies being swept out. I usually only get a week each year to fish the salt, so I try to make it count, and the inlets are great places to try.
Larry & Valhalla
Fishing a saltwater estuary current is more like fishing a large river than it is the surf
Western steelhead fishermen have used stripping baskets to their advantage for many years for the same reasons you find them useful.
A large amount of line needs to be kept in control for maximum distance casting.
In the surf, the line control issues are different. If you're doing it right, only a minimum amount of line is kept off the reel. This line, with practice, can be coiled in your line hand much the same as you would when trout fishing. Otherwise the line can be stripped on to the sand.
Timing your cast to avoid the drag of the waves and the wash (and still lead a sighted fish) is far more important than being able to cast to the next time zone
Fish with the shortest line possible. If you want to fish a bit farther out pull a couple feet more of line off the reel. When you are done with it put it back on the reel. As I fish the surf I am constantly pulling and winding line on and off the reel. After all I paid 150 bucks for this line holding device that attaches directly to my rod.
Fishing the surf is all about targeting fish and reading water, just as if fishing a stream. Frequent long distance casts to cover water are wasted casts. False casts are few and faw between. The only time I use them are when I need my line aerialized when I am waiting on a wave. In the surf 40 feet is a long cast with most being between 20-30 feet. Very rarely will I ever make a cast over 70 feet (even though it is quite easy for me to do) and that is to reach a piece of structure that I just can't wade any closer to.
I got sick and tired of constantly picking knots out of my fly line while using a basket. Short casts with line coiled in the basket lead to line twist and all the problems associated with it.
Casts with the waves, along the waves, across the waves are all needed. There are all kinds of currents along a beach that fish associate themselves with. Most always they are facing up current which could be in all different directions in relation to the beach.
Find the rip currents and longshore currents and fish within them. Find the beach break and fish along it and in it.
Fish use these currents and structures to move and feed in.
I forced myself to learn how to coil and loop line and tend to it with my line hand; not just let it pile up at my feet and get swept around by the current. I started with a short line and progressed with longer lengths of line until I got it right. Long loops that hang from my fingers down to the ground seem to be the ticket with loops holding 8-10 feet of line. If you really want to be fancy and work with a lot of line you can even hold a loop in your mouth.
The basket also became a hinderance because it was always in the way no matter where I wore it when I wanted to mend my line in between the waves or when I wanted to make a fast cast into a receeding wave. Not to mention I had a scary experience getting hit by a big wave with one once.
Not bothering to learn how to tend to your line inside the rod tip as well as outiside the rod tip is about as silly as not bothering to learn the double haul. Sure you can get by without it but it makes life a whole lot easier once you know it.
From the nearest dock...
Rocketfish
I was just getting ready to search for this very topic when I saw this thread!! great tips guys!! Anybody try this in the Outer Banks of N.C.? Specifically, the Emerald Isle area?