Can anyone recommend a reliable, sturdy stripping basket for fresh water fly fishing? I have my eye on a March Brown (www.marchbrown.com) on Ebay right now; please advise.
JJW
I use the gray one made for saltwater by Orvis. Cost about $45? but worth it. I use it in my jon boat, and Kayak. Swear by it when in my float tube!!!
[This message has been edited by Kytroutbum (edited 02 December 2005).]
For the price of $20 you can’t beat the backets made by L.L. Bean.
I’ve owned several commercially available stripping baskets over the years and haven’t found anything that worked any better for me than the good old Rubbermaid #2951 Dishpan with a dozen 1 ?" loops made of 125lb. shock tippet installed in it’s base to keep the line from fouling. It isn’t sexy, but it works and it’s easy enough to pack into my luggage for air travel.
[This message has been edited by Dave E (edited 02 December 2005).]
Would someone please tell a newbie like me…what is a stripping basket?
ima … I don’t use one but it is a basket that catches the loose line as you strip it in . Or when you strip slack line out prior to casting . I keeps the line neat and prevents tangles so that when you cast you dont have to worry about the line getting caught on your gear or floating downstream and getting snagged . It folds into a neat pile in the basket . I havent described it very well but you almost have to see the construction of one to get the idea of how it prevents tangles . In a boat it keeps you from putting a loop around your feet , the oarlock , some gear , or an oar etc . which can result in you tossing you gear overboard when you cast.
Ima,
I use 1 in freshwater & my main use is to keep the flyline out of the water, which can grab the line & stop your cast short. Keep in mind that my experience is MINISCULE compared to most on this board! I’m sure someone will have a much better description…I’ll be watching as I want to learn as much as this ol’ Irish mind can absorb!
BTW…WELCOME! This is the best board on the net, & that is FACT!!
Mike
This site’s about sharing!
[This message has been edited by ohiotuber (edited 03 December 2005).]
It is exactly what people say. A basket in which you place your line when stripping it in. It is generally used in salt water surf fishing situations where you have a hugh problem with surf pulling your free line all over the place and getting it tangled with mung. Below is LL Bean’s product.
You can see the sticking up thinggies that stop your line from tangling.
All that being said I have one that I hate. It is a mesh basket and I have the hardest time stripping in line and getting it to the basket. I have wound up putting my basket on my left hip, slung low like a gunfighter 
. Does anyone have any advise as to how to move you stripping motion and place your line in the basket with a smooth flow. Do you strip back, then bring it forward and drop the line in the basket?
jed
[This message has been edited by Jed (edited 03 December 2005).]
I have been using the Payette River model by D.B.Dunn for the past five years and I love it. It’s constructed of a heavy nylon mesh which is light and flexible so it doesn’t get in my way. It has virtually eliminated the frustration of sticks and crud tangling my line while adding distance to my casting and extending the life of my lines.
Jim Smith
Southie,
You can’t go wrong with the basket that Dave E. recommends. I looked for several months at baskets; most of them were over-priced. I was given the “opportunity” to try Dave’s basket; it works beautifully! Thanks, Dave!
Anyone use the Orvis collapsable one? I’m considering getting it.
Bill
I have a habit of fidgeting while I fish so I end up stepping on my line a lot. A stripping basket would definitely help me but I’d likely go with a homemade version. Luckily I fish along grassy shorelines, gravelly shores would tear up a line something fierce.
There’s almost nothin’ wrong with the first lie, it’s the weight of all the others holdin’ it up that gets ya’! - Tim
Another spot to check out might be…
[url=http://www.flyfishingstripper.com/:41c2f]http://www.flyfishingstripper.com/[/url:41c2f]
…lee s.
The Orvis basket works well for me. My favorite-close -to -home- get-away has lots of high grass at waters edge and this aids in the not-getting- line- fouled when the moment a rising bass gets my attention. Otherwise, one could lose the opportunity for a great hookup and a fruitful release, because your line might be wrapped around the brush.
I find them very helpful in my local waters Lakes,Streams and rivers…in current as well as weedy situations…The only two I own are both of the mesh type, Only one is a wearable “basket” type By Kennebec River Fly Tackle Company.
It’s light,packs down and stores in it’s own belt pouch,Has a fiberglass frame and is ridged and sturdy while in use,Easy to spin around behind you when not needed or walking through brush to the next casting postion…has the loop inserts which I’ve long miss placed…The other is the stripping apron on my Hobbie Float Cat 75…a great addition I might add…
I am /have been, Looking at the hardsided types for some time…and I think that rubbermaid idea just might be on my agenda thanks for posting that one!!!..
“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best
Everyone wants to excel in this sport but at the same time we let traditionalists place restrictions on our tactics, methods, and ideas. I always assumed that fly fishing was a sport that allowed imagination, creation, adaptation, investigation, dedication, education, revelation? : Fox Statler, On Spinners (Not the dainty Dry Fly kind) “Spinner’d Minner Fly”
“Wish ya great fishing”
Bill
Dave, that is a nice looking fish. Where was that photo taken?
Hi Benjo,
It was taken along the shores of Pyramid Lake NV, where as you probably already know, a fish of that size wouldn’t as a rule garner any notoriety…
Southie,
Or anyone else that’s interested in building one, here’s a little tip. If you intend on using a basket around moving water, you might want to seriously consider boring out several large holes in sides and bottom of the basket. These things can act like sea anchors if you stumble. Trying to regain your footing after stumbling or taking a dip can be made much more difficult if the water has no way to escape the basket. What you can’t see from the photo is that there is a pattern of a dozen mono loops laid out in the bottom of that basket, interspersed among those loops are a dozen 1" and a dozen ?" drainage holes. Think of it this way, If you go down in moving water, you don’t want your basket to bleed water, you want it to hemorrhage water.
This is not something unique to semi-rigid stripping baskets, some high sided - fine mesh style baskets don’t allow for the quick evacuation of water either and if you fish where a build up of moss or algae can accumulate over time on the mesh, that may make matters worse.
Yet, in some instances I prefer a basket that will retain some water. An example of that would be when I’m using a shooting head in concert with a clear intermediate or Amnesia shooting line. My experience tells me that Amnesia remains more supple and clear intermediates are slicker when kept moist. So if I were only walking and wading the shoreline of a shallow banked lake, I might choose to use a basket with it’s drainage holes bored on the sidewalls only, starting a quarter to half inch up the sides. This will allow for a shallow pool of water to accumulate in the base of the basket.
One other idea, think not only about how you’ll secure this contraption to yourself, so it will stay in place throughout an active day of fishing, but also how you’ll get it off in an emergency. One popular method for securing homemade baskets is using a Bungie, although to truly have enough tension to keep a basket up around you while fishing, walking and wading, that bungie may be fairly hefty in size and tight ~ Can you reach around with one hand and get it unfastened in a hurry? How about those bungie hooks? At least for me, if there is an untamed hook or edge anywhere near my person while fishing, my line will eventually find it.
If you choose to use a belt with a quick release snap, think about where that snap should be positioned. For me that’s just forward of my left hip. I’m right handed, if I go down my rods likely to be in my right hand and I’ll be trying to hang on to it. So my left hand’s probably going to be the free hand. I don’t want to be fumbling and feeling for a snap or hook behind me,
therefore it’s positioned forward of my left hip. But most importantly, it’s a quick release design that can be undone with two fingers of one hand or even turned on edge and released by depressing it between my palm and hip.
Also since it’s a foregone conclusion that my line will become tangled at some point during the day with any snap or hook system I use, why not position it where you can get at it with your non-casting hand and in a place where at least some visual access is possible?
One last thought for now, we shouldn’t substitute our stripping baskets belt for a dedicated wading belt. If you do go down and have to release the basket, not having a separate wading belt on, could put us in the position of trading one hazard for another.
These are just some observations and personal opinions that come to mind, based on using these things over the years. If it helps, great…
All the best, Dave
Oh and a big hello to you G-man. As always, thanks for the kind words.
I usually use the Bean basket and have the Willy Joe one for travelling.
Bought one of these recently [url=http://www.fries-rods.dk/lang/uk/flexi_stripper.htm:2662d]http://www.fries-rods.dk/lang/uk/flexi_stripper.htm[/url:2662d]
Seems superb for every occassion except deep wading. There is some good footage of it in use on this site [url=http://www.flexi-stripper.com/:2662d]http://www.flexi-stripper.com/[/url:2662d] (UK Site)
JME
@===----?----?----?
Member of B.A.S.S [url=http://www.ukbass.com:2662d]http://www.ukbass.com[/url:2662d]
I have used stripping baskets with holes and without and I have formed a few opinions.
When wading deep, the last thing you want is holes in your stripping basket.
In deep water the basket will fill with water causing the line to slosh around and tangle. If you have the loops, the line might even knot itself around one.
I have also self rescued myself in fast water using my holeless stripping basket as a float and swimming toward shore.
I have used a mesh supermarket shopping basket with “fingers” in the surf. It drains quickly with no chance being sucked under. But this basket was not good for deep wading.
I now use the large rubbermaid dishpan with a bungie. Bungies are ajustable to the water level and will slip off if the is trouble.
In the bottom I have the largest wirenuts I could find secured with brass screws,washers and goop.
This works very well and I have had no problem in three years.
Hi Dudley,
I appreciate your opinions and if you have the time, maybe we can explore this a little further.
Re: “When wading deep, the last thing you want is holes in your stripping basket.
In deep water the basket will fill with water causing the line to slosh around and tangle.”
My main concern here would be one of safety and the inability of water to evacuate the basket and it presupposes that everyone that might wear a basket can lift themselves and a swamped basket up enough to empty it.
To me adding drainage ports to a basket that will be used for wading would supercede any possible operational ( casting or fishing )issues.
Does water from chop, waves etc. ever get into your un-ported basket? So if I understand your position, water flowing in through a ported wall sloshes and water trapped within an enclosed area doesn’t?
If water can get into an enclosed basket and I know from my travels it can, wouldn’t you find yourself emptying your basket at some point? Couldn’t it refill again?
In my experience " Sloshing " has not been of any real concern in deep water, or any other depth. The RM #2951 baskets inside length is something less than 14", that’s hardly enough to allow a rolling sea to form. It’s actually the water that helps to manage the line and it helps to prevent tangles and it also helps to keep the line in the basket on windy days.
Look at the variety of boat bound LMD’s in use today, most of those models are designed so they may retain some water, which in turn helps to tame or stabilize the line and keeps it from being blown out of the LMD, so much so that many store their rods with line stripped, ready for casting into the LMD while running.
Have you ever rapped your knuckles on one of those big wire nuts in freezing temps? I’ll admit that the wire nut solution is better than the large cable tie idea, now there’s a real flesh eater. For now, I’ll stick with my none carnivorous, easily deflected mono loops. By the way, I’ve never experienced my line getting knotted around one of those mono loops, I think taking the time to pre-stretch and as the case warrants, pre-saturate my shooting line might have something to do with that concern.
You mentioned that you can slip off your basket ( bungie equipped ) in case of a dunking or drowning danger, would that be over your head, or down your legs and over your feet?
I commend you, not many of us would have the presence of mind or the time to wriggle out of an elastic belt, possibly tying up one or both hands, while possibly being submerged, tumbling in the surf or washed down a river or even just taking a dunking in deep standing water. For now, I think I stick with something that takes one pinch or a wrap to disengage. Or better still, how about belt that offers a little of both, an elastic style wading belt ( like Simms ) with a quick release strap?
I’ll have to defer to you on the self rescue while wearing a non-ported basket, self or any other kind of rescue while wearing a ported stripping basket has not been an issue for me, maybe there’s a cautionary tale in there about inherent dangers involved with each design, or maybe it speaks to our application of judgement while wading. Or maybe it’s a just a regional thing.
Although it seems to me that trying to swim to shore with a rod in one hand, clinging to an easily swamped dishpan in the other, might not be the best application of ones physical resources during an emergency. Speaking for myself, before I became reliant on a dishpan as a potential source of buoyancy in a life threatening situation, they’d first have to start making those pans in mens sizes. In the interim, maybe an inflatable PFD would be a better thing to pin ones hope for survival on.
Just for the record, the fact that any of us survive our actions or activities repeatedly doesn’t in itself make that action or activity safe. One could wear waders without a wading belt and wade rivers, the surf or whatever for three years or thirty years and never have a life threatening experience, that doesn’t mean that not wearing a wading belt is a safe practice.
I know our opinions don’t mesh and nothing I can write will likely change yours, but porting a stripping basket is a huge safety issue. As hard as it is to believe that a total stranger on the internet might actually care about your personal safety, sha-zam - it happens and it’s happening to you right now.
For me, suggesting that folks not port them is like saying you can get out of flooded waders quicker if you’re not wearing a wading belt…the argument overlooks the obvious.
Maybe these links will help.
[url=http://www.fliflicker.com/RL%20basket.htm:35c20]http://www.fliflicker.com/RL%20basket.htm[/url:35c20] [url=http://www.fliflicker.com/basket.htm:35c20]http://www.fliflicker.com/basket.htm[/url:35c20] [url=http://www.flyfishingstripper.com/:35c20]http://www.flyfishingstripper.com/[/url:35c20]
While the designs vary, the ported theme prevails.
With the utmost regard, Dave