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Stripping Baskets, How to Use

1K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  Bob Triggs 
#1 ·
Well, after numerous recommendations to do so I finally got the stripping basket I've been watching others use so successfully.

I've got say my first attempt to use it felt awkward. It was difficult to find a placement for it that allowed the line to drop in readily without impeding my stripping (of flies). :p

A newcomer to "my" beach who claimed to be Leland Miyawaki used me to point out to his student flyfisherman that it makes no sense to bring such a nice item along and then still end up with your line knotted around seaweed.

I also noticed HE didn't have a stripping basket, but he was evidently too polite to tell me I was over-equipped. ;)

Seriously, saltchuckers, how do you position this thing so you can get the full benefit and use of it without impeding your line-stripping? I seemed to do better when I lowered it to around waist level, or at least had better range of movement. However, it seemed my line missed the basket more. Is a shift left or right (i'm a lefty) likely to be helpful?

Using it DID seem to help my casting distance.

And it really was Leland who showed up, and who also generously gave me one of his Poppers. Thanks, Leland - it was an honor to finally meet you, and my skunking didn't feel half as bad with you there. Hope you guys caught a bunch on the incoming tide.
 
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#3 ·
I wear mine low (waist high) and off to the left side (right handed) when I use mine in the salt. I rarely wade deeper than mid thigh, so that works for me. They are a neat tool although they do feel kinda clunky at first. I don't always use mine, but I have found that if you are in a place that sees a lot of tidal current I like to have it. If the line stays near me, I don't need it, but I hate trying to cast with a 30 foot loop running down the beach collecting anything that floats by. :beathead: It makes all the difference in those places.

Trevor
 
#4 ·
I wear mine at waist level. If I'm deeper and water is coming in the drain holes, I don't worry; the line is already wet. I always tuck my rod under my armpit before stripping in with both hands, which makes me hold both arms close to my body, so the line goes straight down from my hands into the basket.
You can swing the basket around behind you when walking around. You may then forget that you're wearing it, which results in a moment of slapstick humor when trying to get into your car.
 
#5 ·
I'm a lefty as well, and wear mine off my right hip, as low as I can get it, and not have it on my leg. It is kinda cumbersome at first, but you'll get used to it. And they work really well. Did you buy yours, or did you make it yourself? They're easy as heck to make, and I think I have less than $8 in mine, and it actually looks like a factory job.

Jeff
 
#6 ·
I've got the $20 LL Bean basket made of hard plastic, and it has worked well for me for the last 3 years. I think the use of a basket increases the average distance cast measurably and also reduces frustration noticeably. I plan on upgrading it shortly by lengthening the height of the cones inside the basket to help spread out the line and keep it spread out.

I try to be conscious of laying the line back and forth between the different ends of the basket to help spread out the line, which I feel tends to somewhat reduce tangles further.

I vary the length of the retrieve strip I use, so I vary the placement of the basket accordingly so that it is directly under and close to the end of each strip so the line can just drop in. On a long strip, I have the basket hanging pretty low, so low in fact that I get an appreciation as to how the teenagers feel to walk around with their pants hanging half off their back side. Funny, I don't feel any cooler though. :confused: Maybe its because I don't have the butt of an 18 year old. Though the attraction to the style could just be the suspense of knowing that at any moment you pants may drop to your knees. But what do I know about style, I'm just a old fisherman trying to use any trick I can to make up for what I lack in youth and ability.
Fish on.
 
#7 ·
Helpful replies, all. I appreciate the reassurance that it takes a while to get the hang of it. I know it felt more comfortable to me as I gradually lowered it, which Leland also suggested, and I did experiment a little with moving it towards my right hip, also being a lefty.

I considered making one until I saw an older gentleman about three weeks ago with an Orvis model. I found this one on eBay and got it at a very decent price, about half of retail including shipping. Having gotten a good look at one in the "field," it seemed to be about the right size and it has a concave side that allows it to fit a little more snugly against the body. It also has the little cones inside that supposedly keep the line from tangling. It doesn't have drain holes, though, and I hadn't even thought about that until someone mentioned it, but I also never waded deep enough to "float" it or get water in it, other than what accumulated from the line going into it, which was very little.

It definitely improved my casting, though, and except for the time I stood there talking to Leland and allowed it to tangle in some weed matter (because most of it was outside the basket...) it definitely managed the line well. It did tangle a couple of times, but I'm sure that was due to my inexperience getting the line into the basket.

Thanks guys. I'll think about the low riders analogy next time! :thumb:
 
#8 ·
I have and use a basket here on the Kootenai ( serious big water) but for the most part, I find that looping the line in big coils and holding it in my mouth is easier and handier. It goes like this...four or five good strips in, hang line in mouth, for or five, hang, I usually end up with four or five loops in my mouth, generally the lower ends of the loops are draging in the current just a bit. THis method, for me, results in less tangles, easier shooting, no clumsy basket on my hip. Remember to open mouth as line shoots out.
 
#9 ·
I just started using one this year and I'm still getting used to it too. I try to wear mine a little lower, but mostly I try to avoid it impeding the strip by holding my rod higher (even with the top of the chest, with the butt near my chest) and stripping the line straight down into the basket. It means my grip on the rod is a little looser than normal, but I haven't hooked into anything big enough to jerk it out of my hand (yet!).
 
#10 ·
Wrench, I watched someone do the hold'em in your mouth technique and so I tried it myself, and I must say it works pretty well to get the line up out of the water to eliminate water tension on the line. I wouldn't want to do it as a regular part of a day's fishing on the salt water though, you would get some pretty chapped lips; much better to bring the basket. I do use it for the occasional need to shoot some serious line out to make the distance cast when I'm on a river where I would not normally bring a basket.
 
#11 ·
If you use the in-the-mouth-line-holding technique in freshwater long enough you will aquire a nice Giardia or Jejuni infection. That's a fact.

I use a Rubbermaid dish pan. I burned small holes into each corner, with a heated awl to melt the holes in, which creates a strong rim of melted plastic around the holes. I then find a bungee cord,(available along most major highways for free), with plastic coated hooks, that is just long enough to hold the basket frimly around my waist without drooping too much or being too tight. If you get a slightly overlength bungee cord you can always adjust it with a figure-eight knot along it's length.

I wear my baskets at about waist height. I want the height to be such that it does not interefere with my line handling or disrupt my holding the rod in a comfortable position while casting, stripping etc for many hours. This usually means that my rod holding hand, and the reel, are comfortably positioned just above or actually in the basket opening. I only have to strip the line directly into the basket. Rarely do I have a problem with the line falling on the water or missing the basket, tangling etc this way- especially on windy days. So my basket is directly in front of me all of the time that I am fishing, casting, stripping etc. I can adjust this situation for wading depth very easily, with one hand. (I rarely wade deep anymore since I discovered that this ruins most of your own fishing.)

If I hook a fish; once I get the line under control, out of the basket and on the reel or just all accounted for, I can then simply reach down and push the basket to my rear so it is out of the way while I play a fish. You use peripheral vision, when you are concentrating on a leaping fish at the end of your line, to stay upright while walking and wading etc. The basket out in front of you at those times can easily block your vision and cause you to stumble. This is also true for just walking down the beach, jetty wall etc.

If a wave drops into my basket, or if I stumble, and the basket suddenly fills up with water the bungee simply stretches and the weight is not a great factor and I dont lose my balance. This gives me time to reach down and simply tip the basket back toward myself and dump all of the water out in a wink. At worst the basket gets pulled down a bit and I readjust it. Using holes in the basket lip large enough to allow quick release of the bungees is also important. If I got dumped into a strong current I would like to be able to easily slip the bungee hook out of the hole and let the basket go. Being tangled up in fast water with a bungee corded basket dragging in the flows around your waist or legs would not be a good thing.

I also leave the basket intact; without drain holes or wire line seperators. I dont get any significant tangles. And I have the convenience of a basket that holds water; so that later I can use this to carry wet waders and boots in the car or house, open and repair a reel, change a line, tie a fly, eat a snack and pour a drink while standing in the water a few hundred yards from shore, on a boat or standing out in the water. I can even wash my camp dishes with it. I have used this particular set-up in surf, flats, beaches, lakes, rivers, boats etc. Just about everywhere. Never had a problem.

So many of my fishing friends have the Orvis,( and other "Hoity-Toity"), baskets, with the wide web rigid nylon belts and the extra large capacity basket. I would say that you need an elastic belt of some kind as, even with drain holes all over the basket, if you get a lot of water weight in that thing suddenly enough, it will be like having a cannon ball dropped on you in the surf. I have seen people get driven down by water filling these big baskets so quickly. And you need to be very fast at getting the belt buckle released to get out of trouble.

The good thing about a dishpan is that it is light, smaller capacity but adequate depth, and cheap enough to lose without regret; about .25 cents-( yard sales) to $5.00, depending on if you buy a bungee cord or just find one. I have several dish pan baskets, but my first one, which I made up in 1989, is still going strong. And if you really want to impress people you can leave the KMart and Rubbermaid stickers on one end of the basket, and slap a fancy Orvis label on the other end. :cool:
 
#13 ·
one more task I find useful before hitting the beach is to walk up to the nearest telephone pole, car mirror etc, loop your line around it and let out as much line as you expect to cast then stretch the hell out of your line - one end in one hand, rod/reel in the other - just stretch, don't saw back and forth. also keeping it clean and lubed will decrease tangles. don't do this with your line wet if you can avoid it so you don't reel grit back into your reel.

You will find that you might want to stretch the line occasionally as you fish too - I simply grab 5 feet and stretch, move to the next 5 feet and stretch etc.

Depending on the tide, line type, casting distances needed to reach fish etc you may not use your basket all the time...but keep it in the car.

surf
 
#14 ·
The way I do it is to use a very strong tippet material, say 40 pound test. I tie that to the end of my line and then tie that to a tree or other large and solid, immoveable object- like Old Man Jim. Then I jump in the truck and put it in gear and, rod in hand, I drive away till the end of my line stretches out like a big rubber band- maybe an extra ten or fifteen feet of length. (You really have to hold onto all of this tight too!).

Sometimes the end of the line just rips apart, sometimes the tippet breaks, or the knots fail since I am so bad at tying them anyway. So, one way or another something has to give, and by then the line is stretched out just fine, and now it's much longer too. Then I reel it all in, still holding the rod out of the window of the truck, while I am driving down to the beach.

By the time I get there most of the line is retrieved on the spool, except the parts that ripped off along the way,(thats why they give you so much extra line!). I then retie on a new tippet and go fishing with my nicely stretched out flyline. :cool:
 
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