Stripping baskets?

[NHAngler]

Curious if anyeone has made their own and if so do they like it?

Or, is there one that is preferred over others? if so why?

Do they slow you down or is it just a learning process for getting used to them?

I'm sure it beats ruining a $60 fly line. I fish from my boat when using the fly mainly but trying more shore stuff and finding that managing the line can be difficult at times with the terrain I get into.

Brian

[johnmauser]

I use one made by LL Bean, it's just as good as the Orvis but $20 instead of $60. Definitely improves casting distance having all your line in the basket by the reel instead of on the ground.

[dlangan]

Made my own. Primarily because Orvis and LL Bean didn't exist at the time. Joe and I both have homemade. They are perhaps 3 inhes deeper than the Orvis which we prefer on windy days (we have an Orvis we loan out). We have cones in the bottom which we glued in and are similar to the Orvis.

I use mine a lot simply because I can shoot a lot more line. Joe usually doesn't use his because he doesn't like the restriction in stripping technique. Perhaps the answer is they are very useful just don't be married to it.

[Bob Parsons]

I made several over the years... they tend to blow out of the boat when I'm not paying attention. I now have the ll bean basket and really it. A great buy for the price.

[Tie-Dye-Fly-Guy]

best buy out there, no others to compare really. one backcast in the mung on the beach or a busted cast from wash or feet and you will get one. i drill small hole in mine in corner to allow water to escape.

[NHAngler]

Sounds good. Thanks everyone. I will have to take a trip there and check it out.

For $20 it is worth the try anyways.

Brian

[PelagicZone]

I made mine out of a plastic wash basin and a set of cones I picked up at a fly fishing shop. The cones were about $11!! which seemed to be high given their low-tech nature. I use a bungy cord around my waist to hold it. The thing that makes the wash basin better than some other ideas is that you can use it as a work surface for tying on flies or to hold small items at waist level when you are working on stuff. The whole thing came to $15 and I've had it for three years with no noticable sign of wear. I should be able to get a lifetime out of it as long as I don't crush it.

BTW: I riveted the cones to the wash basin instead of gluing it in case the basin ever broke. I can then remove the cones easily and transfer them to another wash basin.

BC-out.http://www.reel-time.com/forum/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Chuckster]

FWIW, I have two very different stripping baskets - one for the boat and one for wading.

For wading, I use the mesh LL Bean System Basket. It's made with a Gumby-type wire that lets you mold it to fit your stomach or your hip. It also folds down flat if you need it to. Drawback: the mesh sometimes catches your fly, which is a pain, especially at night. Otherwise, I love it.

For the boat I use a deep basket called a Line Holster, developed by my best friend and constant fishing companion, Len LaCombe. It's a deep molded plastic cone that hangs low off your hip, and it has a heavy duty, wide waistbelt that's really comfortable. I like it for the boat because it's so deep that I can actually drop my rod/reel into it and drive the boat from spot to spot. Drawbacks: It hangs a bit too low for wading, but it's perfect for the boat.

Here's a pic:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d730b3127cce93a9a77b1d5c00000016108QZtmLRs0bU

[FlyFishFrostie]

(1) Went to Target.
(2) Bought one 10" x 20" x 8" translucent plastic storage container, with snap-on top, for $2.50.
(3) Trimmed edges of top with strong scissors so top slides snugly down to and flat against the container's botton.
(4) Poked about 15 little holes through the top in an array pattern (e.g. 5 columns x 3 rows).
(5) Slightly melted one end of each of 15 plastic swizzle straws with a candle to form a small plastic blob on one end of each swizzle straw that will not slide completely through the holes in the container's top.
(6) Slid a swizzle straw through each hole in the container's trimmed top.
(7) Drilled two holes into container, one near each of two upper corners, so that a bungy cord can be hooked onto the basket and around the fisherman.

Voila, a cheap, homemade, tangle-preventive stripping basket.

However, for those of us whose time is worth more than, say $12 per hour, buy the cheapest one offered by LL Bean (about $12-15, I think) and use the time saved to fish instead of making a stripping basket.

IMHO, a basket is very helpful whenever the wind would blow flyline around the boatdeck, surf would carry the flyline and tangle it around legs and seaweed, and whenever fishing intermediate or sinking lines, which cannot be shot for any distance when the forward cast must also pull the slack part of the flyline up to and out of the surface film.

If wading deep (i.e., where the bottom of the basket would touch the surface of the water), holes drilled into the basket's bottom to let water out end up letting water in, which sloshes around and tangles the flyline in the basket, defeating its very purpose. Easier just to tip the basket occasionally to get rid of excess water that has collected in it. That's been my experience, anyway.

[flysully]

I have been told by LL Bean that their $20 stripping basket has now been discontinued by their mfr. so the above directions for a home made basket are even more helpful at this time. Thanks

[mcurtiss]

....<snip>....
Voila, a cheap, homemade, tangle-preventive stripping basket.
...<snip>...

excellent recipe...sounds like a good rainy day afternoon project --127-3-

[NHAngler]

The ll bean in manchavegas NH did not have them. --124-3

I like the idea of making one for now and try it out. Until I can find an LL Bean to stop into. Especially since I'm hearing that they may not stock them anymore. Their site online has them listed but I don't need one bad enough (yet).

Thanks again everyone. Some neat designs and things I would have not thought of in designing them.

Brian

[mcurtiss]

http://static.flickr.com/103/272574950_7a562b366f.jpg

dish rack from Wal-Mart- $1.75
twist ties pilfered from my dad's garage- free
flat bungee cord with hooks- $4.00
total manufactuing time- 45 minutes

[FlyFishFrostie]

Nice stripping basket, Mcurtiss! Looks like a better recipe than mine. Simpler, easier construction, but the cost of that bungy cord seems a bit high. Try Building 19.

Are those "twist ties" (i.e., plastic-coated metal wire that holds a twist) or plastic zip ties? Also, how do you anchor them into the basket?

BTW, I've tried "cones" as anti-tangling devices by trimming various shapes of plastic funnels and anchoring them inverted into the basket, and while the "cones" help reduce tangling, the best anti-tangling thing I've experienced is the veritcal straws, or something like them such as plastic ties or 6" segments of stiff 300-lb. mono. However, even just a plain old container without any anti-tangling "devices" is better than trying to shoot a sinking (or even floating) line from the water in the surf.

Nevertheless, it always helps to first stretch the flyline, even a floater, right before fishing, either by pulling sequential segments of line between one's hands, one two-foot segment at a time, until all of the casting part of the line has been so stretched, or by stripping the entire casting portion of the flyline from the reel and then having a buddy pull the fly end while you pull on the other.

[FlyFishFrostie]

Stripping baskets can be very useful on boats, too. Several years ago a friend and I chartered a flats boat in Buzzards Bay in mid-October. The wind was blowing, and we were running and gunning to schools of stripers on the surface. Well, while we were totally focused on chasing the bass, a section of my friend's flyline blew over the gunnel, and nobody noticed. All of a sudden while starting to run after another school of fish, my friend's flyrod suddenly bent over double and shattered into about eight pieces, sounding like a pack of firecrackers going off. The flyline had blown over the side and gotten wrapped in the outboard's prop. It turned out to be a very humorous event, and we couldn't stop laughing when we figured out what had happened, but somebody could have gotten hurt. A stripping basket would have prevented this accident.

BTW, Diamondback sent my friend a replacement rod free of charge under its unconditional lifetime warranty, even though he couldn't return the entire rod because a couple of the broken segments had sunk to the bottom in the process of unwrapping the flyline from the prop. My friend even explained to Diamondback what had happened, and they replaced the rod free of charge anyway. I've never owned a Diamondback, but maybe I should.

[mcurtiss]

yeah, sorry. zip ties trimmed to about 3-4". I just drilled two holes next to each other and threaded the zip tie through one hole and back through the other. I found the idea in a google search. I wish I was so industrious. --125-3


the bungee was a bit pricier due to it being flat and not round. it may have been cheaper, but i lost the receipt. :)