Art-
I have no were near the type of experience you do with flyfishing, but I tend to stay away from the stripping baskets, too, as they seem awkward in active water. Plus, I haven't tried flyfishing in the surf yet, but do most of my flyfishing when at home in Philly, when I'm too far away from the Chesapeake or Cape and need a fix. I usually end up on the Brandywine or Schuylkill which are pretty fast moving and you can't have your line drifting.
What I do is a hand retrieval system. If you've ever spent time on sailboats, or anywhere that you need to store lines, the way that you 'retrieve' the rope is the same thing I do out on the stream. I retrieve it in identical lengths, holding the rod with one hand and retreiving with the other, while keeping the stripping in my retrieval hand as it comes back in almost a pre-spooled fashion. I can retrieve 50 ft. of line this way no problem, while still keeping a good feel on the line with my rod hand. It seems to work best with relatively new line that hasn't lost its spool shape as much.
Good to hear from you.
John