“don’t leave home without it!”

See a video of the stripping basket in action here

Flyfishing is a very challenging and satisfying sport. Putting the fisherman on a more level playing field seems to appeal to a lot of people these days! Conventional fisherman are “crossing over” daily to add a little something more to their passion. They buy new outfits; rods, reels, lines, and flies. Take lessons, read books and articles or nag their new best friends with unrelentless questions! Their enthusiasm is very high, even to the point that they’ll “never use the spinning rod again!“. Unfortunately, learning to flyfish has it's way of testing your sincere intentions. It tries to find out early wether you really want to do this or not with a series of well calculated FRUSTRATIONS! They don’t come in any predictable order but they come. Wind, tailing loops, flies fouled again, the dreaded Nail Knot, excessive tangles, too much stuff, don’t step on the line or “Damn, those Clouser’s hurt!“, all contribute to the initiation process of a flyfisher. I’ve seen many a “new guy” wilt under the pressure and recede back to fishing boredome. By addressing these frustrations and trying to eliminate them, will save many of the disenchanted. The addition of the stripping basket is a much needed insurance policy to enjoying the thrills of flyfishing.
The stripping basket’s purpose is to help control the excess line. Keeping the line from wrapping around your feet or sliding way down current or between rocks and around boat cleats. Also, excessive false casting can be kept to a minimum thus slowing down fatigue. A day on the water without your stipping basket may better be spent at home, and that’s especially true to the beginner. Repeatedly untangling flyline and making too many unnecessary false casts gets old fast and a rewarding experience is foiled. When it comes to stripping baskets its like the commercial says, “......don’t leave home without it!”
The types of baskets vary from small to large, with holes and without, store bought or homemade. Some people wear them at the hip while others place them at the belly. All this adds up to personal preferences but lets focus on the most common acceptance which is the belly location. This placement of the basket enables you to fish in all types of situations, be it deep wading the bays, walking shallow flats or the booming surf to easily moving around on a boat.
Picking the right basket for your needs is critical to success. More often than not, more than one style basket is suggested. [They are cheap enough to make yourself, so cost shouldn’t be a problem].You may do a lot of wading in water at waist level dictating a somewhat shallower basket without holes as best choice. You may save as much as two inches in wading depth with a shallower basket [this actually is a lot] and a no holes style won’t allow water in to drag on the line inhibiting the cast.
Surffishers and jetty jocks prefer baskets that are deeper and have large holes. The slightly deeper type basket is helpful in windier conditions and the large drainage holes release the water that they might encounter with splashing waves.
The flyfisher can buy any number of ready made stripping baskets, but for a fraction of what they cost and how simple the construction is, making one yourself is the best way for most. You only need simple tools: a drill and drill bits, GOOP, bunjie cord, heavy mono and a Rubbermaid dishpan. In this article, inside the basket, a molded, conelike insert will be mounted instead of mono fingers. It’s cheap and very easy to use.

• THE BASKET: Rubbermaid dishpan found in most home stores.

• THE INSERT: Premolded cones with double stick tape on back.

• THE TOOLS: Drill with drill bit [size ???I, Marine Goop or silicone.

• THE ACCESSORIES: Bungie cord for a belt.
• THE STEP BY STEP:
  1. Place Marine Goop on backside edges of insert.

  

  1. Take paper off tape.
  2. Rub inside bottom of dishpan with light sandpaper.
  3. Position insert in bottom.

  

  1. Let dry.
  2. Drill holes in lip of dishpan for bungie cord belt.
     

Here are some thoughts on stripping baskets you should know about. Flat bottoms are a must for good results. Rounded, meshlike baskets perform poorly with line tangles common. Bigger is not necessarily better, they are more cumbersome and heavier. Keep it simple and light, don’t accessorize your basket with gadgets and water bottles and junk, they get in the way too easily. A great basket for the boat is a wash tub or laundry basket held between your feet. Strip into it directly and you can move it around the deck as you need to. Plus you can carry stuff on and off the boat with it. Even your hat can act as a stripping basket, place the brim in your waist and let the cap hang -- it works in a pinch!

A note of caution: a stripping basket can obstruct your view, be cautious when traversing rock jetties or any critical walking areas. Either slide the basket around to the back or remove it entirely.

All this for a seemingly trivial accessory but it may be one of the most important steps towards your flyfishing enjoyment.