Mike G

Airbornemike's basket wins. Two great posts by Airbornemike, testimony by respected ISA angler's, and the endorsements by two great Smallmouth Bass anglers, Bob Clouser and Lefty Kreh are more than enough data to decide in favor of the stripping basket. That should end it

And blah blah blad... This is not about your casting skills, Mr. k. You are making it harder and harder for me to even think of going to the next C&C. But if Lefty is there, I will come.

Mr. k, Look that up yourself. If you need a clue where to start, check the post I made earlier in this thread. It is best if you get the story in Lefty Kreh's own words. That way you will not be making stupid unwarranted assumptions.

That free swinging hook seems important. Here is a question for those who use trailer hooks. Can you give us some details on how you put them on?

Mike, Some float tubes come with a sort of apron or platform that you strip line into. Not geeky since butchers and bar-tenders wear aprons too. Don't rule them out. tube with apron BTW, there is not a boat that does not have something that a fly line can catch on. That is Murphy's law of fly fishing from boats.

Mike, Some float tubes come with a sort of apron or platform that you strip like into. Not geeky since butchers and bar-tenders wear aprons too. Don't rule them out. BTW, there is not a boat that does not have something that a fly line can catch on. That is the Murphy's law of fly fishing from boats.

Good post, Mike. Being a fishing show junky, I have seen that hand over hand high speed stripping method used in salt water and on east coast rivers for the shad run. I was wondering if it would give fly fishing the equivalent of a buzz bait. Now I know. Many times speed makes all the difference.

ronk, If you can bear to look at it, you can find a picture of Lefty Kreh wearing a stripping basket in his book, Fly Fishing in Salt Water, page 156. His treatment on the topic of stripping baskets begins on page 154 and ends on 157 with the comment,"Finally, though it seems that few fly fisher use a stripping basket ohter than those in the New England area, I believe that wise saltwater fishermen will begin using them all over the world." That is where Craig came in earlier in this thread when he suggested we learn from out salt water brothers. PS You do not have to buy the book. The section cited is available for preview on Amazon.

Good Luck, Manny. That one should work but do not take my word. Lefty sez.

For the record, Bob Clouser and Lefty Kreh both recommend stripping baskets. You will find Clouser's thoughts on pages 116 and 125 of his book Fly Fishing for Smallmouth. On page 116 he recommmends them for distance casting. The discussion on page 125 is more generic. He points out the value of a basket for controling slack both in a boat and while wading. To find out what Lefty sez, I Googled "Lefty Kreh stripping basket." Lefty endorses stripping baskets almost to a fault. He favors those that hang on the angler's side instead of the beer vendor model that started this discussion. Of course, since most of Lefty's endorsements are made in a salt water context, we could say that salt water fly fishing is so different from fresh water fly fishing that the recommendation does not apply. That would be absurd. When I first started fly fishing, I wore a geeky kreel which I abandoned long ago. Now that side mount stripping basket might fill the place of the kreel. That geekiness, to me, is the basket's only shortcoming-a minor one at that. What Clouser and Kreh say, however, is not going to affect my opinion on the basket. It already has the recommendation of several experienced ISA anglers right in this thread with one notable exception.

Terry, This is getting too abstract. I am in your region. Check my posts.

It is just a tool, Ron. I see some advantages for certain applications. On the other hand, Ike Walton never used one. He didn't use a reel either though he caught his share.

Rob, I have has similar good luck with the Red and White on Largemouths. I will be interested to hear your results with other color combinations though Lefty sez that other combinations do not work nearly as well. Rich, The fly is durable though it probably will not survive a lot of pike hits. Consider how many bass bug have hackle tails. They hold up.

Craig, Let me get this right. You are saying 25% more with a trailer hook. That means, where you would only catch 4 without the trailer, you catch 5 with the trailer. You also would have evidence too. One out of five of your fish would be hooked on the trailer. Now these others, who don't use trailers, are saying, if bass don't get the the single hook, you would not have caught them anyway. Evidence?

Great tip Mike! I will take a look at one of these. Not having to reel in every time alone may make it worth it. BTW "The basket also has a couple cool notches so you can lay your rod in it when your tying on a pattern or fiddling with something else." That beats our standard practice of holding the rod in one's mouth.

I have seen where pros like Shaw Grigsby always use them because there is always a chance of a short strike. Missing that one can be the difference in winning a tournament. Hook down makes semse if the water is not weedy. Personally I carry trailer hooks to put on only when needed though I can see the pros' point.

I haven't gotten the new issue yet, but I am looking forward to it. I am never disappointed.

Though I want to hear the details, I do not want to put too much pressure on Craig. He can't track all the beavers in GA.

I got mine first. Maybe that is as good as it gets.

Good tip Rich! I bookmarked it. Once one gets to the home page, one should use the menu on the left to select "fly fishing" and then drill down to the pattern of choice. The sequence by Lefty Kreh is also outstanding.

Rich, I will trade you two Scumfrogs for it.

The Frog and the Fodder are listed by Feather Craft in the top three "white hot" bass flies for this summer. Kudos to Craig Riendeau even though Feather Craft caint spell frawg. I am impressed that the Frawg clears the $6 bar. That is something for a fly. Must be some gold in it. I can get a Scumfrog for half as much. Good work Craig.

Thanks to all for comments. I got a Fuji XP 10. So far the price is right, and the portability is good. I will be using it for a while on their auto setting before I report any thoughts. Now I can make you look at everything I catch.

Mark, Thanks for the tip. It looks like a fanny pack worn diagonally. Since I have a couple of those, I will try wearing them the Orvis way and let you know how it works.

Though I am still a fan of the embroidery hoop, I have to report on a simpler way of doing the job that I just found in one of Skip Morris's books. He clamps the edge of the hide in his vise, pulls the hide taught with one hand, and with the other hand cuts the strip on the hide side using a razor blade. KISS