The Show Me Fly Guy: My New Stripping Basket/Livewell

Friday, April 12, 2019

My New Stripping Basket/Livewell

The other day when I was out on the water absolutely slaying 8 inch bass, I tried out a new contraption. The wind was down on this particular day and I decided I was going to live or die by a fly rod. I admit that I will sometimes pick up a spinning rod and throw a spinnerbait or plastic worm (please don't judge) but when I can fly fish for bass, I do! Over the winter I saw an apparatus that served two purposes. 1. It was a stripping basket that kept your fly line from wrapping around your feet, twigs, and everything else that can snag line. 2. It served as a livewell for fish that you caught. I really liked how it kept fish in the type of water and temperature of water that they are used to and decided to construct my own device. A couple of pool noodles and one laundry basket later and I was done. After using the my multi tool the other day, I thought I would share my findings.

First off, it worked pretty well. It did a good job managing my fly line and also helped me lug fly boxes and other gear around from pond to pond. Second, it was just fun to watch the fish behavior and color changes after they had been caught. I think kids or photographers could get a lot of use with something like this.

On the other hand, it wasn't perfect. I lost a few fish that simply jumped out or swam through the openings that are the handles. I also had one fish die from stress I assume. It wasn't a big deal because this was a pond that was overpopulated with bass but if these were trout or something on public water, I'm not sure I would use this. So aside from losing a fish and killing one, it was a lot of fun and I plan on using it in similar situations in the future. If you bank fish or want to introduce kids to how interesting fish are, I highly suggest you make one and give it a shot. It's cheap, easy, and has a lot of functionality!