Wednesday, June 10, 2009

William Joseph stripping basket


One thing that every salt water fly angler knows is the importance of line management. My tarpon buddies have told me about hooking a fish and having it run all the while the line gets snagged on a boat cleat or sandal buckle losing the fish. One necessary tool in helping with line management is a good stripping basket but some anglers shy away from them since a lot of the products on the market tend to be bulky and cumbersome. Of course one could make and adequate basket with a bungee cord and small trash can, but these can get in the way too. i wanted something that i could use when i needed it and not have it take up space or get in the way when i didn't need it.

Enter the William Joseph Stripping Basket/Wading Belt!

This product isn't just a stripping basket, but for folks who wear waders in the winter, it doubles as a wading belt.
It tucks away nicely when closed and is a roomy basket to strip into when open and a wire guided rim for easy open and closing. The basket itself is made of lightweight mesh.
Easily adjustable to fit folks of large or small and featuring the same grooved backing for ventilation found on quality backpacks, the workmanship is top notch and what you would expect from William Joseph. The snap fastener is user friendly but difficult to close behind your back.

Another nice part about this belt/basket is the "daisy chain" utility loops to attach tools to.

Bottom line: i would rate this product 4 out of 5 fish stars. The only things that i don't like about it are that there aren't any "detanglers" at the bottom of the basket that you might find on another product and i found that my line would come out in wads when casting, however, stretching your line before you begin greatly reduces this problem for anything greater than a 6 weight. Also, at $36.00, the price was quite a bit more than your average bulky stripping basket.....but i suppose you can't always put a price limit on small luxuries.



2 comments:

  1. nice write up ill have to get one of these thanks for that

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  2. Yes....i like it!

    i almost never use a stripping basket if i'm wading, but it comes in handy when fishing from a seawall for sure.

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