Drill some holes in stripping basket or not.

Porter2

Porter2

Legend
I know this comes up from time to time. I tried to do a search and didn’t find much. How many drill small drain holes for your basket? Just curious. I had drain type baskets before then went solid now I’m thinking drain again. Just a few tiny holes in a basket will drain the water quickly after some sneaker waves that add 2-3 inches of water quickly. Why I’m asking? Been getting water in my basket and hate trying to drain it. Unnecessary step in fly fishing.
 
My opinion, no holes.

It also allows water to fill up as you wade deeper and messes with the line management.

If a sneaker wave gets you, it's easier to flip the basket up and dump the water out.
 
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I made my own stripping basket from a storage bin, it's lid, zip ties and a bungee cord for a belt. The lid doubles as a stripping tray laid in my lap.

And yes it has drains since I made it to use from my kayak. (YT video)
 
Porter2 said:
Good point. Maybe I need two baskets. One for wet wading and one for wader wading. Good point.
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I think that if you're surf casting that those guys prefer holes but I would double check.

For Puget Sound, no holes.
 
I made the mistake when I built one and drilled holes (post somewhere on here). Then filled the holes later on. Then bought a bougie basket.

Flip it towards you when water enters as others mentioned.
 
I like to put just a bit of water in the bottom of my basket while fishing to help reduce tangles. Holes don’t allow that plus all the other negatives mentioned.
SF
 
Kind of in the same subject. Anybody have any experience with S.A. Ecoastal stripping basket? Thanks for your thoughts
 
just like everything in life, it depends.

PS = no holes

big surf = holes (enough to actually drain quickly).

Personally, I fish big surf far more than PS beaches, so holes are in mine. I've been thankful for that on a couple of occasions while fishing for surf perch off of the Oregon coast.

edit: if I fished calmer waters more often, I'd definitely NOT drill.
 
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Just a couple small holes in the corners to let it drain. I hate having to dump it all the time. If I wade deep , I just hike it up a bit. I do have one of those flat ones with all the plastic bits sticking up and it actually works really well. No sides no need for drain holes.
 
My stripping basket (forget the brand) has eight 3/16" holes -- two in each rounded "corner".

Drains well and I've never found them to be a hinderance.
 
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Buy one without holes. Then drill some holes in it and get the appropriately sized corks to plug the holes when you don't want them. - Just an idea. I've only used mine from the boat and I have no idea if it has holes in it or not.
 
_WW_ said:
Buy one without holes. Then drill some holes in it and get the appropriately sized corks to plug the holes when you don't want them. - Just an idea. I've only used mine from the boat and I have no idea if it has holes in it or not.
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Cool idea. To add, drill the holes a little smaller then a wine cork and now you must drink 🤘
 
I ended up getting an ECOastal basket. Difficult to spend that much on foam but I used it today for the first time and it diffidently helped with distance and line control. I wish I could say that I caught a Salmo but no such luck
 
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