There is also a large range of equipment that you can purchase to help you achieve your goal. I am not only short, but as a woman I have a higher center of gravity than my male counterparts. Coupled with small feet and about 50 pounds of crap in my vest, I find that a wading staff is a big help in getting me where I want to go. I have a telescoping one and also a stick I can tie onto my vest. One float down the Eel river in November convinced me that I looked much sillier flailing around on my back in boulders that I did poking around with my wading staff.

Another purchase that I have found invaluable is my stripping basket. I balked at first at this idea. None of my heroes wore such a contraption. I wanted to look like I knew what I was doing. I didn't. I had to admit that I was not in a period of my development where I could hold onto the line, cast, strip, and recast. I claim small hands as the reason for this, right! Coordination, or lack thereof, might be the real reason.

Nevertheless, until I raise my technique up a notch, I remain all thumbs. The line invariably floated around my legs, headed down the river, or just plain draped itself somewhere on my person or under my foot. While casting out of the driftboat I wound around oarlocks, cup holders, the heater screen, Mitzy the dog, and anything else in my vicinity. This was playing hell with my disposition and doing real damage to my line. Dan got tired of my colorful language and tantrums. He insisted that I buy a stripping basket pronto or no more trips in the drifter. I picked the first one I could find in a catalog and lucked out. It works great and fits me just right.

In learning to use it, I have found that it does much more than just hold my line. If you are like me and have a little trouble hitting the hole when tying on your fly, I found that the black color of the basket creates a great background for seeing this illusive quarry and getting the job done in record time. Fumble fingers have often robbed me of a favorite fly. You know, the one with hardly any dubbing left and a tarnished bead head that they can't leave alone. The basket provides a safety net for your tried-and-true when it falls out of your frozen fingers. Knowing you can get it back makes tying it on less stressful. I have put my lunch in my basket while I slide down a shale embankment toward the water's edge, freeing up my hands for more important tasks. I have even seen a guy land a fish in his stripping basket when his net went for a drift down the river. I don't recommend this, but it made for a great visual. There is no question that the stripping basket increases the life span of my lines.

The main disadvantage I can see to the basket is that it adds one more thing that I have strapped on to my already overloaded carcass. I have been slowing eliminating the amount of stuff I haul around in my vest. I changed to a net-type vest style which is lighter and more compact. I left behind any object that I hadn't used in the last 3 trips, such as the seine net. If you know me, you know I am no purist, and love to challenge the fish with something they have never seen before rather than employ entomology in their pursuit. Try a red streamer pattern sometime, they love em.

Last weekend Dan and I took the flyrods for a trip up the Smith River. We started at Slant Bridge and hole hopped our way to Patrick's Creek. The basket hopped with me. The water was clear and the fish wary, so we dressed in dark colors. The black color of the basket once again became an asset. Since we had to stand back from the water, the basket kept my line from collecting on the rocky beach and getting scuffed in the process. The Smith is one of the few rivers where a salmon will take a fly so we are after them right now. If you would like info, contact us at www.cartersfishing.com.

So as Dennis Miller says on Monday Night Football, don't "eschew" the stripping basket. It can be a great tool to add to your arsenal of "So Many Weapons".

Columnist Joan Carter co-owns, with her husband, Dan Carter's Guide Service.