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Sunday 29 September 2013

How to make your own line pallet

After getting my line tangled in rocks numerous times around my legs as I was trying to cast my heavy fly and envisioning me slicing my line as I stood on it while playing a big fish I decided to make a basket for my line or maybe should I say a line pallet.

It is basically modelled after the C&F line pallet and is both practical and lightweight. The problem with most line baskets are that they are usually cumbersome and don’t sit right to comfortably strip the line.

I have geared the pallet to sit low on the leg so there is room to strip the line down on the pallet with either long draws or fast retrieves.

At present the only draw back is with its light weight it can blow around a bit in the wind but this can be fixed by adding an additional piece of material to the bottom. Being something like wood or whatever other material you choose. You can also fit this on the floor of a boat or shape it to sit in the bottom of a basket if so choose.

What you will need

  1. Piece of foam 1 1/2cm thick and 33x29cm
  1. Dog clips x 2
  1. Shoe laces
  1. Elastic 3m
  1. Pack of pull ties 20cm long but you could get away with a bit shorter

The foam is a pre-cut piece from Para rubber and the clips are just from a hardware store. You can use anything for the main braces including string so long as you can tie it to the clips

First make the shape of your foam. I made a half round at one end to fit to my leg only.

Next use a knife around 2-3cm wide and push through the foam then push through the pull ties

Next make a couple of slits for the main cord. Thread it through and attach a dog clip on either end

Next do the same for the elastic that will go round the bottom of the leg and thread it through the first hole along the bottom and back up the other side. This is easier than having to attach separate pieces to each side. It can then just be tied around the leg.

And that’s it. I have used this system all season and its been great with the only drawback being that in windy conditions it is not so stable so a piece of wood attached to the bottom may be helpful or you can place the tray in the bottom of a plastic box and attach to a belt. I used it this way first but the container was a bit big and it is a bit bulky.

 

line pallet