Care of wicker baskets?

[Chevin]

Very nice WM, but my gaze just kept creeping back to that pin (oh were is that drool emicon)

[Kingfisher]

I've heard some say that they sit on their creels whilst fishing. How much weight will they take? I'm six foot tall and 15 stone, would they stand up to the task?

[Santiago]

Easily! That is if the wicker has not deteriated over time or been nibbled by furry creatures or woodworm!

[Kevanf1]

Put it like this, many, many years ago I often fished with a lad who was possibly a year or so older then myself. He was a rather large lad. I would have said easily approaching 18 or even 19 stone (having once been 20 stone myself I can usually guess people's weights). He had a wicker basket and it supported him easily for years. Oh, this was often on rough and uneven ground.

[Vole]

By "Creel",do you mean the big, rectangular coarse-fisherman's seat-basket, or a pretty little curvy tout-basket? The former will cope easily, the latter is not really designed to be sat on. Your gamble...

[Kingfisher]

Thanks Vole, I've yet to see the creel. It just says in the description also comes with a creel which is in need of some TLC to the leather straps. I aim to fix it up and wanted to use it as a bag come seat on the river. I think it's the little "Tout" one though.

[Vole]

Sorry, "tRout" - hurried post in wrong specs!

[Kingfisher]

Sorry, "tRout" - hurried post in wrong specs!

I hope you don't think I was being Facetious Vole. I thought "Tout" was perhaps a French word I hadn't heard of.

[Swythyn Troutbeck]

..I inherited an ancient trout creel which was in rather a parlous state and in desperate need of a lot of TLC. There was no hinge remaining on the lid and all the straps & leatherwork had gone. This old thing had been hung up in the garage for years gathering dust and decay until I read all the posts on this forum concerning the restoration of baskets and decides to try and bring this one back to life..

The creel was washed first, then all the broken parts carefully mended and patched up, then finally treated with Haydn's special formula, letting it thoroughly dry out in between dressings. The latchwork is my own design, the new strap adapted from one taken from a 1941 gas mask bag with new leather fittings.
All the leather is 200+ years old!
Have a look at this first..

http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/mcshipwreck

..I was fortunate enough to be involved in work pertaining to the dives on the wreck at that time and as a result, was given about 1/2 dozen complete reindeer hides and a piece of the original timber, from which I have (so far) made one trout rod reel seat. The outer wood was like sponge but the heart wood was so hard, it was almost petrified and the turning swarf came off like dust!

..Anyway, here is the final result, with which I am rather pleased, so thank you Haydn and all who contributed to the thread!

As many of you gentlemen will know, I have a certain predilection for leather. So when I spied an advertisement many years ago for this rather nice fly box, in Trout & Salmon magazine I think it was, I succumbed to the one thing that Oscar Wilde could never resist...temptation.

It is made of Reindeer hide from the self same wreck. The hides were intended for Genoa where they were to be made into the even then famous luxury Italian shoes. If you look closely you may be able to read the certificate of authentication.

I rarely shy from using valuable and delicate tackle but this case is so beautiful that I make an exception and keep it in a display cabinet, removing it only for the occasional feed and polish. What I fear most is getting it water-stained...ironic for something that has lain at the bottom of Plymouth Sound for centuries, n'est-ce-pas?

Troutbeck

[Greentura]

My cheap old wicker box had a soak from lunch time yesterday to about 10 am this morning and then an 'enthusiastic' jet washing down to rempve almost all of the grey/brown deposits on the wicker, which is a lovely chestnut underneath, it's now drying in the sun in the conservatory and a 'mixture' of previously mentioned treatment has been put together in a peach jar ready for use in the next few days. Once mixed and given a good shake it now has the same colour of a mid 70's Morris Marina that my father used to call 'diarrhea by moonlight', i hope it works better than it looks