My herbie overflow is submerged in the sump, but is still about 3 inches above the bottom of the sump tank. This gives me 3 inches of clearance to put the sock on and take it off.
When the sock is on it is so stiff that it actually is able to stand upright by itself without any extra support mechanisms. It just rests on the bottom of the sump tank and stands straight up. The top (openning) of the sock sits about 3 inches above the water level in the sump. As the sock material collects junk, the water level in the sock just rises until it reaches critical mass and just overflows the sock into the sump. This is when I remove the sock (about every 3 days?). I just push the sock down (to the 3 inches that I have), and remove. Rinse then store until I have two or 3 socks to throw into the wash. I have 4 socks that I rotate so as soon as the filled sock comes off a new one is put on.
I found that it was only slightly annoying to put the sock on when they were brand new and very stiff. After a couple of washes they are more malleable and much easier to put on and take off, yet still stiff enough to stand up by itself. I thought about replacing the overflow drain pipe with something more flexible (like those black ribbed flex hoses), to make it easier to shove into the sock, but it isn't really that much of a bother now.
If you want I can give you a demonstration with some creative papercrafting
