Wading Boot Recommendations?

[gbabbitt117]

I just bought a pair of Simms Rivertek Stockingfoot waders and need to get some boots. What do you guys recommend? I primarily fish the mussel beds in Boston Harbor and the jetties, beaches and ponds of the Vineyard. My main concern is a solid platform to stand on. Are felt with studs the best option? I am a size 12 shoe, add in wader thickness, and I'm thinking of getting size 13 boots. Thanks.

[pschwart00]

Interesting, I was just talking to the local fly shop owner about wading boots. More & more manufactures are going to a soft rubber sole (these aren't the old vulcanized soles - specifically designed for rivers etc.)
The reasons are as follows:
1) Ecological - the impact of felt boots picking up and transporting exotic weeds, grasses, snails etc. from one ecosystem to another has been well documented. In fact some western rivers are (or in the process) of banning felt boots just for this reason.
2) Wear - felt soles need to be replaced every once in a while
3) Snow - Trust me on this...if you ever fished in the snow with felt soled boots you will HATE it. Wet felt picks up snow like velcro. You grow a 1/2 inch with each step
4) Studs - I have optional studs for me boots. the help in rivers with very large size bolder, but do not really provide any benefit if the bottom consits more of gravel and/or smaller rocks. I also accidentally sliced a fly line in 1/2 when i stepped on the line with my studs. I don't use studs anymore.

Hope this helps!

[maineguideman]

Korker Boots!!!
Bought the first pair about four years ago for steelheading I fish alot of spots that have a long walk in and the changeable soles were attractive
"cause "walking with the old style snow cleats sucked. I didnt want the permanent spikes either due to canoe and pontoon, trout fishing back here in Maine. I have the three sole, Felt, hiking shoe, and carbide tipped spikes. Cant say enough about how much I love them. The new BOA RECOIL lacing is awesome few turns to tighten for walking or loosen to let some blood in the feet in mid winter very durable, not heavy. A little more expensive but well worth the few extra $. Plus with out the laces they dry faster and dont get that sour stink tha other boots can get from constant wet / dry rotation.
Hope that helps
Good Luck

[Ray]

I have been using Orvis Christmas Island boots over stocking foot waders for 10 years. I've gone through 3 pairs of boots but I do use them quite frequently. I have found this combination to be very comfortable and lightweight even after very long days.

I tried this combination with Cabelas waders and boots and returned them after the first use. They were no were as comfortable as the Orvis ones.

I've never had issues with poor footing and will wear a pair of korkers if I'm on rocks covered with waves.

Bring your waders and try on different size boots. I found one size up works fine for me.

[sweet+salt]

I am going to 'wade' in on this issue and broaden it a bit.

First the issue of salt vs. fresh water sets up different criteria. Both environments require a wading boot that bears some relationship to hiking-style footwear. We anglers wade about on uneven, slippery and often less than ideally visible surfaces and deserve all the foot and ankle support we can get. Long-time wading boot producers like Simms, Orvis, innovative Patagonia and others offer sophisticated lateral and torsional support designed into their boots. Synthetic rather than leather uppers are important too as they won't rot when wet for prolonged periods nor uncomfortably stiffen when dry.

I have performed an experiment: I assembled top quality boots in my size (one up from street shoes is the general rule and look for roomy toe boxes to accommodate thick socks and neoprene booties) with felt and "Aquastealth" soles each with and without studs or caulks and waded across a variable bottom structured river with a different boot on each foot until all combinations had been exhausted. It is true, like nearly everything else in life, that nothing is perfect and compromises abound. It is also true that felt stays wet longer than rubber and that carbide studs are bad news in some watercraft (and, as mentioned above; don't step on your fly line or your buddies new mahogany deck at his fish house wearing studs). However, the clear traction winner by far on assorted wet rock surfaces, clean or slimy, is felt with built in carbide caulks. Plain felt and studded rubber are sort of tied and plain 'sticky' rubber, though best for land walking, is worst in a river.

Non of us want to be responsible for transporting alien organisms or their spores, larvae, eggs or whatever from an infected to a pristine environment. Though some noise has been generated in recent seasons regarding felt sole's potential roll as carriers of icky stuff, lets not ignore the similar ability of wet uppers, neoprene booties/gravel cuffs, boat bottoms, trailers and mucky trucks backed in at the launch site (lots more surface area here than on any sole). As much as we strive to be environmental responsible, we also don't want to pollute our fish's habitats by slipping in and leaching our various floatants, sinkents, desiccants, etc. from our sodden vests into the river while drowning electronic key fobs and multi-megapixel cameras in the great rivers and off the jetties we love.

Sticky rubber with aggressive studs right out to the soles perimeters are a great choice on those jetties and felt with studs is still the clear winner in most rivers. Perhaps, as is already being done at the Nature Conservancy's "Silver Creek Preserve", we and our conservation organizations should be investing in installing disinfecting troughs with stout brushes for boot and wader cleansing at public access locations...a great project for local fishing club chapters...along with informative signage.

Many anglers - and this forum contributor is no exception - are not trained aquatic biologists; but we like to make believe we are. Fine. Lets remember, however, the giant stir about whirling disease prompted by a major decline in rainbow trout stocks in the Madison and other western rivers during the 1990's. Overnight this European amoebic parasite was the cause and the calling cry to raise piles of cash to combat. That the population decline on the Madison was actually the result of an accidental diversion of flows below Quake Lake that left the fecund, ideal spawning habitat of the Slide Inn Channels as dry gravel pits combined with a decade-long drought throughout the Rocky Mountain west was lost on anglers' awareness. Easier to blame an alien parasite than human error and poor water management. If only some of those whirling disease dollars could be directed toward an earth moving machine with an engineering plan to reposition a few big boulders, those dry channels would soon return to their former role as major sources of juvenile trout recruitment.

Don't get me wrong, I want to protect our wild fisheries from any and all threats especially non-native organisms. That happens to include Homo sapiens, native only to Africa and an immigrant here in America but I make an exception for my favorite alien interloper, Salmo trutta - the brown trout. Lets just not risk our wading safety and sure-footedness over hastily construed, incomplete data about how detrimental organisms have found their way into our waters.

[gbabbitt117]

Very informative and appreciated opinions and advice. Thank you all.