Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Spawn Sack on November 07, 2016, 09:20:47 PM
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Got some good replies on my discussion on gloves, time to talk about feet!
I have yet to find a system I'm happy with. Every steelhead season, when the water gets quite cold, I freeze my feet off. Does not help that I primarily spey fish for steelhead, so the entire time while fishing I need to stand in at least a bit of water to get an anchor for my cast. This does not help with cold feet!
I've tried the hot pocket things. They feel great leaving the house, walking to the fishing spot, and so on. However once fishing the ice cold water is too much for them. They can not warm my feet through the cold winter water.
My best system is to wear some serious a** socks. I have a pair of Simms wading socks, the thickest ones that are thick like oven mitts. They are pretty damn warm! Under them I wear a thin pair of merino socks. The 2 socks together generally serve me quite well. But when the weather gets really cold my feet will still freeze eventually.
The only thing I have yet to try I can think of is a pair of electric socks or insoles. I figure cant hurt to buy a set from cabelas, keep the box and receipt, and if I don't like them just return them. Has anyone tried these?
I would lean more towards the socks over the insoles as I wear custom orthotics in my fishing boots as I have gimped up feet. I can fish with whatever insoles but my feet and back will suffer a bit.
Any other tips I'm all ears! Generally I just fish until my feet are numb, go for a bit of a walk, get some blood flowing, take a break and enjoy the fresh air, then back to fishing until back to numb feet again.
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I have a pair of thermal socks from 3 Vets. They're the cat's meow
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I like my Wigwam socks.
I used to have cold issues with my feet in the winter but thankfully someone suggested to go up a size in my waiting boots. This really helped my feet stay warmer longer.
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1)polypro or other wicking thin sock liner, then
2) average thickness merino wool socks then
3)T Max thick socks from Mark's
Finally for boots go at least one size up from your normal shoe size. Try the boot on with what ever sock combo you chose and make sure you can comfortably curl your toes. There must be no sense of snugness or of the boot being ever so sightly tight. If there is you'll have cold feet regardless. Adding more layers will make it worse.
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I have the same issues with cold hands and feet, especially feet. I've been doing the liner socks and the high end Simms socks and it works quite well. If I'm spey fishing much like you my feet will eventually get cold if I'm taking my time working a run however once I get out and start moving around my feet warm back up fairly quick, even more so if I start hiking to another spot.
Today in fact I was standing in some decent current and all 4 of my smaller toes on one foot went completely numb due to the chill of the flowing water but once I moved around a bit they came back to life
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Buy 2 coffees at tims in the morning. One to drink, one to dump on your feet!
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Over the years I've perfected my winter system to this:
-2 or pairs of low cut thin ankle socks for the base
-1 pair of mid cut sport socks for a mid layer
-1 pair of large tube socks for the top layer and to tuck my long johns/thermal pants into when putting on my waders.
After the waders are put on I will grab a pair of large oversized wool socks and put them on over the neoprene booties for a snug fit. I fold them back over the top portion of my boot along with the wader's gravel guards. This gives me another extra layer of insulation and gives the neoprene booties some protection against gravel inside the boot.
I can last all day long with no cold feet and I have great range of motion and circulation. Its a great system.
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Really comes down to circulation or lack of.
My current boots are 2 sizes bigger than my normal footwear ( although i have tried some others recently that have been roomy enough being just 1 size bigger), I find them snug when laced up tight and with a regular wool sock on. When temps drop I use 2 pairs of socks and, to avoid everything being overtight, I make sure to loosen the laces up a bit too. As long as my feet have good circulation I'm good all day.
My last boots were too tight with 2 pairs of socks and I would get numb cold feet very easily
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Thanks for the replies guys. My wading boots are 1.5 size bigger than my street shoes. I find I can bulk up pretty good on socks and still have adequate toe wiggle room.
Seems like I am more or less doing what everyone else is doing. 2-3 pairs of socks inside the bootie. I like the idea by John Revolver to put a pair of big wool socks OVER the bootie. I have heard of this but never tried.
I'm also going to order/try a pair of these bison + yack wool socks! They look pretty damn warm!
https://thebuffalowoolco.com/collections/bison-apparel/products/bison-yak-crew-socks
I am still curious of anyone say something good/bad to say about the electric socks or insoles from Cabelas. I'm curious if they have enough juice to power through the cold water and keep your feet warm. Like I said with the shaker heat packs, I find the winter water is just too cold for them and they do nothing once standing in the water. I use them for cold weather camping or whatever but I nolonger bother with them for spey fishing.
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Those little heat packets need a bit of outside air to them or they do not work well. I've tried them in the past but there is no air flow through the neoprene booties and they barely get warm enough to warm my feet and never hot enough to keep the toes warm.
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Yeah I never thought that maybe the reason the foot packs were sucking was due to inadequate air flow. Makes sense. I still have a fair # of the foot sticky hotpockets but I think I can just stick them to the underside of my wrist or whatever. They suck in the cold water inside my wading boots that's for sure!
My plan is to give these buffalo/yack socks a go and if still getting cold feet try the wool sock over the bootie trick, and if STILL getting cold feet Im gonna try either the heated insoles or heated socks from Cabelas.
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Note the battery strap on cabelas' socks. I would think that a strap like that would interfere with blood flow causing a fast, deep freeze.
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On a recent trip to BassPro, I was introduced to their Redhead brand of sock. 81% wool and lifetime guarantee. If it wears out, just bring it back for a replacement pair. No receipt needed, just the Readhead logo on the toe is sufficient.
FYI FWIW
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I'm old but new to fishing and am wondering if you have two different size of wading boots? If you are wearing up to three pairs of socks in winter, what do you do in summer?
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I'm old but new to fishing and am wondering if you have two different size of wading boots? If you are wearing up to three pairs of socks in winter, what do you do in summer?
Depends on the person. Generally there is more room in the summer then winter so some people go down a size with a set of boots.
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I'm old but new to fishing and am wondering if you have two different size of wading boots? If you are wearing up to three pairs of socks in winter, what do you do in summer?
Ideally 2 pairs of wading boots would be nice. 1 pair your street shoe size for warm/hot weather fishing, and another pair 1 or 2 sizes up for winter fishing. Personally I just roll with 1 pair that are 1.5 size up from my street shoe size (from 9.5 to 11).
For warmer weather fishing they are a bit big/floppy, but it's not a big deal. And in the summer I tend to fish in shorts/sandals anyway so they don't get used during this time.
In the winter I can wear several pairs of socks and the boots are not too tight.
I've decided NOT to buy the heated insoles. I talked to the staff at Cabela's and they said they have had many returned from people like me who stand in cold water. In other words, they are unlikely to get hot enough to be noticeable standing in freezing cold water.
I think they would be great for, say, hunting or whatever in the cold weather.
I'm going to follow the advice given regarding wearing a pair of wool socks over the neoprene booties, and layer up with thick warm socks inside the booties.
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I bought a pair for Scierra CC6 boot foot waders from the UK, landed for around $250CAN, add a pair of thin wool socks and have never looked back, very similar to the Simms bog boot waders
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Mohair socks: expensive for socks, cheap for keeping your feet warm.
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Don't forget a toque.
A lot of body heat is lost up there and that's where it's needed.
Appendages are the first to forego...
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T max one pair roasty toasty.