Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Jewelz on October 24, 2011, 01:35:13 PM
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I just bought a pair of waders with the neoprene booties and was wondering if its necessary for me to buy wading boots or can I just get away with wearing hiking boots or something to that effect? This is my first pair of waders and have never used waders before. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
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necessity!......shoes or hikers will be terrible for durability/length of life as they are not made or designed for spending their lives in water......a good pair of wading boots will also help to prevent premature splitting/leaking in the boot area of the wader due to wear points and such...as well you will have much better grip with wading boots vs a pair of shoes or hikers. I would recommend taking your waders with you to get your boots as well so that you can have your waders on when fitting boots to ensure a proper fit.
Cheers,
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Okay now that its a must that i get wading boots, now the question is Felt or Rubber?
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Personal choice but I (as most people as well I think) prefer the felt soles. Never used rubber soles myself so I cant really compare but I know I LOVE my felt boots and especially on the slippery surfaces!!.....word to the wise....studs are helpful in many area as well but never wear studded boots on a boat and also try not to walk on tiled or hard surfaced floors like most convenience store floors....they dont grip at all on them and effectively turn them into ice skates, lmao.
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I just bought a pair of waders with the neoprene booties and was wondering if its necessary for me to buy wading boots or can I just get away with wearing hiking boots or something to that effect? This is my first pair of waders and have never used waders before. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
You can't fit your neoprene booties in your usual hiking boot. You need one or two sizes larger.
You wouldn't buy a pair of over-sized hiking boots to use exclusively as wading boots, would you ???
To answer your question - wading boots are a necessity. It's a safety issue first and a comfort issue second.
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As a poor student I used a pair of size 13 football cleats from K-Mart over my cheap neos for many seasons. They worked great on the Vedder - I never slipped once.
That being said, you can get a pair of Sedge boots at A&N for around $100. I recommend felt.
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You wouldn't buy a pair of over-sized hiking boots to use exclusively as wading boots, would you ???
I have a pair of hiking boots already that are too big for me anyways, just thought I could get away with those instead of buying a pair of wading boots.
So felt eh... the only thing that kinda worries me about felt is I had a friend who wore his felt wading boots the last time we were on the vedder and he did fine with them when he was on the river, but slipped and slided when he was on the grass/mud that you have to walk thru in order to get to the river from the bank. But maybe you just have to be careful either way.
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Felt!
Dont go and buy the cheapest boot either. Chotas may be cheap, but you wont find another boot that will fall apart faster.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/BigFisher/chotas.jpg)
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If you fish mostly in the fall, then felt soles are all you need. They have excellent grip on rocks and gravel, but have terrible grip on mud, grass, etc. If you fish in the winter for steelhead, then you should look into rubber, vibram soles. Also studs help with grip in the ice and snow.
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Bigfisher, quite the photo. On average, how long have you had the boots?
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Felt!
Dont go and buy the cheapest boot either. Chotas may be cheap, but you wont find another boot that will fall apart faster.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/BigFisher/chotas.jpg)
x2 chotas suck like no other. ive had mine since feb27, 2011 and they are almost at this stage, not even a full year! and they tore my booties to crap.
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Grub Creek is another POS brand to be aware of.
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You can modify any running shoe, hiking boot, rubber boot etc that fits over the neoprene booty comfortably as long as it won`t prematurely wear the neoprene.
When neoprene waders with neoprene stocking feet started becoming popular way back when it was common to use general purpose rubber boots over the neoprene feet with either felt or different carpets epoxied on to the bottom of the rubbers. When the carpet or felt wore out you simply epoxied some new stuff on and continued on.
Cheers
Nuggy
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If you do end up purchasing some new wading boots wear a pair of socks over the neoprene booty, this will cut down on the booty wearing out rubbing on the inside of the boot.
Thanks for bringing this up FF. Wool socks were a big part of the setup I mentioned.
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I wore and old, worn pair of hiking boots with socks between for many years with my waders. Only issue was the hiking boots took days to dry afterwords.
However I rarely waded past my knees and wouldn't think of walking on snotty rocks, slippery logs, or crossing a fast flow.
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I don't like wearing those clumbsy boots over stocking waders. I'm sure that you might get a good fit after trying or buying countless wader boot combo's. I went for the breathable cheapo boot waders for all round ease of use. No goofy gater to stop rocks and rotten fish parts from getten snaged up in the toe area. Just slip on step out and get trout. Last ones I bought had the non felt sole. I have yet to try them out but no doubt they are going to be good enough for the type of wading I do. My original waders were those heavy neoprene sweat shop jock affairs. Then some lighter weight pvc ones. I use those croc shoes on my pontoon lightweight stocking foot waders. Probably have 7 sets of waders ::)
No worries about spreading desease with felt soles if your always fishing the same spots. But the no felt boots do have the advange of being easier to keep from spreading problems around.
Make a list of what you want to be doing in your waders before you decide on the wader system best suited.And if you think that boots over stocks rocks, bully for you.
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I would add that getting a pair of boots with good ankle support pays dividends if your spending a whole day on a river like the vedder. All those rocks really start to tire your ankles, knees and hips (depending on your age) after a while and it only takes one roll over on your ankle to take you off the river for a month.
Plus I would do some research on rock snot and its contamination of rivers and lakes through felt soled boots and fishing gear. There's a few extra steps one should take after fishing rock snot contaminated waters before stepping into another flow or body. Just something to think about if you do find yourself in this situation.
When it comes to feet I personally wouldn't go cheap. Get the best you can afford, the last thing you want to deal with is sore feet after you've hiked into a run.
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Wader boots are the part of my attire I take very seriuosly, comfortable, rugged boots with good ankle support and good river gripping soles are the key to a safe enjoyable day on the water.
Simms has GREAT boots, and many are reasonably priced for the quality you get.
I use the "rivershed" model with the screw on cleats, super grib with extreme durability and total comfort.
My fishing friend uses the "freestone" model, with felt soles, affordable, durable and very comfortable.
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When I first started, I used an old pair of hiking boots, and they did the job but took forever to dry and got very stinky very fast. They also allow debris into your boot which will wear your waders faster. Wading boots are a necessity.
I think most people prefer felt but i have a strong prefernce for rubber soles. When river fishing, I'm hiking a km or two, then standing in mid-thigh or shallower water, so for me it's more important to be able to hike over the mud, grass, silt, etc without wiping out. I rarely wade across a flow or deeper than my hips, but I do like being able to walk a ways without my feet sliding out from under me.
As Clarki said, good ankle support is very important for me too. I just purchased the Dan Bailey eco-grip for the reasons above.
(http://i.stpost.com/erez4/erez?src=ProductImages/3954K_01.tif&tmp=FullSize&redirect=0)
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xt00YUpuHnc/TiyJoJtlN_I/AAAAAAAAA1w/APVEppJBxC4/s400/Dan+Bailey+Soles.jpg)
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For the folks who tried hiking boots you should notice in my previous post I mentioned we used to wear rubber boots over the neoprene stocking feet. The rubber boots dried out way faster than my G3`s and were a heck of a lot less money.
Cheers
Nuggy
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My first pair of boots were just a black work boot type thing that i picked up at value village for about $3.00.
They got me through a season. ;D
I wouldnt recommend them though if doing any real wading.
Since ive had the Hodgmans and the old boots were probably more comfortable and stable. ;D