anti felt sole wader movement

[osprey]

Being 53 years old and having lost my left leg in a steel mill accident i can't believe there is a movement afoot to abolish felt soled waders. I had fly fished my whole life starting at 4 or five years old with my dad and grandfather. Lost my left leg at 47 after working in a steel mill for 32 years, there was a dark time when i thought i'd never be able to fish again but guess what, i can and i do and i wade but without felt soled waders i just don't know. Seems to me the only "DANGEROUS" invasive species on the water are the idiots.

 

[brookieaddict]

Well im sorry for your loss but you your dead wrong about the soles, they do spread parasites. On the East Branch of the Brandywine we now have snail snot spread by felt sole from an infected creek . I havent seen or heard about the whirling disease here yet. You are right about the idiots though.

 

[Crotalus]

supposedly the new soles that Simms and Vibram developed are as good as felt but i havent tried em so i dont know for sure.

I am not 100% convinced that the felt sole ban will stop spread of invasive species. Are the going to shave the animals that travel between the streams and pluck the ducks and other birds? Seems like there are more ways to spread organisms than just by felt soles.

 

[riz]

for the best grip on the stream bottom get studded soles. best way to go. i was fishing in washington and idaho 4 yrs ago and was having a very bad time slipping around using felt soles. then 1 day my boots just split at the seams from are the slidding and falling. i still had 3 days to go and had to find a replacement pair. i could only find 1 pair of boots that fit, needed size 14. they were choto slt with studded felt soles. WOW what a difference, i was as sure footed as a mountain goat. the change was remarkable. i could fish twice as long and twice as much water, just from being able to walk. i now have the kooker interchangable sole boots and rarely take the studded rubber soles off. if i do take them off it's for the hiking lug sole.

 

[jayL]

brookieaddict,

Do you have a source for that? How can you be sure it wasn't just a bird?

 

[hendeylathe]

Osprey,
I understand how you feel about felt soles. I have both studded felts & studded aquastealth soles. I honestly prefer the studded felts. It's just my personal preference. However, go to www.singlebarbed.com, in the upper right hand corner in the search box type in "d3o". It's an interesting new material that has a lot of potential in wading shoes. I've got no problem if companies do away with felt for the obvious reasons. I only hope that what they come up with as a replacement meets or exceeds what is currently available.

 

[osprey]

Brookie addict the proof lies in the trout gripped in the birds talons facing headfirst in order to make it aerodynamic in flight the osprey is the only raptor that does that

 

[OhioOutdoorsman]

The studs make a lot of noise.

I'd love something to replace felt, its not very durable and its messy. It doesn't grip on dry land at all. It collects snow and ice when walking through snow in the winter. If they come up with something thats as good as felt in terms of underwater performance, I'd buy in a heartbeat.

That being said, I bought an extra pair of felt soled boots this year just in case.

 

[tomgamber]

OhioOutdoorsman wrote:
The studs make a lot of noise.

While I'm sure that's true (I've never gone under to listen) I think it makes no difference.

 

[Blackfly]

I have always used felt boots and felt-studded boots. But, I am trying those new simms with vibram. I actually ordered them in Jan. and they were back ordered. I am supposed to get them in the mail today (keeping my fingers crossed so I can try them this weekend).

I also float stock 3 different streams and the WCO's that we work with asked us to clean our float boxes before taking them to the other streams. I also was informed that they want the buckets to not hit the waters and they need to be washed as well.

I hope to try the new boots and maybe post a report on how they worked.

 

[wetnet]

osprey wrote:
Being 53 years old and having lost my left leg in a steel mill accident i can't believe there is a movement afoot to abolish felt soled waders. I had fly fished my whole life starting at 4 or five years old with my dad and grandfather. Lost my left leg at 47 after working in a steel mill for 32 years, there was a dark time when i thought i'd never be able to fish again but guess what, i can and i do and i wade but without felt soled waders i just don't know. Seems to me the only "DANGEROUS" invasive species on the water are the idiots.

I have both my legs but like you just can't afford to fall. One back surgery is enough. Korkers has a new aqua sole that is suppose to have better grip. Plain studs for you would be just plain dangerous. Anyone the has walked up a rock bank with two legs should know. With one leg, I'd see a face plant in your future. Korkers have interchangable soles that switch out pretty easy. Contact them and tell them your situation or give me your foot size. If they have something that works better than felts you'll be their poster child. They would really like to prove their soles. They were extremely helpful, when we needed help.

Soles are not the only problem though they will speed up the spread of disease. All gear needs to be cleaned. Even if you have to use felts, just buy a second pair. You can disinfect them and give them time to really dry out in between trips. You can donate the unused shoes to the healing waters program. I think they would appreciate it.

Enjoy fishing! Glad to hear you're still at it!

 

[Blackfly]

I did get my new boots with the vibram sole. I like them; slipped once or twice, but overall enjoyed the experience. I have slipped with felt, studded felt, whatever; streams are tough to wade in general. Overall, liked them. Just following up my previous post.

 

[Meangreenstick]

the aquastealth simms soles are amazing with no felt, they stick to any rock wet or dry......i have never had slipping issues, there was one instance when the stream bottom was all round rocks and that wouldnt be fun or easy for any boot. My buddies korkers work great he says, and you have the option to switch from felt to studs in minutes for about 25 bucks

i myslef will not be wearing felt anytime soon

 

[DGC]

It is very confusing with all these different accounts of how "grippy" the new rubber soles are. Some people say flatly they are way inferior, and others praise them for being nearly as good, with the added benefit of being better for snow, mud, or climbing up banks (never an easy thing in felt).

I get the impression that the new rubber soles are more "grippy" than the old rubber, with "old" only being maybe 3 years ago.

However, if the manufacturers insist on over charging for the rubber, it will not fly. There are too many cheap yet good felt sole boots out there. And if you only fish a few streams anyway, you can just buy 3 pair of felt boots and "rest" a pair or two in the rotation like pitchers in baseball.

If you mainly fish one or two streams the whole thing is almost moot. It is the travelers who fish all the time on many different waters who need to take the most care.

 

[gzacckey]

I’ll be trying the Simms vibram soles this year just because it’s part of my hobby to try new things. The reasons are the Vibram rubber soles are supposed to be the best rubber soles so far and Simms because they fit my very wide feet. Also, the rubber will dry faster and most likely stink less than my current boots. I'll be keeping my felts as spares.

As for the contamination factor, I believe it’s a matter of percentages as to what contributes to the spreading of invasive species. For me personally the largest carrier would be my felt soles since they remain wet for weeks while everything else (rods, lines, flies…) dries completely by the next morning. The felt certainly holds more debris then any other piece of my equipment. However I do fish multiple streams on occasion and I’m sure nothing is completely dry between streams. You would need to completely submerge your boots in the appropriate solution to kill all organisms in or your boots and laces. Then treat all your equipment (rods, reels, lines, wading jacket cuffs, flies…) between streams to completely remove the threat. So from a practical standpoint we can slow the progression but it will be extremely difficult to totally prevent the spread of these organisms. Just one dirty duck/goose that flies form one stream to another is all it takes.

 

[wetnet]

Just fish. Call the gear people, Simms, Korkers etc. Let them worry about it. You're not the first and won't be the last of the one footed fishermen. You don't sound like that kind that will actually call. So pushy as I am what size do you wear? We might have something you can try out.

 

[osprey]

Wetnet if you were asking me i wear a size 12 but they will only get my felt soles when they pry them from my cold dead foot heh

 

[wetnet]

I hear you. I doubt I'll find something to top felts but it's worth looking around. If I do I'll let you know.

 

[jaybo41]

I have always used felt because that's what has been available, and I prefer studs in my boots. Last fall I picked up a pair of the Simms Riversheds with Aquastealth studs and love them. I noticed a very slight decrease in performance at first. Or maybe it was just that I needed to get used to them. Maybe a bit of a mental thing. Not sure, but I'll stick with them if they prevent the spread of contamination. I applaud Simms for leading the charge.

 

[AlwaysWading]

My take on the felt issue is that it is a lot of nothing, but then once someone desires to prove something is a problem, one way or another they will come up with the data (real or not), that makes their case. For me I am switching over to rubber soles with removeable cleats, simply because when we fish the Erie Tribs in snowy times you walk a few feet in the snow and have major snowballs slowly building. Then you step in the water and it's like you are stepping on ice until all that buildup dissappears. But before I do that,I'll wear out those felts in local streams before I give up their use.