Wet Wading ...

[RyanR]

RLeeP wrote:
I don't wet wade. Anywhere...

It isn't just infections, etc. that concern me. I've posted this a half dozen times over the years, but I had a friend (actually he was one of the more prolific posters on the first incarnation of this forum back in the 90's) who walked down into the no-kill on Hickory Run in cut offs and sneakers and began to fish his way back up. He stepped sideways on the wrong rock, slipped and a sharp streamside stick punctured his femoral artery. He made a tourniquet with his bandana and a stick and made it out of there. But he could just as easily have bled out.

No thanks..

Glad your friend survived but that's got little to do with whether he was wet wading or not and more to do with not wearing the proper footwear for the activity. I always wonder why some people that wear the proper wading boots while wearing waders would then wet wade in sneakers or sandles?

 

[RCFetter]

Stagger_Lee wrote:
Alnitak and RCfetter ... So u guys r happy with the Keens and they work well re: protection? Also ... are those studs removable so u can use the sandals in other situations?

The Keens are very high quality, very comfortable sandals although the word "sandal" does not do them justice.

I got them at Eastern Mountain Sports on
Easton Road.

 

[springer1]

I remember about 2-3 years ago one of our members posted photos over a several month period about the flesh-eating infection he got in a brush scratch after wet wading. In the end he was left with a nice big scar.

Mine wasn't that bad but required hospital intravenous & overnight stay to break the fever ... also was about a brush scratch that I waded with. But I'm diabetic & maybe other people fight infections better than I do.

 

[Alnitak]

springer1 wrote:
I remember about 2-3 years ago one of our members posted photos over a several month period about the flesh-eating infection he got in a brush scratch after wet wading. In the end he was left with a nice big scar.

Mine wasn't that bad but required hospital intravenous & overnight stay to break the fever ... also was about a brush scratch that I waded with. But I'm diabetic & maybe other people fight infections better than I do.

First of all, yes, as a diabetic you are definitely more susceptible to infection than the general population. Second, the bacteria that are involved in a typical necrotizing fasciitis (i.e., "flesh eating bacteria") case are bacteria that are usually found on the skin. Its not some odd bacteria you get from a stream. Finally, a very high percentage of people who contract an infection like this are immuno-compromised, which is the real reason the infection runs amok.

What this means is that the average person need not fear getting an infection like that from wet wading. One exception: Your risk is increased if you're wet wading in a stream that is subject to pollution with waste from humans. Raw sewage or poorly treated wastewater come to mind. I personally try not to fish any stream that is subject to either. Lititz Run? I've fished it three times and every time its smelled like a sewer due to the Lititz waste water treatment plant upstream. I won't wet wade that stream.

 

[thebassman]

I wade In shorts all the time along the Neshaminy. I have never had an issue in the past 8 years of doing this. The only time I wear waders on the Neshaminy is of the water is to cold for my liking.

 

[Mike]

I presume that a comment regarding wet wading in the Neshaminy may be designed to counter balance the caution expressed regarding wet wading in streams that receive treated sewage because Neshaminy receives a lot. Meanwhile, I have wet waded the Schuylkill with some frequency below Reading, as have a number of my friends. there have been no ill-effects, but of course our baby-boomer childhoods allowed us to perhaps develop tough immune systems.

 

[greenlander]

... it is also worth noting that what's growing in the filthy, anaerobic environment inside your waders is likely considerably more dangerous than what's floating in your typical trout stream.

 

[JasonS]

springer1 wrote:
I remember about 2-3 years ago one of our members posted photos over a several month period about the flesh-eating infection he got in a brush scratch after wet wading. In the end he was left with a nice big scar.

Mine wasn't that bad but required hospital intravenous & overnight stay to break the fever ... also was about a brush scratch that I waded with. But I'm diabetic & maybe other people fight infections better than I do.

FFS for the eleventieth billion time, HE WAS WEARING WADERS WHEN HE GOT THE INFECTION!!!11!!!

 

[greenlander]

JasonS wrote:

FFS for the eleventieth billion time, HE WAS WEARING WADERS WHEN HE GOT THE INFECTION!!!11!!!

Yeah, why no one can remember that is beyond me.

The infection came from what was living in his waders, not what was living in the stream.

 

[dryflyguy]

I've fished some tailwaters that stay too cold for wet wading during summer.
I was down the yough river one very hot day, and decided to take a swim in the lake above confluence before fishing. When I finished, I thought to myself, why get changed again, and put waders on - and decided to wet wade in my swimming trunks in the tailrace water below. With water temps in the low '50's, it was very refreshing at first. Later on in the evening though, as the sun went down, I got chilled to the bone so much, that my teeth were chattering - and I had to quit fishing before dark.

On one of my first trips to the bighorn river out west, I poked a hole in my waders one day, and had to dry them out and patch them. I needed to let the aqua seal dry fully over night, and had no waders to wear that evening. Decided to give wet wading a shot there, and also got very chilled towards dark

 

[melvinp]

Depends where and when(Temp,clarity,Location)Always ware wading boots and studs.

 

[pete41]

greenlander wrote:
... it is also worth noting that what's growing in the filthy, anaerobic environment inside your waders is likely considerably more dangerous than what's floating in your typical trout stream.

right on,Bro. :lol:

 

[foxfire]

Never wet wade. All of my fishing location require walk/hike through briars, poisan ivy, sharp rock, ticks, etc. Funny, as a kid I was your typical Tom Sawyer type - never wore shoes from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Never saw a swimming hole I didn't like, or a water snake I couldn't catch bare-handed!!!

I feel so old

 

[ratgunner]

My biggest concern would be broken glass and leeches.

 

[Bearski]

When I wear waders, I feel like I have more freedom of movement for whatever reason. Its silly but i just dont like getting my shorts wet when wet wading.

At the end of the day though, wading is by far my favorite form of fishing. I'd much rather be knee deep in water than out on a boat

 

[somersetian]

I wet wade as soon as weather allows. I always wear wading shoes with studs, usually a pair of shorts that are old cut off work pants, no shirt and as little tackle as I can get by with. It is so much more comfortable and relaxing than having waders, a vest, a net to carrying around. However when it is cold out I don't mind waders and a vest.

 

[springer1]

Quote:
JasonS wrote:

FFS for the eleventieth billion time, HE WAS WEARING WADERS WHEN HE GOT THE INFECTION!!!11!!!


Yeah, why no one can remember that is beyond me.

The infection came from what was living in his waders, not what was living in the stream.

I apologize, I never meant to intentionally deceive people. I just don’t remember that part. I’m sorry I made that post.

 

[afishinado]

JasonS wrote:

springer1 wrote:
I remember about 2-3 years ago one of our members posted photos over a several month period about the flesh-eating infection he got in a brush scratch after wet wading. In the end he was left with a nice big scar.

Mine wasn't that bad but required hospital intravenous & overnight stay to break the fever ... also was about a brush scratch that I waded with. But I'm diabetic & maybe other people fight infections better than I do.

FFS for the eleventieth billion time, HE WAS WEARING WADERS WHEN HE GOT THE INFECTION!!!11!!!

Yeah, I hate to even imagine what J had living in his waders!

 

[greenlander]

springer1 wrote:

I apologize, I never meant to intentionally deceive people. I just don’t remember that part. I’m sorry I made that post.

Not a big deal and certainly no apology necessary. It is just surprising how many times that incident has been used here as an example of why you shouldn't wet wade, when in reality it is anything but.

 

[geebee]

i wear simms flats boots i got on sale, and scrubs pants tucked into long soccer socks.

no to weils disease, ticks, bugs and leeches.