Wading Boots

[owlman]

I am planning on buying a new pair of wading boots this spring and I am looking at the new rubber soles instead of the felt. My question is should I consider the studs or not? Any advice? What are the upside and downside of using studs. I fish mainly for trout in limestone and freestone mountain streams where wading can be challenging because of slippery rocks.

[branhap]

The main bad thing about studs is that you'll probably never be able to wear your boots in a boat with them in.

I have a pair of the Simms Vibram soles, and I bought the studs at the same time. However, I haven't found a need for the studs when I've been wading.

In fact the studs still sit in their original packaging.

Paul

[flyfshn76]

I have the simms freestones with the vibram soles,and absolutely love mine. I never fish out of a boat so I went with the studs for mine. If you are going to fish strictly in a river or stream than I reccomend the studs.

[anglerdave]

From your profile I see that you live in PA. Has your state outlawed or planning to outlaw felt soles? And are you planning a trip to one of the states that has? If not then I would stick to felt. Especially if you only fish one particular water shed. If rock snot is a problem in your area, then you might want to consider studded felt and be sure to clean your boots after each use.

After reading several articles and listening to Tom Rosenbauer's podcast(07/31/09), it seems that none of the new rubber soles are as good as felt.

Just my 2 cents.............Dave

[fcch]

If the rocks on our streams get slimy, the studs help quite a bit. I use the simms with vibram soles (1 season so far) and use the studs.

I used to put studs on my felt soles to help while walking on trails and logs and snow, but maybe they are less needed now. Well, ... for walking along bare logs, they are a really help.

If you get in someones boat, they may not like you too much though.

The Vibrams soles seem to be 90% as effective as felt on bare wet rocks and probably 80% as effective as felt on slipper rocks. On some runs, NO soles are any help. Last summer on the 43a, we were three ... one felt, one felt studs and me with Vibram and studs, ... none of us could walk properly!

After a long day (or 4 or 5), the "rubber" soles are ice 'cause the boots are not a heavy while walking up and down trails and dry beaches. They also dry faster and work well in mud and snow!

edit: also, if you only fish one place, felt is probably a better way to go. You can always "treat" your boots by freezing them over night before visiting another watershed.

I don't think that I'll be going back to felt, 'cept for some really tough situations (I still have my chota felt with studs as a pair of backups).

[herefishy]

I like the rubber soles with studs, don't slip near as much on the slimy rocks. If you are in somebody's boat, just take a piece of carpet to put your feet on. Or get Korkers and change the soles for conditions.

[Grubb]

" fish mainly for trout in limestone and freestone mountain streams where wading can be challenging because of slippery rocks."

Owlman, unless these new rubber boots that are being talked about are made of something different that I don't know about, or the streams in your area are alot different from the limestone streams here in va. I would in no way use anything other than felt, yes rubber boots are good for snow, sand, mud, crossing logs and yes the snot rocks, but as a rule, 90% of what you will encounter, you will be much safer with felt, rubber boots means one step and out of control fall with no way no get a footing, felt isn't perfect, but to me and my attemps and watching all others, rubber is "Danger" rubber on wet rocks is like trying to walk on ice, if it wasn't I would be using them all the time, cost alot less and you can get them at almost any wal-mart. i wouldn't be taking the time to type all this out if i hadn't seen more than one person have a very unpleasent fishing day of just trying to take another step with out falling, or, take a very bad fall...
Now if these new rubber boots are made of some kind of new rubber sole that I don't know about then i'v waisted my time typing all of this, but I could learn something new...

[Big Bad Wulff]

Studa can slip on rocks

[John Rhoades]

Here's a couple more considerations in addition to those things already mentioned.

The rubber (vibram) soled boots, without studs, are generally more comfortable to walk in, particularly if you're hiking a longer distance, than felt soled boots are (felt can also get rather heavy at times after they become wet). However, the vibram soles with studs can be a lot less comfortable for walking longer distances than felt, particularly if your walking along cobble stone river banks.

Simms new vibram soled boots can be purchased without studs, and the studs (2 different styles for different applications) are purchased separately. (I don't know whether other brands of boots sell the studs separately or not, but I suppose you could also buy the Simms studs for use on other brands.)

The attractive feature of these Simms boots is that you can easily remove the studs when you don't want them in, and reinsert the studs when you want them on. You can do this multiple times without negatively effecting the vibram soles, and you can also reposition the studs, or change the number of studs as well.

In my opinion, that's the best of all worlds. The only drawback that I see to the Simms boots, and buying the studs separately, is the cost - they ain't cheap. But it's only money, and what's a few bucks when you're having fun?

John

[ketempleton]

As a newbie I'm not sure if this is the proper place to pose a question, but let me try.

How do I know when the felt (unstudded) soles of my wading boots need replacing? I took a couple of dunks in the river last summer and now am thinking that every step seems more slippery. Am I being parainoid or is there a way to tell, maybe visually, that the felt on my boots needs replacing?