TU weighs in on felt soles!?!

[flybinder]

Below, is a press release, put out by Trout Unlimited, today.
Although, perhaps a "somewhat good idea", in obviously fighting Stream Scrunge, will it be enough? How about your wader's fabric? The crevices and creases, of your wading boots? Your boot's laces? Wading socks?

(Quoted Press Release)
Timing is everything, it seems, even when it comes to fly fishing conservation. Yesterday, just two days before the opening of the Fly Fishing Retailer Show in Denver, Trout Unlimited issued a press release asking manufacturers to cease production of felt-sole waders and boots by 2011. While several manufacturers have already begun the shift, it'll be very interesting to see whether felt soles disappear almost completely next year, given the weight of TU's support.

[Flyrodde]

Why not call for barefoot wading only sections of rivers?

This is a waste. Put this money into education and effective washing techniques. Fishermen are not the only users of watersheads, why are we being punished? If felt soles were the only reason it would be a good idea, but they are not. I beleive this is a severe balk on TU's part.

[Jed]

Interesting. I just bought a pair of corkers and got a set of aqua-stealth soles to go with. I got them for the reason that I did not want to transmit dittimo or invasives from one place to another. On my home water I am comfortable with the felts, away from home I use the aqua-steath. Flyrodde is right that this is not the whole answer, but it is a part of an answer and it is better that it is done than not!

jed

[J Castwell]

Isn't it funny, Simms just inked a deal with Vibram. The 'new' soles are said to be 'even better than felt'. And won't soak up nasty things. Gosh, what great timing.

[Ray]

When I used felt and it didn't get a chance to completely dry out between outings and was planning on fishing different waters, I'd just throw them in the hot tub and let the chlorine sanitize the felt. However, I still see felt soon becoming obsolete. Aquastealth is a far superior alternative.

[loufly]

What am I going to do with all my re-felting kits (That don't ever seem to work) that I have stocked up? Maybe I can send them in and get the replacement in exchange. Why do we always seem to try and fix a huge problem with band-aids? IF THIS WAS THE ANSWER, I would be more than willing to support. Till' then, I see it as just another reason for us to feel bad for enjoying the outdoors.

[perch]

I have to believe that people that are more well informed than me have thought carefully before making these decisions and are not making them in haste . How many of us have seen places of rare and breath taking beauty rendered virtually useless to us for fishing due to invasive organisms? These little things are pretty tough to get rid of when absorbed into any type of fabric and even worse when inside of a thicker fabric. I agree with flyrodde , we are not all of the problem. We , as a communtiy must accept some share of the responsibility for the spread of some of the problem. All it takes is a little carelessness and the a place is wrecked. One organism is all it takes(as I understand diddymo). I wont take the chace . I have come up with a solution for me. I got hold of some of the boots tht the soldiers are using over in Iraq. Those desert boots are great. I have yet (okay so here goes the JINKS) to slide around with these guys. They are light weight and dry out quite quickly. You can put carbide screws in them for extra tracktion too. Also they dont seem to be adversly affected by heavy clorine saturation (cept a bit of lightening of the tan color).Of course the have to be worn with stocking foots ( they work great for wet wading too)
Try not to take too much offense in those mandates. Every one who uses a resouce is in some part responsible for its care.

[Normand]

does didymo and other invasives stick only to felt soles?? what about the rest of the boot? gravel guards? waders?

[Bamboozle]

Does didymo and other invasives stick only to felt soles?? what about the rest of the boot? gravel guards? waders?

I am a dutiful cleaner of my wading shoes and always have been; not for Didymo reasons but because I take care of them so they will last as long as possible. When I was cleaning my Chotas the other day and looking at all of the OTHER places where the microscopic Didymo diatom can hide I was chuckling. Normand is 100% on the money. It ain't just felt TU!

It's like driving a Prius or using those reusable supermarket bags; if it makes you feel like you are making a big difference by giving up felt; knock yourself out! I prefer NOT to get knocked out by slipping on a rock. I presently own more than 7 pair of wading shoes with every sole option out there and Aquastealth, studded Aquastealth, or any other rubber sole option presently offered just doesn't cut it in certain places I fish. If the manufacturers stop offering felt soles I'll make my own.

My convoluted logic also makes me think that some non-felt crusaders will actually contribute to the problem because they will assume with no more felt to worry about they will no longer have to be as careful with their gear. The reality when you are talking about a microscopic diatom is; the bugger can get into just about anything that comes in contact with the water. If you fish where Didymo is present you are part of the problem unless your footwear and everything else you use is 100% non-porous and totally crack & crevice proof; or you are 100% totally diligent with a 100% effective cleaning method on ALL of your gear. The likelihood of any of that is extremely small; maybe as small as the diatom.

As for me; I have my own 100% approach. Since I won't limit myself to just fishing one body of water for the rest of my life I have taken the Didymo infested waters in my area off my fishing list. I just won't go there anymore, period.

Woe is me, that only leaves me with 23,457,841 places left to fish with my felts.

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

The following is not an endorsement of the ban on felt waders, but rather a summary of the reasons behind the ban targeting felt soled boots:

It is true that didymo can be transported by any part of your boot; or pant leg; or in your boat engine, etc. However, didymo is also a fairly fragile thing, and if it dries out it dies. This is why one of the "treatments" for your gear is to dry it out for 48 hours before fishing a new water system (if possible). If that's just not possible, then the recommendation is to clean your gear with detergent and water. The detergent breaks down the organic fats in the cell walls and causes it to burst (or something like that). Anyway, the issue with felt soles is that if you walk on some didymo (or any other single cell organism) it gets pushed into the felt, where it can stay wet (slightly damp is enough) for weeks in some cases. Also, burried in the felt makes it harder to get your detergent to the didymo ; so with felt soles, didymo hides, stay wet, and out of harms way despite our efforts to remove it - creating a false sense of security in those who are actively trying to make sure they do not spread the stuff.
The rest of the hiding places on the boot (around the laces, etc) dry quickly, and are easy to get the cleaning solutions to, so as long as you do make an effort, then your efforts should work as you think they should.

Now, that said, it only makes sense to ban felt soles if you also ban people from hiking through various water ways without doing rigorous cleans after each stream crossing; ban boats from infected rivers and lakes (or maybe ban them from non-infected areas?); ban horse back riding, motor bikes, and every other user of the outdoors from even considering touching the water.

Felt soles offer saftey. The increased risk they offer of didymo spreading is minimal given that a) anglers are the ones who use these and they are the very ones who are highly motivated to ensure they do not spread this stuff and b) there are many other users of the waters who are at least as likely to be carriers of didymo and so this ban will produce no real benefit at the cost of angering and interfereing with one of the more pro-active groups.

- Jeff