Options for cheap, zip-up or other easy-on wading shoes?

[John Rhoades]

John: I had that waffle plastic in my boat for the first week I owned it and then threw it away. Hated it --it was perfect for trapping sand/gravel and losing flies in. At any rate, they only make that to fit the rectangular bottom of the boat, not the raised false floors that get shredded by people shuffling their feet in studs.

Wally -

The type of floor material that I was referring to is permanently affixed via fiberglass on the bottom of the boat. I had the plastic, removable, squares with a Clackacraft that I had before getting this Hyde, and I agree with what you say about that. The floor in my Hyde is completely different. Mine is a bit harder to clean than a flat surface, but not much. I don't know if anyone other than Hyde has this available, but I'm pretty sure it could be installed in any fiberglass boat by someone proficient with working with fiberglass.

[Uncle Jesse]

Have you looked at this product from Orvis?

http://www.orvis.com/store/product.aspx?pf_id=3t93

[Longs for Cutts]

We actually bought some of those shoe-ins. I'm surprised at the positive reviews. In my experience they are designed with street shoes in mind and even the XL didn't fit comfortably over my size-12 wading shoes.

Really I'm looking for dirt cheap wading shoes that I can get in a couple sizes to say "wear these instead," which is why the Cabelas shoes are so appealing. Cabelas doesn't make any of their own stuff and I'm sure those shoes started off life as flats boots from some standard MFG, but it sure sounds like only Cabelas got them modified with felt soles. I'm strongly inclined to go with felt soles rather than some material with less traction, because invariably somebody will fall if we give them something to wear getting in and out of the boat and numerous lawyers have informed us that our insurance waiver is meaningless if somebody actually gets hurt...

[WarrenP]

I cannot help you with something your clients can slip on or over their studded wading boots to protect the boats bottom, but, after giving much thought to your situation, I feel that you would be hard pressed to have every size needed and your clients may not approve of using something other than what they are wearing. If they wear what you provided while wade fishing and fell, it could open up the door to lawyers.

If I was in your situation I guess what I would do is use a protective mat on the bottom of my guide boat and I do not mean some cheap throw mat. I would want something that would withstand the studs, stay put and provide drainage. I was thinking something along this line:

http://www.americanfloormats.com/wor...i-fatigue-mat/

Just a thought......

[ducksterman]

I know you didn't want mats but I agree with Warren's first paragraph.

When studs and cleats started on the scene I noted that many guides went to mats of some sort. I thought what seemed to work well was a rather heavy duty indoor outdoor carpet cut to fit closely. I suppose they were not fastened down so they and the boat could be easily cleaned. As a client I appreciated not having to change and also not worrying what I was doing to the boat bottom...thought they looked decent too.

[James Smith]

I'm not sure if this would work or not, but perhaps something like this??? http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...%2Cshoes%2C352

You might even get them to give you a price break if you buy multiple pairs of the most common sizes. Just a thought...

Jim Smith

[John Rhoades]

And when I clicked on the link Warren provided, I immediately saw that you could get those mats with either yellow or orange edging, and in the right hand column there was a reference to a urinal mat...ummmm...maybe kill 2 birds with one stone so to speak...