New data suggests angler's felt soled boots NOT responsible for dydimo spread

Gear & Reviews
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The very act of going to a stream, walking in it, and fishing in it causes damage to some extent. Dislodging rocks thereby evicting nymphs and other critters from their homes, trampling vegetation, kicking up sediment and sending it downstream, stressing fish, on and on and on. It is not so simple for a whole lot of fishermen to purchase expensive new equipment on the whim of waterways “managers”.

I have seen ducks and geese swimming, feeding, and waddling around in algae blooms and yes even on wads of rock-snot. I have seen the same creatures take flight, and in one instance touch down on a pond about 500 yards from the stream… unquestionably transferring biologic material between the waterways.

It’s ridiculous to think fishermen are the primary vector. Yes, do whatever you can to decrease the spread, but live in the real world.

As I said before, I don’t care at all about felt-soled boots. I’ve fished in a LOT of places (including Alaska) and the one pair I owned I didn’t like. Never felt at a disadvantage with non-felt boots.

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I think that’s why I said “…take any REASONABLE precaution…”

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Alright gang. Time to back off.

Denny

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Regarding felt soles vs rubber soles. Rubber soles are not as good as felt soles. Several independent tests by magazines, blogs and individuals are available.

Boot makers want you to think that rubber soles are good or better than felt. A podcast by a Simms representative before the introduction of their Vibram soled boots said they were better than felt. THEY LIED!

They even backtracked and brought back felt soles. Why would they do this if “rubber was as good as felt?”

After they were introduced, there have been several tests of various boot soles. One test in Fly Fishing and Tying Journal, Winter 2010, pg. 18. tested “Old Felt Soled” Weinbrenners against New Rubber Soled Simms, Chota, Cloudveil, Korkers, Patagonia, & LL Bean boots.

Although I believe the the conditions of the test favored the new rubber soles, [b]none of them were a good as the USED WEINBRENNERS.

[/b] "Under the more slippery conditions of summer and fall none of them quite provided the grip of felt?..It is still my, admittedly subjective opinion, that except under the cleanest (winter and cold) water conditions, rubber soles, do not yet provide the same traction as felt soles."

As a former wading boot tester for Weinbrenner, I know that new felt soles have better traction than used felt soles because thicker felt compresses and conforms to surface irregularities and increases traction. Worn thinner felt does not equal new felt in traction. If they had tested a new pair of Weinbrenners, I believe the difference between felt and rubber would have been greater.

Tom Rosenbauer of Orvis has also made the statement in a podcast that the rubber soles are not yet the equal of felt. He says that in a March 5, 2010 podcast, called “Felt Soles vs Rubber Soles and the Invasive Species Issue”.

He said, “We have been working on alternative soles for many, many, many years. When rubber first came out we tested them and the pretty much unanimous opinion here at Orvis was that they’re awful, they’re dangerous? Rubber soles are wonderful on sand, they’re wonderful on gravel, they are great on ice and snow, they are good on almost everything but slippery rocks, and slippery rocks are what a lot of wade on all day long. There are some new rubber compounds out there, Vibram has a compound that most of us are using for rubber soles that is better than previous generations of rubber, but still, if anyone tells you that their rubber soled wading boot grips as well as felt on slippery rocks THEY ARE LYING TO YOU! They haven’t used it enough. The only way to insure that rubber is as effective as felt is to have it studded. All of the rubber soled wading boots we well at Orvis come pre-studded? We made that stand that we are NOT going to sell a pair of rubber soled wading boots without studs.”

Another site, Trout Predator had a post from an individual that did his own test of Simms rubber soled boots vs felt. You can read his assessment as well as comments I made about the design of these boots here:

Wading Shoe Soles - THE LAST WORD

Here’s an internet site that tested and deemed rubber soles without studs not to be the equal of felt without studs. If you are getting rubber soled boots, get them studded. But them studded felts would still be superior to the studded rubber soles.

http://troutunderground.com/2009/07/06/the-undergrounds-wading-boot-review-begins-a-new-chapter/

Now here’s the problem. Rubber soled boots and waders and even flies can carry single celled invasive such as Didymo. Rubber soled boots and Gortex waders are not fabric free. Plus there is NO SINGLE CHEMICAL METHOD OF DECONTAMINATION that is APPROVED by boot and wader manufacturers.

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In fly fishing, there is no such thing as THE LAST WORD.

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What really torques me about this issue is we have so many college & university biology departments throughout the country (and no doubt getting federal research dollars to boot) that you cannot convince me there cannot be some rock solid research on this Didymo cause & effect. No doubt the EPA could get tossed into here, too, but maybe they are mired in political paralysis at this time where they cannot perform their duties.

The old saying … “follow the money” - Cannot get the research funding …? Or maybe the cause could be traced to where some big money pockets operation would be the source and they certainly do not want any research going on in their money making back yard …? (Cynical minds want to know!)

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Or…maybe it’s just as the latest study suggested. It is a micro-organism that is in pretty much all waters. And it only blooms when the water conditions arrive at the state that it requires. Could it be that simple?

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If it’s in so many waterways wouldn’t there be a simple enough way to sample and find it to prove that it is there, so then they can look at the phosphorus angle and deal with the problem that way?

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I believe I entered into a somewhat loud ‘discussion’ about this very topic a couple of years ago. It did not turn out well. Perhaps we should just follow Denny’s suggestion.

Allan

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I’ve waded with felt soled wading boots for more than two decades and have worn rubber/stud soled boots almost exclusively for the past three seasons (I still wear my felts once in awhile in some warmwater rivers). I fish alot, and I fish in all types of streams and rivers.

Putting the regulations aside, when my boots need to be replaced, I will choose to buy another pair of rubber/stud boots to replace the ones I now wear. I can wade safely in just about all types of stream/river bed with rubber/studs, and I find them vastly superior to felt soles when walking on or climbing up or down on the bank, in mud, in wet leaves, in snow or ice (I fish a lot in the winter). Overall, I find them superior to felt. YMMV, as always.

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I am not a wade fisherman 90% of the time but with my nature lack of grace and balance I have done my share of slipping and sliding. Always as a safety consultant I have done a good bit of study on slip, trips and falls. I have wondered about the effectiveness of the soft spike now required at most golf course and country clubs for wading. I tried a pair of slip resistant shoes (designed for use in kitchen, etc.) in some stream in Utah years ago, they were not that effective in preventing slips. The one thing you can count one in wading situations, gravity is reliable.