Ive read about it…heard about it…dont know if Ive ever seen it or not?? But I read all the posts about felt soled shoes…etc…etc…and how laws will make them illegal…and so on. But there is something I havent read about “rock slime”.
Its an ALGAE…nothing more…nothing less. Its not “The Blob” from the backside of Saturn or anything…its an ALGAE! WHY hasnt someone…anyone…arrived at something that KILLS ALGAE??
There are algaecides galore on the market…and although.???..none seem to be able to “control” it ( not talking that here now) all thats needed is something to KILL IT. That way we CAN apply it to our wading shoe soles and not spred rock slime.
I cant believe that someone isnt keeping something.??..from us. A concentration of “X”…maybe even powerful enough to kill the neighbors cow when you uncork it can be arrived at. ( And for those of you that wish the worst for me…I have nothing against cows!)
i can understand lugs being outlawed but not felt soles. the problem isn’t the shoes it’s what happens when what’s in the shpes kicks and stumbles thru the stream. i suspect y’all know that to kill the algae is to kill the stream.
I think the most important point is not the sole of the boot. Unless I am mistaken in my reading, it is the fact that there is no single reliable non destructive chemical bath or other method that kills ALL invasive species. Some kill the whirling disease parasite, some kill NZ mud snails, some kill zebra mussels, and some kill Dydimo. Chemical baths are inherently unreliable because they degrade and become diluted as they are used. Hot water does kill all of the above, but the most resistant organism to hot water is whirling disease and it requires boiling water. I would not soak my waders in boiling water. Water temps below 200 degrees F do not work.
Everyone says we need decontamination but no one emphasizes the fact that there is not a single method that kills everything that does not also damage equipment. That is a huge problem.
I think we can all agree that felt was replaced with rubber to prevent Dydimo. That being the case, I believe the easiest nondestructive method of killing Dydimo is freezing. If that is the case, and I believe it is so, using overnight freezing for killing Dydimo will decontaminate a pair of boots whether they have rubber or felt soles.
See the recommendation from New Zealand Biosecurity web site on decontaminating felt soled boots and waders:
“Freeze until solid: The time required until the boot is frozen solid will vary depending upon the grade of material, how much moisture it contains and the efficiency of the freezer. Freezing overnight should work in most instances.”
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:
I dont carry a freezer large enough to put 2 pairs of boots in?? But I CAN carry a sufficient amount of chemicals that would / should be able to kill Didymo. And Im not talking about zebra mussels…or whirling disease or anything else…JUST “rock snot”…so “all invasive species” doesnt enter into it.
I’ve got stuff I put in my pool that kills algae pretty well. It’s called… Algaecide. If you are so worried about spreading something, just get a pan and put your wading boots in it, or just Clorox.
So I guess we’re gonna stop animals and birds from getting into streams and spreading this stuff? :rolleyes:
We need to cut the “felt” off the bottom of bear’s feet!!
Well…the point was to NOT put the algaecide IN THE WATER, but to use a concentrated strength application directly on the boots themselves. I cant control whats already there…best “I” can do is to attempt to keep it from spreding
I am offering freezing as the surest way to kill Dydimo which is algae, so my response was on point.
If you are going to visit multiple states on a trip, freezing would be a problem as you point out. But for those who visit and fish a single watershed, freezing can be done after the return. It is simple, foolproof and you have no chemicals remaining in your boots to leach into the river on your next wade.
Is there not an environmental cost to getting rid of waste chemicals after you decontaminate? There is no such problem with freezing.
I am confused by a previous knot thread in which you said you used no chemicals in tying a leader system to a fly line, but then you propose that soaking your boots in chemicals with the runoff of those residual chemicals onto the ground and into the stream from the boots is not a concern.
Hi Guys, her in NZ felst soles are banned for fishermen (but not for any other water user such as rafters, but that’s a whole other issue) to HELP prevent the spread of Didymo.
We have chemical baths at quite a few of the accomodations available in places like Turangi but felt soles need to soak in the chemical for a long time for it to be effective. It is actualy quicker to freeze them overnight, but who wants to put on a pair of frozen solid boots in the morning? Plus many anglers fish more than one watershed in a day so the chemical wash seems to be the best way to go. A spray bottle of detergent is easy to carry and use and is better than nothing.
All the best.
Mike.
Bleach will eventually destroy fabrics. Detergent will not.
However, long soak times are needed to reach every crevice and to insure contact with every fiber. That same soak time insures that there will be residual detergent left in the boots that will leach out into the stream one your next trip. That is why I recommend freezing as having the least impact of all the methods of decontamination.
It will not surprise me if manufacturers eventually void warranties for chemical treatments of their gear with bleach. If manufacturers are really concerned with invasive species, they should recommend how their gear can be treated in a non destructive yet environmentally safe manner.
What is needed is not consumers trying to figure out what is the best and safest methods, but the manufacturers, because they know what their products are made of and how it can be safely treated. The fact that no manufacturer that I know of has published recommendations, even though they now have come out with rubber soles, indicates to me that there is no single good method of treatment that is both environmentally friendly and tackle friendly for invasives.
