My wife has decided to start fly fishing with me. I won her over on a trip to Arkansas where i had her in a pair of waders with walmart imitation converse sneakers as wading boots. She is a womans size 9. I figure she needs a 10 for her stockingfoot. Her foot is thin, but I am wondering if I could get her in a pair for men, or is there a good womens wading boot just waiting to fit her foot like a glass slipper. She doesn’t want me to go crazy with price not that price matters when your wife says take me fly fishing.
That’s a good suggestion chewy gave but sometimes you don’t know till she tries them on and if she’s like my lady they love trying on shoes till they get the right ones. She finally settled on a pair of Simms M’s size 7, but she almost always wears heavy socks. Even though she wears a W’s size 6. They seem to fit her really well and I find her wading further than before because she has a stable base.
My wife, who has a narrow foot loves and will not ever change to another brand, her Chota wading boots. I also have a pair and they are great boots. Excellent fit, light as a feather, great ankle supprt and good ankle cushioning to help keep gravel and sand out.
My daughter loves her Korkers that I bought her last fall. She has very tiny feet and the Korkers fit to a tee.
Best bet, take your wife shoe shopping, if possible. Take neoprene socks or her waders and have her try on the boots and walk a bit in them. Nothing ruins a fine day of fishing like boots that hurt your feet or don’t give proper support.
If that’s not possible, have her foot measured at a shoe store wearing her neo socks or waders. Most shoe stores will be helpful, especially if she’s a return customer. Then order the appropriate size.
If your stuck with mail order, pick a dealer with a liberal return policy so you can experiment until you find a pair that fits and supports her foot well.
I got a new pair of "high heels’ for Christmas, Simm’s Freestones and I love the support they give. My last pair were Chota’s and were light and comfy and served me well. Biggest thing is a proper fit, have her take her waders and the socks she plans to wear fishing and go shopping!!
Bedlam: I wear women’s size 9 AA (like your wife’s feet?) - very hard to find shoes in this size. I can’t just walk into your average shoe store and find shoes that fit me. Fortunately, men’s Korkers in size 9 work really well for me as long as i wear thick socks (eg. The thickest smart wool socks) with liner socks. If she can find some to try, she might check Korkers. More specifically, I have last year’s version with the boa lacing system.
What Casey said. TAKE THE WADERS and try the boot on with them. I used to get Chota boots, but my waders had a lighter (and smaller bootie). When I upgraded my waders, I could no longer get them in the Chota boots. I ended up with Cabela Ultralights. Great for the price. I tried on a lot more boots over the years and the ones I ended up getting last summer was the Orvis River Guard Side Zip Brogue With EcoTrax Soles. Best boots I’ve had, bar none. I love them even better than the Chota’s. The Ovis ones were the easiest boots I’ve ever to put on…add to that, great support and well built. I’ll never look back.
I wear a womens 9.5 but I have a wide foot. If your wife has a narrow foot, you’ll probably have more luck with the womens sized boots. Alway go up at least one full size.
My casual shoes and hiking boots etc are Mens size 8.5. I get them for the width. My wading boots are usually a Men’s 11. The reason is the stocking foot is huge on my waders, (think Bozo the Clown). The Ovis boots I bought were so roomy that I was able to go down to a 10 (mens). I was very glad I didn’t take a chance and mail order them, like I almost did. TRY THEM ON FIRST!!! Once you’ve hit one…you can stick with it, IF you don’t change your waders (model).
Thanks for all the tips. For the first time ever, I am excited about shoe shopping with my wife! We will make a night of it, get a babysitter, get dressed up…in our waders and hit the town. I’ve got a new fishing vest I could wear to the mall and let her fill the pockets with what she buys. I’ll have to but my vibram sole on my korkers to be store floor friendly.
