• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Deneki Outdoors Fishing Lodges

Alaska | The Bahamas | Chile

  • About Deneki Outdoors
  • Our Fishing Lodges
    • Alaska West
    • Andros South
    • Rapids Camp
    • Rio Salvaje
  • Deneki Blog
    • Alaska West
    • Andros South
    • Chile
    • Fish
    • Fishing Reports
    • Fly Tying
    • Gear
    • General
    • Guest Posts
    • News
    • Rapids Camp
    • Rio Salvaje
    • Tips
  • Contact Us

Jul 20 2009

Wading Boots: What’s On Your Sole?

Our boots: still mostly felt, but cleaned well.

As awareness has built up over the past few years about aquatic invasive species and the damage they can do to our fisheries, anglers have been paying a lot more attention to the soles of their wading boots.

Felt soles on wading boots are a great way for nasty critters like the New Zealand mud snail to hitch a ride from one piece of water to another. Responsible companies like Simms have been working hard on alternatives to felt soles, and quite a few anglers have started cleaning their felt soles religiously, or switching to non-felt soles made of materials like Vibram.

Some regions have banned felt soles entirely, but in most places there’s a more gradual transition taking place.

Where do you stand on the wading boot sole topic? What’s on the bottom of your boots? Are you cleaning your felt soles when you move from one river to the next? Have you abandoned felt in favor of Vibram?

We’ll start things off! Our loaner wading boots live permanently on one river (the Kanektok or the Dean), so we’re not replacing our felt-soled loaner boots. For our personal gear, most of our boots are still felt but we clean them well when we travel, and we’re generally buying Vibram-soled boots when we get a new pair.

What’s on the bottom of your boots? Let us know – leave a comment on this page using the form below. We’ll post the results next week. Thanks for your input!

More Gear Polls
What’s Your Favorite Trout Rod?
Favorite Trout Rod Results
What’s Your Favorite Bonefish Rod?
Favorite Bonefish Rod Results

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Eric Dawson says

    July 20, 2009 at 6:32 am

    I've always used neoprene waders with a Vibram sole.
    Mostly because I'm cheap and I use the same waders for duck and geese.

    I have been happy with them and they are really easy to clean.

    Footing has been an issue at times, especially in New England where there tends to be a lot of moss.

    At least if I fall in the tank, i have 3 mil neoprene!

  2. Deneki Outdoors says

    July 20, 2009 at 8:02 am

    @Bramano commented from Twitter:
    Only vilt [felt], no studs!

  3. Reamus says

    July 21, 2009 at 8:29 am

    Studs are sure nice to have on rivers like the Dean but they tear the stuffings out of anything else that you walk on. Non studded rubber can be slick as snot on surfaces like damp aluminium or decking. Felt gathers mud, bad critters and have you ever walked in wet snow in them? So there is no one silver bullet in my mind yet.

  4. Chris Price says

    July 21, 2009 at 10:05 am

    I have not had the opportunity to use the vibram soles but I have seen a demo pair in action. Within a week of use the knobs on the soles began to break off little by little.
    However, I am in agreement with the idea behind the vibram soles, not transferring unwanted aquatic life.
    I fish in Alaska and Chile and have felt soles. I have a pair for each location which do not travel back and forth.

  5. Rick Sisler says

    July 21, 2009 at 1:47 pm

    My favorite boot set up is felt with studs though I have found a couple situations where they did not work well or were not necessary. I have used vibram once and busted my ass on some mud, but like anything they will work well in the right circumstances.I do think that no matter what you are using it us up to us to be aware of environmental issues we may be causing with our love of fishing. If we truly care about our best fishing hole we will/should do whatever necessary to alleviate our mark on this land. Either by using vibram soled boots, excessively cleaning our felt sole boots or using separate boots for different fisheries,

  6. bob says

    July 23, 2009 at 10:44 am

    Unfortunately I just purchased multiple pairs of wading boots (different sizes for different conditions), and they all have felt soles…………I am cleaning them and also letting them dry out before the next use or if I change river systems, where the disease has not been observed yet.

  7. Tom says

    November 12, 2009 at 7:42 am

    I have always used felt soled boots and had no problem with them. However for my trip to the Ponoi River on the Kola Peninsula in Russia in June (best time to go :-))I purchased a pair of Simms G4's with the new vibram sole and have not, to date, fished off a better platform. I know that there are pro' and con's to felt versus vibram, but in the long run if vibram soles are going to protect our fisheries from invasive species then there can be no contest. I am fishing New Zealand in February / March and felt sole boots are banned completely there, way to go.

  8. John Gaynor says

    December 28, 2012 at 4:59 am

    I use Vibram soled boots with Tungston screw- in studs at home in the uk as we get very slippery wading conditions.When I put the studs in (with electric drill)a drop of Super glue helps keep them from “rubbing out”..When I travel abroad the studs unscrew(with the drill) without damaging the Vibram sole.Dont press too hard on the drill when putting them in as it will strip the thread (in the Vibram).If I am going to be traveling in a boat (Alaska or BC) as a courtesy I remove the studs for these trips.One doesnt want to piss the guides off!!We also have a “belt and braces”approach to the protecting against invasive species.All equipment (waders,rods,reels,lines) MUST be treated and certified by a vet before being taken abroad.We should value the valuable resource we have in our fantastic rivers.I would like my grandchildren to be able to enjoy it to!!

Trackbacks

  1. Aquatic Invasive Species | Clean Your Gear says:
    March 30, 2011 at 6:02 am

    […] boots, waders and boat any time you move from one piece of water to another.  Regardless of the material on the sole of your wading boots, cleaning your gear thoroughly is the most important step you can […]

  2. Life and Fishing! « The Urban Fly Fisher says:
    June 5, 2013 at 10:32 pm

    […] am not even sure you want them to dry out properly unless you are moving between rivers and want to kill some beasties on them so that stuff does not spread between […]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Plan Your Trip

Let our experts plan the fishing adventure of your dreams.
Contact Now

Search Topics

Subscribe to our newsletter

All Blog Posts

Recent Posts

  • The New Fly Angler, Welcome!
  • Alaska West in July is a Fly Fisher’s Dream
  • Deneki Custom Fly Series: Rapids Camp Smolt
  • Deneki Chronicles: Spey Casting Tips – Stuart Foxall on Adjusting Overhang
  • Alaska West: We Can’t Wait

All About Spey

All About Trout

All About Bonefishing

All About Gear

Best Posts

Footer

Deneki Outdoors

Mailing address:
200 W 34th Ave.
PMB 1170
Anchorage, AK 99503

Office:
4451 Aircraft Drive
Suite 202
Anchorage, AK 99502

US Information and Reservations
800-344-3628

International Information and Reservations
+1 907-563-9788

Email: info@deneki.com

Our Lodges

Rapids Camp
King Salmon, Alaska

Alaska West
Kanektok River, Alaska

Andros South
South Andros Island, The Bahamas

Rio Salvaje
Puerto Montt, Chile

Deneki Outdoors thanks Peter Viau, Tosh Brown, Abe Blair, Kyle Shea and Kara Knight for the beautiful photography used on our sites.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

#denekioutdoors

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Copyright © 2021 · Deneki Outdoors · Privacy Policy · Site by 21 Designs

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we assume that you are okay with it.Ok