[Trout Madness]

Has anyone had experience with wading shoes soled with AQUASTEALTH? Do they have a better grip on slippery rocks or slate covered with algae, moss, etc?

[Joni]

I do, I have the Simms Aquastealth on my Ultra Lights. I think they do, they are like tiny sucktion cups. Around here we do get SNOW and lots of it. The pro's to felt is that they stick to frozen rocks, the con's, they stick to other frozen rocks and they build up with snow which makes it hard to walk.
One thing about my Simms. They came with small sheet metal screws. I just screwed four in the ball portion of the boot and two in the heel. Easy to remove for boat activity, but extra security when walking (plus saves the life of the sole)
You can do this with felt soles also.

Plus, I like the way they click when I walk on pavement

[mhclayton]

I have been using some Simms boots with Aquastealth soles. Seems to me that they aren't quite up to felt standards for sticking to mossy rocks (I haven't used the screws yet), but not too bad. Way ahead of the old rubber soled cleated waders. Where they really shine is climbing up and down steep, rocky banks all day with leaf litter scattered on top. Try that with felt! My only injuries while wading were from falls climbing banks rather than wading.

[Joni]

Felt does have it's plus's. Like felt will stick to rocks in real cold conditions.
Try putting just a few screws in your Simms (four in the ball of the foot area and two in the heel). It will help a lot on the slime, plus the screws are cheap enough and they do save on the sole for walking distances in the boot.

[mojo]

I've had the Simms Guide boots with Aquastealth and studs for pretty close to 10 years now. It's the only boot I use on rivers. Never had a problem that I can recall. The other plus to A/S is the easy cleaning and no didymo or whirling disease, zebra mussle worry. Downside to mine is they're all leather. I do have to soak them before putting them on. The new ones are different now.
I do have a pair of felt soled, but only use them tubing and tooning. I did try them on the river when I first got them, but I did like the A/S better.