Traction Control

[FISHN50]

I wore out the studs on my second pair of Chota STL's & just replaced them, but the felt is worn down where they are just studded soles & not Felt studded soles. I was wondering what the most popular & best wading shoe or boot foot configuration is.

 

[Silver Doc]

:smile: You have a great pair of wading boots. I've had the ones I'm using for the past 51/2 years. The studs are replaceable as are the soles. What I did was bought the soles and the studs as well as the laces directly from Chota. I removed the old soles and replaced them with the new soles plus the studs. There is some trimming to do after gluing. I made them stick using Gorilla glue. You have to make sure that they are well attached. What I did was to use small screws to secure the soles at different sites on the sole. After a week to ensure that the glue is dry I remove the screws that held the soles in place. Then I replaced the studs. I fish at least 3 to 4 times a week and just now after 2 years of fishing the soles will need to be changed. It takes a litle patience, but you have a new pair of boots, so to speak. I have a brand new pair that have sat in the closet for the past 5 years. Hope this helps. Frank

 

[BigCliff]

I'm a big fan of the Patagonia Beefy Wading Shoe. The studs are small and just barely protrude through the felt. This allows the felt to grip, but the studs help alot on slimy rocks.

 

[hardhat]

I use two different type of shoes. I ahve one pair I use with waders, and another type used for wet wading. Both have felt bottoms. I have replace the felt on the bottom with after market rerplacements with good results. I can also give the gorillas glue a second thumbs up.

 

[Wyatt]

I bought a pair of Brown Proline felt sole boots with velcro, cheap just to get by for starting out till I decided what I wanted/needed or what might work in the local streams/rivers, so far I'am happy with these cheat boots, easy on, easy off, good fit over my waders and when you put 280 lbs in them traction has not been a problem even on the slick rocks, my problem is dry flat ground.

 

[45fisher]

Re: Traction Control additons (YakTraxs, Gripons etc)

Has anyone tried using YakTrax or other gripping devices with their waderboots? If yes, do they stay on while rock hoping etc?
I have used them but only for winter street conditions. I have never used them for conditions encountered in stream beds.
I am asking because just yesterday while wetwading for smallies in a new location the use of cleats would have saved me a few 'crash and burns'.
I have been using Tecnica Immersion FLT Watershoes for wet wading for awhile now and I am very pleased with them. The rubber/felt soles work very well under most conditions. Most notable is the fact that these boots/shoes were purchased for a purpose other than wetwading.
After yesterday I was looking at purchasing some 'cleated' boots. I am hesitating because they would not be used all that much. The YakTraxs or similiar devices could be easily carried and put on when conditions such as I encountered yesterday.
A thought.

 

[FISHN50]

I'm going to try & replace the felt soles on the chotas. I've replaced felts in the past with barge cement & it never lasted too long. The felts always just peeled off eventually,even after making sure everything was clean & dry . The felt on the Chotas is stitched on & I can't find a shoemaker in the area that would stitch new ones on so I wasn't going to replace them. I'll give gorilla glue a try. Is there a dry flexible type Gorilla glue or just the one type?

 

[Fishplease]

Who needs good traction when you have balance and foresight?
I had a pair of rubber hip waders that were lug sole. I got tired of having to carry 2 things back.

 

[aroostookbasser]

Try using "goop"....works to patch waders as well. If you have booted waders with lug soles. You can add felts grip by using hunters scent pads on them. The kind that have the felt pad/sole and elastic strap to hold them in place. I use two per boot. (less than 20.00...and grips really good.)

 

[Frank Whiton]

Hi aroostookbasser,

You are right about the GOOP. It is a great product. I always had some in my essentials bag in Alaska. I have repaired just about every thing that might break, tear or rip on a bear or fishing trip. On one trip the sole on my hiking boot tore loose at the toe. It was flapping and I could not walk in it. A little GOOP drying over night and I used that boot for several more years.

Frank

 

[Joni]

I have the Simm's Light Weights with the Aquastealth sole. The cleets are sheet metal screws and they work fantastic. I don't care much for the felt soles, specially in the winter here. They just collect to much snow, not to mention little critters that hang on to them.
I have had my Simms for about 8 yrs now. Two years into them the whole sole separated from the boot and for $25. I got a brand new pair that I am still using. Replaced the cleets twice.
I do have a pair of CHOTA'S I wear for wet wading in the summer. A light weight shoe more than a boot.
And of course the booted breathable hippers I use in my pontoon.

 

[Fly2Fish]

Unlike some others in this thread, I haven't had much luck using Goop to re-attach in any semi-permanent way the felt soles that came loose on an old pair of bootfoot hip waders I have. Perhaps I needed to clamp the soles somehow to the boot bottom. Sounds like Barge isn't thought of too highly, either, but does anyone have experience using Gorilla for re-attaching felt boot soles? Also, if there are different variations on Gorilla glue, as appears to be the case, any preference?

Thanks, all.

 

[Frank Whiton]

Hi Fly2Fish,

I went to the Goop site and they don't list the shoe repair Goop that I used. It said Shoe Goop on the tube. Some of the other ones might work but I don't know which one to recommend. One of them that glues rubber may be good.

Frank

 

[Fly2Fish]

I have the Simm's Light Weights with the Aquastealth sole. The cleets are sheet metal screws and they work fantastic. . . . I don't care much for the felt soles, specially in the winter here. They just collect to much snow, not to mention little critters that hang on to them.

Joni (& anyone else with experience of the two sole types), notwithstanding the felt/snow issue (I guess I'm just a fair weather fisherman), what would your preference be between a studded felt sole and a studded Aquastealth sole in a river situation with mossy boulders and occasionally submerged mossy logs? I'm asking because I have a pair of Korkers Konvertibles which I think a great deal of, and of course they have interchangeable soles.

 

[Joni]

It is going to sound weird from me, but on just MOSSY bottoms, I would say FELT with studs will work better (because my hippers are felt).
I love my Stealth studded soles, but I do feel that felt does prevent slipping more in some cases.

 

[fishyfred]

I use Simms hard bites on the perimeter of my felts. None on the inside. Best combo for grip, plus they are removable with having to fork over the $$$ for a pair of chota STL's

 

[Fly2Fish]

It is going to sound weird from me, but on just MOSSY bottoms, I would say FELT with studs will work better (because my hippers are felt).
I love my Stealth studded soles, but I do feel that felt does prevent slipping more in some cases.

Joni, just what wading situations do you think that studded Aquastealth soles are superior to studded felt soles (igoring snow accumulation)?

 

[Joni]

Joni, just what wading situations do you think that studded Aquastealth soles are superior to studded felt soles (igoring snow accumulation)?

IDAHO LOL. There is more gravel than big rocks in the rivers I fish in Idaho. There are some rivers up in Vernal by the Lodge that have smaller rocks also. There doesn't seem to be the slimy moss accumulation like there is on bigger rocks. The Provo get very slimy as do some parts of the Ogden and Weber.
For the most part, I make due with my stealth and it is a better all around choice for me. On boat docks however, while launching my boat...FELT
I also recommend a good wading staff at all times.

 

[Fly2Fish]

. . . There is more gravel than big rocks in the rivers I fish in Idaho. . . . I also recommend a good wading staff at all times.

I probably mis-spoke when I said boulders. While the San Juan/NM does have some boulders, those rocks are probably closer to large gravel than boulders . . . plenty mossy, though. However, up in Jackson Hole in some of the streams feeding into lakes along the Snake River system, the footing is harder to game, between mossy logs, slate-type boulders and just plain rocks.

I couldn't keep dry without a wading staff :thumbsupu. It's indispensable, and allows me much faster in-water movement than without it. BTW, Orvis sells a great magnetic belt retrieve for a wading staff, so that you always know where it is when you need it (& those times tend to be urgent:yikes: for me).

 

[sandfly]

as one who repairs boots and waders, i suggest either goop or aqua-seal for felts, i also buy and install 1/4 x 1/4 and 1/4 x 1/2 hex head screws in the soles..cheaper than buying studded soles..a drop of aqua seal on the threads help hold them in..they work for cleated boots also..just screw them into the cleat portion of the sole...great for ice..