I read recently that a lot of states are outlawing felt soles for a lot of their waterways, I just recents found then tossed out my old fishing boots that had felt soles and was curious what was happeing in Utah.
Felt soled waders have been linked to the distribution of several invasive species, notably New Zealand mudsnails. They have not been outlawed yet, but the DWR strongly urges anglers to look at the other available options when purchasing or replacing their waders.
Thanks for asking
Paul Birdsey
Coldwater Sportfish Coordinator
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
you should get some regular waders so you dont need to constantly worry about cleaning the sole good and drying it and putting chemicals on them for another day use. To much time consuming with regular just holes it down good the end [:)]
This is a tough subject. While shoe laces and the tongues on all boots re potential hiding places, it is the fact that it takes so long for felt to dry, meaning longer to be a potential problem.
They have not been banned in Utah. And many of the major boot manufactures are still making them. Simms brought a new line of felt soles back out.
While a several states have asked for this ban, only a few have implemented it:
http://www.stopans.org/Felt_Bans.htm
Felt Soles are slippery anyway. I prefer a good pair of Nike’s a size too big.
Felt Soles are slippery anyway. I prefer a good pair of Nike’s a size too big.
Well… they might be slippery on muddy bank, but they are far from slippery on mossy slick cobble in streams!
That’s the whole problem with felt soles: There is nothing currently on the market that performs as well as felt on slipper streams. This is exactly why boot manufacturer’s continue to make them, and thus why there is some controversy over whether or not they should be banned. As flygoddess pointed out, if felt is banned, why not shoelaces and other material similar to felt that provide areas for hitchhikers to catch a ride.
Until a competitive product comes along that performs better than felt, anglers will probably continue to use it.
There is but you will pay for it. Boots with carbide studs in them are amazing compared to felt. Down side is they suck if youre in and out of boats.
Korkers have a sole with them in it.
I have been wearing Simms with the Aquastealth sole for about 10 or better years. I have the carbide studs in them and replace them yearly. Good but on moss, felt still is better, but in snow they suck…:LOL
That’s why we should buy one piece waders [:P] like I do [angelic].
There is but you will pay for it. Boots with carbide studs in them are amazing compared to felt. Down side is they suck if youre in and out of boats.
Korkers have a sole with them in it.
studs may be OK, but they still aren’t as good as felt on slick rock. But, the bigger issue is that we don’t allow studs in our rafts.
My boots are the Korkers kling-on soles. They’ve been pretty good. I’m not really a fan of the inter-changeable soles, so I’ve avoided them.
kinda funny Simms ran a big campaign banning felt even to the point were they were not going to sale felt boots any more. It must of hit there bottom line cause that abandoned it and continue to sale felt boots.
I echo everything said before laces, tongues, and materials on the boot can transport disease felt being the most concentrated area. Regardless of felt or no felt only proper cleaning can really rid your gear of diseas. Hmm maybe they should include a small cleaning kit with every boot.
I got to agree with PBH I got a pair of boots with the vibramax rubber soles and carbide studs I cant say they do any better than regular felt but they did cost more, the studs alone were 20 bucks.
I went with rubber soles for a while and have regular 1 piece waders non felt solet and ended up really tweaking my knee a couple years ago because they’re simply just to slippery for many river substrates so now I have the korker interchangeables and switch out between felt and Rubber in the different conditions. I will always consider my personal health and safety first… and abide by the law where it prohibits felt sole boots.