Many of us have learned the hard way why boots are so important. Depending on where you will be fishing different soles might suit you better.
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Rubber Sole
- Rubber sole boots are new to the fly fishing community. Rubber soles are great for anyone who will be doing lots of hiking on their way to the fishing hole. Rubber soles have often proved themselves to have an advantage over felt soles on freestone creeks. Most new rubber soles tend to grip wet, algae covered rocks fairly well. Given the fact that typical felt soles wear much quicker, this might be a suitable alternative. Vibram sole are arguably the best value sole on the market. We highly recommend these rubber sole boots:
- Simms G3 Guide Boot
- Orvis Access Wading Boot
(top choice)
- Rubber sole boots are new to the fly fishing community. Rubber soles are great for anyone who will be doing lots of hiking on their way to the fishing hole. Rubber soles have often proved themselves to have an advantage over felt soles on freestone creeks. Most new rubber soles tend to grip wet, algae covered rocks fairly well. Given the fact that typical felt soles wear much quicker, this might be a suitable alternative. Vibram sole are arguably the best value sole on the market. We highly recommend these rubber sole boots:
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Felt Sole
- Felt sole wading boots probably have the deepest roots of the three types of soles mentioned. Chances are most of us have used a felt sole boot at one point or another. But the question is are they obsolete now? Felt soles are geared specifically towards freestone streams with lots of slick rock and gravel. Of the three we have listed this is certainly our least favorite.The only real upside to wearing felt soles is they are certainly the quietest of the three. Here are some of our recommendations:
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Studded Sole
- Lastly, studded sole boots are ideal for any angler wading big water. Studded soles provide extra grip strength when wading soft bottom streams or lakes and gravel. The only drawback to studs is you must be cautious when walking on ice or wet rocks. Some studded soles come with the boots and others you have to purchase separately. Here are the studded boots/soles we recommend:
- Korkers Greenback Wading Boot
- Orvis Posigrip Screw-in Studs
(just studs)
- Redington Palix River Wading Boot Sticky Rubber (must purchase studs seperately)
- Lastly, studded sole boots are ideal for any angler wading big water. Studded soles provide extra grip strength when wading soft bottom streams or lakes and gravel. The only drawback to studs is you must be cautious when walking on ice or wet rocks. Some studded soles come with the boots and others you have to purchase separately. Here are the studded boots/soles we recommend:
(top choice)
(just studs)