Going to LMFR at the end of the month. question, should I invest in some felt bottom wade boots for the river or can I get by with a good rubber grip type boot? I plan on doing alot of warm water fishing in area lakes and ponds.Dont want to buy two types of boot if not needed. thank you for all your TFF expert advice.

Bill

Bill, I have fished the LMF dozens of times. I have fallen many times there. My first and foremost advice to you is to get you a good wading staff. The rocks in that river are SLICK, SLICK, SLICK!! That being said, the best wading shoe I have found is the newest rubber-soled shoes. (Mine are Orvis) They have studs that screw into the soles. I would stay away from buying a new felt-soled wading shoe because so many states are outlawing them.

Just be sure you take it slow & easy when you're moving around. Again, I stress that a good wading staff is worth its weight in gold when trying to keep your balance on those rocks at the LMF!

JR

thanks JR , advice well taken. I will stick to the good rubber soled shoe. prob orvis as well . And I will get a good wading staff for when I wade. I might also take a kayak to drift fish about 6 miles down stream from hwy70 to my cabin. cant wait !
Thanks !

Bill

I'm from Ohio and fished a lot of great lakes steelhead. That being said, started with felt but went to rubber soles. I had more grip than my friends with studded felt without studs. Up there is flat shale that is slicker than snot I had to help them across sometimes. To each his own but I'll ne'er go felt again.

BP has some nice Whiteriver extreme Angler rubber studded wade boots for around 100.00. Think Ill get em. if they have size 11.

I believe the brand is called kockers ? But they have a great wading boot out an they come with both rubber soles an felt in the box for about 110 at bass pro an for 30 bucks more you can get felt with studs or rubber with studs but you might want to check them out thereca good investment an easy to change out yet hard to come off

When buying wade boots should I get my reg shoe size or go a size bigger ?

I would recommend going to the shop and trying them on, wearing wading socks or however you'll be configured on the water.

I plan on wearing them year round with wading socks summer and neoprine socks in the winter.

If you're going to be wearing them over waders always get one size larger than you normally wear.

Thanks HJB !

I'm gonna second rrhyne's comment about trying them on in the store with the waders & socks you're gonna be wearing.

Sorry, hugejohnboy, but I'm gonna disagree with upsizing them. No offense, but I used to work for Orvis and have worked in Alaska wearing waders & boots daily.

Upsizing is not necessary in most cases. I wear 8-1/2 street shoe, and wading shoes normally come in full sizes. I wear a size 9 wading shoe. If you're calling that upsizing, then I agree with you.

One thing you want to keep in mind is that if you're gonna be wearing them year-round (as indicated) DO NOT get them too small!! Cutting off the circulation is worse than having some wiggle room for your toes!!

Take your waders & a THICK pair of wading socks to the store. Having the shoes too big will cause as much of a tripping hazard as the slimy rocks will...

Have I mentioned using a wading staff?????

JR

ALaska has outlawed the felt boots...not allowed. Just a matter of time until most other states follow suit.

I can't count myself a big fan of laws about what people can wear or not in the water, but I've seen enough beautiful, vibrant streams wrecked by rock snot and other invasives to have gotten on the down-with-felt side of this one.

"Just a matter of time until most other states follow suit."

That means years and years in Texas. Just look at how they handled zebra mussels. Felt's going to be around for a long time. Two thumbs down for Korkers, the brand that field tests by selling their product and seeing how it goes. Failed my field test, and then the "new version" comes out ... V3.0. Whenever a company tells you to soak their boots before you put them on, you know there's an endemic problem there.