Nice video, Ben, with a LOT of good information. I remember when I started fly-fishing back in 1976 and I just used some old hiking boots with a rubber vibram sole. With those hard rubber soles, trying to get around Oregon's rocky and often algae covered river beds was like trying to walk on oil. Read an article back in the 70's suggesting to get some indoor/outdoor carpet and glue that onto boots that don't have felt. So I got a fairly small square of indoor/outdoor carpet and glued those onto the bottom of my boots and all of a sudden I could get around really well there. I have the Orvis BOA boot now that I got after wearing out a pair of their inside side-zipper boots. I liked the side zipper because I just needed to lace them once to get the fit I needed and then use the zipper to get in and out. It was especially helpful at the end of the day getting out of the boots. Had to keep the zipper lubed to keep it working well but that was not hard. But, they no longer made those side-zip boots when I wore them out, so I got their boots with the BOA system. I use orthotics in my boots because I've had bad ankles for quite a while and a higher top boot with more support has been the right choice for me since the mid-90's or so. After fishing with my Orvis BOA boots for the last few years, I much prefer them to any of the boots I'd had in the past. I have no trouble snugging them up securely by just twisting that wheel, and at the end of the day you just pop that outside ring up to release the tension and slide your foot out. The bottom of the boots I'm using have a hybrid sole on it. It uses the soft sticky rubber for the main part of the bed and the harder rubber for the edges to keep from wearing them out too quickly. I also use studs with them and pretty well go anywhere that I used to with studded felts without a problem. I am a fan of the BOA system because I'm older and fatter now and I really appreciate both the good fit and the ease of use.
Nice video, as usual! I just bought some Korkers this year and really like them! Trying them on with a sock and waders is a must! I would add that the BOA system can be tightened up when wading more easily, if the boot starts to come a little loose/feet sliding. Laces are a more of pain if they need tightening. Having said that my wading boots have laces for cost/simplicity. Also, if you ever hire a guide with a boat on a river or lake, they won't like carbide or metal spikes on your boots in the boat, due to the damage the spikes will cause to the boat!.
Man... Bought the Korker R.O. with Boa and wanted to love them. Was shocked that they did not have a clip to attach gravel guard from waders. Was a no go for me. Sold them at a slight discount from what i paid.
I still have 2 pairs of old orvis boots, they have a zip on the side. I will cry when these give up, ive had them for years. so comfortable and easy to get on and off
Thanks! I was stressing over having a shoe size that's got a 1/2 measurement in there but you told me what I what I needed to know... to go up a size and a half (and just wear thicker socks)
I've decided to get Korkers with the quick lace feature that you spoke of in this video; however I'm not certain which model to get? I have a budget of under $300; Want to be able to put my large Redington Sonic-Pro waders on & my Korkers on at the house... Pack-up the car, drive to one of several spots on either the Sandy, Clackamas, or Wison River near Portland, Oregon (with my Korker Wading Boots on); walk-in, fish, walk-out, then drive home with my chest waders & wading boots on... Which model do you suggest? I fish year-round for salmon & steelhead. Comfort & Mobility are my top priority. Thankyou.
You gotta be kidding me?! They cracked on the toes after 6 days of fishing and busted my ankle, so I could not fish for 1 month. I hate this crap boots and they cost me 300$. Thats the only time I bought something different than Simms and I highly regret!
Light weight boots are expensive and don’t survive long. The Korkers Green Backs, although not as light as Simms or Orvis are a great light weight option for price and durability. They lasted four times longer than my Simms Fly weight and were half the cost
In all my years of selling wading gear and using waders, i would say two sizes. I have us size 8 and have always used size 10 in boots. Then i have room for thick wool socks
Personally I wear middle weight ploy bottoms, liner socks with mid weight wool socks. Water temperatures can still cold even that late season, so I would say it is up to the individual & their personal tolerance for cold water. Water temperatures vary greatly depending upon lake vs stream vs river & then there's the great lakes which are always fridge,, my home water are the Arrowhead of Minnesota
I totally use layers in the Pacific Northwest (Washington primarily) depending upon the air and water temperature. Winter steelheading I'll wear a next to skin layer of thermax, or similar synthetic that fits closely to wick moisture away from my skin. If it fits loosely, it doesn't wick the moisture away from your skin well and you can get that muggy feeling inside your waders. Then I'll wear a pair of fleece pants over that and then my waders. If you don't have fleece pants a pair of Polyester (not cotton) sweat pants will work well at keeping you warm, dry, and comfortable. When the water is not too cold I can get by with just a pair of synthetic, quick-drying pants without the fleece pants. Do NOT wear denim or any cotton. When they get wet they hold the moisture. When the weather is in the 80's or above, I will usually wet wade using some neoprene booties inside my wading boots so they are not sloppy. I prefer to use zip-off synthetic pants because I can stay cooler in them during the day and they dry out very quickly. In the pleasant temperatures of the evening, when the mosquitoes come out, I'll zip the legs back on. I also will get a rash from poison oak now days, although during my youth I could just walk right through it. So I'll definitely zip the legs back on if I have to go through an area with a lot of poison oak. By the way, if you get too hot at anytime wearing breathable waders, just get in the water up to your waste and you will experience the weird sensation of drying out as the waders wick the moisture from inside your waders to the outside of your waders into the water.
SIMMS if You want to be seen as a rich yuppie and and you have to also wear a Yeti hat.....KORKERS with BOA laces if You want the most innovative and practical boots and don't give a dam what other people think 2:534:343:36
Bulshit... Korkers is a joke, compared to Simms😉300$ River Ops cracked on the toes after 6 days of fishing and busted my ankle, so I could not fish for 1 month. Thats the only time I bought something different than Simms and I highly regret! Call me yuppie if you want, but no crap boots for me any more....
Yeah the "one full size up" is not hardly a universal truth. Orvis boots are not sized that way. They include the extra space for waders and thick socks. I wear a size 11 regular shoe because I use orthotics. Otherwise I'd be 10½. In all the wading boots that I have bought from Orvis sing 1987 (when I first started working for them), all the Orvis brand wading boots were sized that way. The only exception to that was the Gary Borger Wading Brogues we carried in the late 80's. You typically had to go up 2-sizes with that one to put neoprene waders plus socks in them. So not a universal statement. Go into the store is the best choice if you can do that because you can, as it says here, try them on. If you can't go to a store, give them a call, e-mail them, or even better - use the chat feature on their website. Best to contact a store that carries them though because they will have experience helping folks get the right size. Another fallacy is that you can't put studs in felt. I think what he's referring to are the screw in studs you can buy separately. If the sole under the felts isn't thick enough, you could have the sharp point poking through the foot-bed. But that's not how studded felts were done. Didn't matter what boots you applied them to because the studs were installed through the felts from the back side and poked through the bottom. Not only were studded felt sole boots available throughout the 90's and early 2000's, you could buy them separately and install them on your boots or replace worn out felts with studded felts. In my experience, since they first started banning felt soles state wide in 2011, the studded rubber soles are the next best thing. The studded felt replacement soles came with the right adhesive to use (waterproof contact cement) and they actually stuck better if you just sanded the old felts down below the dirt point in the remaining felt instead of to the bare rubber, and then applied the glue. They stuck better with that prep because the remnants of the previous felt were more porous and more adhesive actually stuck them in place. They came in one huge size you could cut down, but you didn't want to cut them down until after they had been glued in place and the glue had dried well. After applying the adhesive, we'd typically either put a 20-lb. weight on them overnight (bucket of 3-gallons of water works great) or duct tape them in place. After curing over night, then you would trim them to size using a box cutter. If you are a little OCD, you could then take a sander to the edges to smooth everything nicely. They not only gave you the best grip of any boots, the studs helped the felt part last a long time. In my experience, since they first started banning felt soles state wide in 2011, the studded rubber soles are the next best thing. The Killer with felt soles and studded felt soles is that they hold onto everything. And, as we found out in the 2000's whirling disease, which is a hatchery disease that originally came from Europe with some infected brown trout, is almost impossible to kill. It devastates Rainbow trout but Brown trout are resistant because it's infected hatcheries in the Europe for centuries and the Browns are rarely killed by it now. But it devastated the Madison River when folks with felt soles fished there after fishing in infected streams with the same felt soles. The felt soles carried the eggs to the new river and were released on the bottom where they typically inhabit in the sediment. Tubifex worms will consume them and the eggs hatch in the worms. Trout eat the worms and the adult parasite makes its way to the trout's brain. After residing in the trout, laying eggs, and partially consuming bits of brain matter, the parasite causes the trout to typically start swimming in small circles - hense "whirling disease" They expel the eggs both in fecal matter and as the dead fish rots. The eggs lie dormant until the tubifex worms ingest them and start the cycle over again. without tubifex worms the eggs remain dormant. virtually all decent size trout streams have sediment in them with tubifex worms in the sediment. And once that cycle starts, good luck stopping it. Now you can't buy a rainbow in the Madison River of Montana because of whirling disease. Brown trout are there and the occasional cutthroat. As I mentioned earlier Browns are all but immune to it. Cutthroat stay in tributaries longer than rainbows before moving down to the main river and typically the tribs don't have the sediment needed for good populations of tubifex worms. So the cuts are older and larger when they get tot he main-stem and less susceptible to the damage that does in the younger and smaller trout. When a hatchery is found to be infested with whirling disease, they typically drained it, dried it, and bleached it. Then after letting it stay dry for 3 to 5-years, they would put water back in it and use it again to raise hatchery trout. Problem with that was that upon utilizing that concrete run again, the whirling disease, which had remained dormant, became active again and infected all the fish in that hatchery run once again. This got so bad in Colorado, that they go ahead and raise hatchery rainbows in those infected runs and just make sure they plant them in streams that are already infected. If you are using felt soles and you want to be sure you don't infect another stream, high wet heat will kill the eggs. You need to totally submerge your boots for 3 minutes in water that is 140° or hotter to do that. Typically your tap water maxes out at 120° because that's when skin starts to burn. So you may have to boil water to add to the tap water to raise it to 140° but anything less than submerging your boots entirely in that very hot water is ineffective. Don't just submerge the felts, do the entire boots. Eggs can get in any and all the nooks and crannies in your boots like in the lacings, the corners of materials in the boot's tongue, etc. Good idea to do that with any boots you have if you have been fishing in infected streams, but it's critical with felts.
My first and only experience with a rubber-soled wading boot (Simms G3 Vibram Idrogrip sole) almost cost me my life. If I hadn't been wearing an inflatable life vest, I would have drowned. Rubber soles of any kind are NO WHERE NEAR as slip resistant as a felt sole. What a waste of $450 ... I put my life ahead of concerns about transferring invasive species.
![30 ชั่วโมงคนเดียว บนรถไฟชั้น 3 โซเวียต [Around The World Ep. 2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/MlE9boAVqDA/mqdefault.jpg)
Nice video, Ben, with a LOT of good information. I remember when I started fly-fishing back in 1976 and I just used some old hiking boots with a rubber vibram sole. With those hard rubber soles, trying to get around Oregon's rocky and often algae covered river beds was like trying to walk on oil. Read an article back in the 70's suggesting to get some indoor/outdoor carpet and glue that onto boots that don't have felt. So I got a fairly small square of indoor/outdoor carpet and glued those onto the bottom of my boots and all of a sudden I could get around really well there.
I have the Orvis BOA boot now that I got after wearing out a pair of their inside side-zipper boots. I liked the side zipper because I just needed to lace them once to get the fit I needed and then use the zipper to get in and out. It was especially helpful at the end of the day getting out of the boots. Had to keep the zipper lubed to keep it working well but that was not hard. But, they no longer made those side-zip boots when I wore them out, so I got their boots with the BOA system. I use orthotics in my boots because I've had bad ankles for quite a while and a higher top boot with more support has been the right choice for me since the mid-90's or so.
After fishing with my Orvis BOA boots for the last few years, I much prefer them to any of the boots I'd had in the past. I have no trouble snugging them up securely by just twisting that wheel, and at the end of the day you just pop that outside ring up to release the tension and slide your foot out. The bottom of the boots I'm using have a hybrid sole on it. It uses the soft sticky rubber for the main part of the bed and the harder rubber for the edges to keep from wearing them out too quickly. I also use studs with them and pretty well go anywhere that I used to with studded felts without a problem. I am a fan of the BOA system because I'm older and fatter now and I really appreciate both the good fit and the ease of use.
Nice video, as usual! I just bought some Korkers this year and really like them! Trying them on with a sock and waders is a must!
I would add that the BOA system can be tightened up when wading more easily, if the boot starts to come a little loose/feet sliding. Laces are a more of pain if they need tightening. Having said that my wading boots have laces for cost/simplicity.
Also, if you ever hire a guide with a boat on a river or lake, they won't like carbide or metal spikes on your boots in the boat, due to the damage the spikes will cause to the boat!.
Man... Bought the Korker R.O. with Boa and wanted to love them. Was shocked that they did not have a clip to attach gravel guard from waders. Was a no go for me. Sold them at a slight discount from what i paid.
I still have 2 pairs of old orvis boots, they have a zip on the side. I will cry when these give up, ive had them for years. so comfortable and easy to get on and off
Thanks! I was stressing over having a shoe size that's got a 1/2 measurement in there but you told me what I what I needed to know... to go up a size and a half (and just wear thicker socks)
Thank you for some updated information. The latest video about wading footwear I can find is 5 years old!
I've decided to get Korkers with the quick lace feature that you spoke of in this video; however I'm not certain which model to get? I have a budget of under $300; Want to be able to put my large Redington Sonic-Pro waders on & my Korkers on at the house... Pack-up the car, drive to one of several spots on either the Sandy, Clackamas, or Wison River near Portland, Oregon (with my Korker Wading Boots on); walk-in, fish, walk-out, then drive home with my chest waders & wading boots on... Which model do you suggest? I fish year-round for salmon & steelhead. Comfort & Mobility are my top priority. Thankyou.
I just bought the Korkers Devils Canyon wading Boots (size 13) enough support, but the stretchy backstrap makes for easy in-and-out of my car.
I am currently using KORKER RIVER OPS (lace up), can honestly say that they are the best wading boots that I've ever worn
You gotta be kidding me?! They cracked on the toes after 6 days of fishing and busted my ankle, so I could not fish for 1 month. I hate this crap boots and they cost me 300$. Thats the only time I bought something different than Simms and I highly regret!
Light weight boots are expensive and don’t survive long. The Korkers Green Backs, although not as light as Simms or Orvis are a great light weight option for price and durability. They lasted four times longer than my Simms Fly weight and were half the cost
What are the best for saltwater fishing for jetties
In all my years of selling wading gear and using waders, i would say two sizes. I have us size 8 and have always used size 10 in boots. Then i have room for thick wool socks
Korkers👍🏼 One boot that fits, comfortable, light weight, many soles to pick from for a given day, water, season, etc‼️ Best investment EVER❤ Jerry
Patagonia River Salt. Best boot ever made!
Is it really that good?
Does anyone make a good saltwater boot suitable for wading over pebbles and rocks and covering long distances.
What to wear under waders up near Canada border in August? Do people just wear shorts, t shirt and socks?
Personally I wear middle weight ploy bottoms, liner socks with mid weight wool socks. Water temperatures can still cold even that late season, so I would say it is up to the individual & their personal tolerance for cold water.
Water temperatures vary greatly depending upon lake vs stream vs river & then there's the great lakes which are always fridge,, my home water are the Arrowhead of Minnesota
I totally use layers in the Pacific Northwest (Washington primarily) depending upon the air and water temperature. Winter steelheading I'll wear a next to skin layer of thermax, or similar synthetic that fits closely to wick moisture away from my skin. If it fits loosely, it doesn't wick the moisture away from your skin well and you can get that muggy feeling inside your waders. Then I'll wear a pair of fleece pants over that and then my waders. If you don't have fleece pants a pair of Polyester (not cotton) sweat pants will work well at keeping you warm, dry, and comfortable. When the water is not too cold I can get by with just a pair of synthetic, quick-drying pants without the fleece pants. Do NOT wear denim or any cotton. When they get wet they hold the moisture.
When the weather is in the 80's or above, I will usually wet wade using some neoprene booties inside my wading boots so they are not sloppy. I prefer to use zip-off synthetic pants because I can stay cooler in them during the day and they dry out very quickly. In the pleasant temperatures of the evening, when the mosquitoes come out, I'll zip the legs back on. I also will get a rash from poison oak now days, although during my youth I could just walk right through it. So I'll definitely zip the legs back on if I have to go through an area with a lot of poison oak.
By the way, if you get too hot at anytime wearing breathable waders, just get in the water up to your waste and you will experience the weird sensation of drying out as the waders wick the moisture from inside your waders to the outside of your waders into the water.
An inside look into the future: exclusive interview with Binance’s CEO
Simms star cleats and studs cost $100 for a pair of boots which is obscene.
Who wears tube socks anymore? 🤣
SIMMS if You want to be seen as a rich yuppie and and you have to also wear a Yeti hat.....KORKERS with BOA laces if You want the most innovative and practical boots and don't give a dam what other people think 2:53 4:34 3:36
Bulshit... Korkers is a joke, compared to Simms😉300$ River Ops cracked on the toes after 6 days of fishing and busted my ankle, so I could not fish for 1 month. Thats the only time I bought something different than Simms and I highly regret! Call me yuppie if you want, but no crap boots for me any more....
Yeah the "one full size up" is not hardly a universal truth. Orvis boots are not sized that way. They include the extra space for waders and thick socks. I wear a size 11 regular shoe because I use orthotics. Otherwise I'd be 10½. In all the wading boots that I have bought from Orvis sing 1987 (when I first started working for them), all the Orvis brand wading boots were sized that way. The only exception to that was the Gary Borger Wading Brogues we carried in the late 80's. You typically had to go up 2-sizes with that one to put neoprene waders plus socks in them. So not a universal statement. Go into the store is the best choice if you can do that because you can, as it says here, try them on. If you can't go to a store, give them a call, e-mail them, or even better - use the chat feature on their website. Best to contact a store that carries them though because they will have experience helping folks get the right size.
Another fallacy is that you can't put studs in felt. I think what he's referring to are the screw in studs you can buy separately. If the sole under the felts isn't thick enough, you could have the sharp point poking through the foot-bed. But that's not how studded felts were done. Didn't matter what boots you applied them to because the studs were installed through the felts from the back side and poked through the bottom. Not only were studded felt sole boots available throughout the 90's and early 2000's, you could buy them separately and install them on your boots or replace worn out felts with studded felts. In my experience, since they first started banning felt soles state wide in 2011, the studded rubber soles are the next best thing.
The studded felt replacement soles came with the right adhesive to use (waterproof contact cement) and they actually stuck better if you just sanded the old felts down below the dirt point in the remaining felt instead of to the bare rubber, and then applied the glue. They stuck better with that prep because the remnants of the previous felt were more porous and more adhesive actually stuck them in place. They came in one huge size you could cut down, but you didn't want to cut them down until after they had been glued in place and the glue had dried well. After applying the adhesive, we'd typically either put a 20-lb. weight on them overnight (bucket of 3-gallons of water works great) or duct tape them in place. After curing over night, then you would trim them to size using a box cutter. If you are a little OCD, you could then take a sander to the edges to smooth everything nicely. They not only gave you the best grip of any boots, the studs helped the felt part last a long time. In my experience, since they first started banning felt soles state wide in 2011, the studded rubber soles are the next best thing.
The Killer with felt soles and studded felt soles is that they hold onto everything. And, as we found out in the 2000's whirling disease, which is a hatchery disease that originally came from Europe with some infected brown trout, is almost impossible to kill. It devastates Rainbow trout but Brown trout are resistant because it's infected hatcheries in the Europe for centuries and the Browns are rarely killed by it now. But it devastated the Madison River when folks with felt soles fished there after fishing in infected streams with the same felt soles. The felt soles carried the eggs to the new river and were released on the bottom where they typically inhabit in the sediment. Tubifex worms will consume them and the eggs hatch in the worms. Trout eat the worms and the adult parasite makes its way to the trout's brain. After residing in the trout, laying eggs, and partially consuming bits of brain matter, the parasite causes the trout to typically start swimming in small circles - hense "whirling disease" They expel the eggs both in fecal matter and as the dead fish rots. The eggs lie dormant until the tubifex worms ingest them and start the cycle over again. without tubifex worms the eggs remain dormant.
virtually all decent size trout streams have sediment in them with tubifex worms in the sediment. And once that cycle starts, good luck stopping it. Now you can't buy a rainbow in the Madison River of Montana because of whirling disease. Brown trout are there and the occasional cutthroat. As I mentioned earlier Browns are all but immune to it. Cutthroat stay in tributaries longer than rainbows before moving down to the main river and typically the tribs don't have the sediment needed for good populations of tubifex worms. So the cuts are older and larger when they get tot he main-stem and less susceptible to the damage that does in the younger and smaller trout.
When a hatchery is found to be infested with whirling disease, they typically drained it, dried it, and bleached it. Then after letting it stay dry for 3 to 5-years, they would put water back in it and use it again to raise hatchery trout. Problem with that was that upon utilizing that concrete run again, the whirling disease, which had remained dormant, became active again and infected all the fish in that hatchery run once again. This got so bad in Colorado, that they go ahead and raise hatchery rainbows in those infected runs and just make sure they plant them in streams that are already infected.
If you are using felt soles and you want to be sure you don't infect another stream, high wet heat will kill the eggs. You need to totally submerge your boots for 3 minutes in water that is 140° or hotter to do that. Typically your tap water maxes out at 120° because that's when skin starts to burn. So you may have to boil water to add to the tap water to raise it to 140° but anything less than submerging your boots entirely in that very hot water is ineffective. Don't just submerge the felts, do the entire boots. Eggs can get in any and all the nooks and crannies in your boots like in the lacings, the corners of materials in the boot's tongue, etc. Good idea to do that with any boots you have if you have been fishing in infected streams, but it's critical with felts.
Anything else, Dan?
@@pjwillsrthis made me laugh!
Nothing beats felt with aluminum studs if you wade fish. Rubber soles are good for fishing from a boat. Worthless if you’re wading.
My first and only experience with a rubber-soled wading boot (Simms G3 Vibram Idrogrip sole) almost cost me my life. If I hadn't been wearing an inflatable life vest, I would have drowned. Rubber soles of any kind are NO WHERE NEAR as slip resistant as a felt sole. What a waste of $450 ... I put my life ahead of concerns about transferring invasive species.
Rubber soles suck