Fishing Forum

About a year ago I posted about trying to find footwear that would work with my stocking foot waders and conventional dive fins. I got a lot of responses and different ideas, but still never found anything that worked. Either the bootie would accomodate my stocking foot waders and not fit in the fin properly, or would fit in the fin and not comfortably accomodate my stocking foot waders.
TubeDude sent me a picture of the booties that he wears that he got from Cabelas years and years ago but, lamentably, those were long since discontinued. I then started the "trial and error" process with flats boots, dive booties, sandals, and so on.
The good news is that I have found some booties that seem to work perfectly and I thought that I would let you all know in case you have experienced the same frustration.
I was browsing on scuba.com and looking at all of their dive booties and ran accross the Mares Equator boot. What jumped out at me was that they were made with only a 2mm neoprene upper which I figured would cut down considerably on the bulk of the boot and increase the stretch in the neoprene. I also noticed that they were under $20, which, of course, made me figure that I had little to lose by trying them out. They worked great. They were EXACTLY what I was looking for. I bought them one full size larger than my shoe size and they accomodate my stocking foot waders and fit very nicely into my Oceanic Viper fins (very simiar to the Mares Avanti recommended by Tube Dude).
There are several brands of booties that have 2mm and even 1.5mm neoprene uppers and I have to think that any of them would work, but maybe these would be a good starting point.
Anyway, I hope this will help some of you out there looking to protect your stocking foot waders and enjoy the performance of full sized dive fins.
Here is a link:
[url "http://www.scuba.com/scuba-gear-112/Boots-Warm-Water.html"]http://www.scuba.com/scuba-gear-112/Boots-Warm-Water.html[/url]
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[cool][#0000ff]About one page back in the threads I posted up about some of those booties I bought from Scuba.com. [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=406016;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread"]LINK TO POST[/url] . I have a size 13 foot and bought size 15 booties. Then, I had to slit the front to get my neoprene feet into them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After several trips, my evaluation is that they definitely work fine for protecting the neoprenes but are not good for long hikes between vehicle and water...like when setting up on a launch ramp, driving your car to a distant parking lot and then walking back. Even worse when they are wet after fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Thanks for the post.[/#0000ff]
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Just fork out the cash and pick up some simms boots will last along time and you won't hurt them when you walk in the parking lot.
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[cool][#0000ff]If Simms made boots that would fit over my waders I would probably consider them. They do not come in sizes larger than 13 and the soles are too thick to fit well inside fins. They are made for wading, and for "average" feet...and for stream fishing during regular water conditions. We simply need something to provide a protective sole for soft neoprene wader feet while we walk on the shoreline during launching and beaching. [/#0000ff]
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They don't swing the way we do Poky[][cool]
We multi task with rivers then stillwaters and in your case SPRINKLERS
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[cool][#0000ff]Hey, I'm too old to be a swinger.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also, I do PVC but not sprinklers...unless you count "downloading" after too much liquid intake.[/#0000ff]
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I take it today is bumming you out as bad as it is me. Man, that 80's yesterday was NICE! Except the wind kept me on shore.[]
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[cool][#0000ff]I got things that gotta be did, but I would rather be on the water...calm water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Can I have an AMEN on that?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]By next week I will probably be gettin' out a lot more. If I ain't, do you know a good source of happy meds?[/#0000ff]
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[quote TubeDude][#0000ff].....If I ain't, do you know a good source of happy meds?........[/#0000ff][/quote]

[#0000ff]...I have been told that a good source of happy meds is the liquor cabinet.. or is that the medicine cabinet.. or maybe its both??
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[cool][#0000ff]My friend Jose' and his daughter Margarita are usually great companions when I need some cheering up.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I really don't do "meds". At least I think I don't. I don't always remember...especially after spending time with Jose'.[/#0000ff]
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and they are both from Cuervo County, New Mexico??

MacFly [sly]
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Wow, so what are your demands? Don't all hijackers have demands?[] I did consider the booties to be less useful for long hikes, then i thought that a possible remedy to that would be to cut out a thin but tough insole that I could insert into the bootie--maybe cut it out of plastic, about 1/8 inch thick or even a chunk of thick leather. I will investigate.
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[cool][#0000ff]Sorry, we got a rowdy crowd here that gets easily distracted when they can't get out fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are other options. For longer hikes you can get a pair of slip on sandals or Crocs that will fit over the neoprenes. Some of them will even fit comfortably inside fins, if the foot pocket is large enough. You can also use the inexpensive water shoes. I am trying to find a larger pair to try this year. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Let's keep out thinking caps on and post our findings.[/#0000ff]
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these are the [url "http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&partNumber=55184&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults"]flats boots[/url] I bought at bass pro when I got my turb thruster fins... the boots I got were a size 13 which I know is to small for td.. but work great for me (wear and 11w normally)... these boots are only 20.00.. have a zipper side so they are easy to put on.. and a velcro strap closure..

MacFly [cool]
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A pair of good old Converse Allstar's can make a good wading shoe and can be had in sizes up to 22 EEE. You might need to special order the bigger sizes, over 15's, but they can be had. They also come in purty colors, red, pink, blue, etc for those fashion concious fisherpersons.

[cool][#0000ff]I'll bet if you went dumpster diving behind the Jazz locker room you could find a pair of big castoff tennies. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Heck, if you could get a pair that Shaq wore, you could just sit in them and use them as a kayak.[/#0000ff]
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Do like mojo cut off your toes and you'll drop 2-3 sizes. he walks funny but we don't laugh at him anymore
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