salmon & steelhead fishing (waders discussion )

[lonehunter]

well , some of us are luckey enough to live within driving distance so we can enjoy this kind of fishing , dang I'm luckey .
the hardest part about this sport fishing was gathering enough information to suceed at it , that took years of time and money to figure it out , i feel like i almost have it down now .
salmon or steelies , it's the same equipment .i'm gonna open a discussion for and from all our readers discussing the pro's and con's of the equipment . each will have it's seperate post .

first a set of waders , i prefer the neoprene chest waders. i demand comfort and minimal bodyheat loss . dang it , i came to fish not freese . knee high ,waist high , nope , fall in a fishing hole just one time and you'll know why they gotta be chest waders . take my word for it , i've gone febuary swimming for steelhead .

rubber waders although inexpencive are bulkey and cumbersome . i don't like em .

breathable waders leak at the seams too easy and are dificult to repair . some stores have great replacement warrintees like cabela's does on select breathibles, up to a year , no hassels . cabella's is too far for me to drive thou , otherwise i'de give them a go .

stocking foot or booted , get the stockingfoot , comfort and easy to deal with after the fishing trip is over, drying time is a lot shorter too . booted waders are a pain to hang for drying . i'm just too lasy to put up with the extra work involved i guess .

i can get the neoprene waders at one heck of a cheap price by checking out the on-line deals , clearance , and bargin basement deals offered by our B.F.T. advertisers . I USUALLY SAVE BETWEEN 30 TO 80% for just a few minutes of mouse clicking and get the top brand names .
i could also get them from local sporting goods stores but at 3 to 4 times the price i pay by shopping smart at B.F.T. .
Hey , it's your money , why not keep as much of it as you can ?

disagree with my choise of waders ? post your own choise and reasons , i ain't gonna argue with you about it . people gotta be given enough information to make their own decisions on gear for fishing , maybe your choise may fit there needs better .

next , we'll be discussing wading boots .
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[FisherMOM]

I chose the same as you.... neoprene chest stockingfoot waders! whew.

The wading boots I had I wore out in less than a year!
I need to hear more about boots.
I am doing my FIRST SALMON FISHING tonight!
I had to go get boots, but didnt have time to run to the city.
I went to Walmart and bought, what I call FARM BOOTS.
To the knee, rubber boots with a thick bottom. Only thing, that I
let slip by me at the store, was that they are steel toe!

They were only $15.00, so I will wear them tonight.
hopefully I don't regret it!
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[tubeN2]

I like the neoprene myself. You will generall have a little more versatility with them. I can put boots on them for rivers and streams or I can put fins on them for float tubing in the cooler weather.

They are easy to repair as well.
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[tomc]

i too like the neoprene chest waders,5 mil,with the insulated boots made in.the best i have found is from cabela's.in dec.i can stay in the water all day and not freeze
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[tubeN2]

5 mil would be better. Don't forget your proper layers underneath as well.[cool]
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[FisherMOM]

I thought about doing that with winter boots.... taking the liner out... maybe that's what I'll do! thanks
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[DrownedDesertRat]

My question to you is this: the "stocking" footed waders... are those the ones with the felt bottoms that will cut back on slippage on the underwater rocks?
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[lonehunter]

stocking foot waders have no boot on the bottom , instead there is a "sock" attached to the wader. this gives you the choise of type of boot to wear .
here in the north i use felt bottomed boots because the rivers and stream bottoms are covered in sand ,gravel and unfortunatly , zebra mussels .the felt is excelent for non slip traviling .
in the southern part of michigan the river and other water beds have a clay base , i choose a molded plastic or rubber bottom for there .
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[DrownedDesertRat]

Aha! Thanks for the info. Don't you get wet wearing neoprene though? I mean, when I go SCUBA diving, I get soaked. The water seaps through the neoprene and forms a thin layer of water between you and the suit that the body heats up to keep you warm. Or there's always the classical way of warming things up if your body heat isn't enough... pee in the suit while you're wearing it.
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[lonehunter]

nope totally watertight , breathable waders are watertight too .
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