I've gone through a lot of shoes I tried for wet wading shoes. Companies are just now bringing out some really good wet wading footgear. There are some pretty decent to perfectly passible designs out there but they lack wet traction sole compound. That is just now being taken care of by the development of some new wet traction sole compounds.
I tried the simms sandals and tried-on their new wet wading shoes. Too big and the velcro gets soft and weak when wet. Thumbs down across the line unless you have "E" width feet or wider. Teva made some shoes a few years ago that looked like running shoes. They had special aqua-stealth-type rubber soles. Those worked well, but the hardware was too light. Korkers make a shoe that works well, but the shoe material is no tougher than regular sneaker fake leather-type material. I reinforced them with Aquaseal and coarse sand as abrasion guard. They had an interchangable felt sole. I still use them as well as the tevas. Orvis makes a felt-bottomed shoe with a neoprene sock. They are tough and durable, but not light. When I'm going to be wading in one place for a while when my feet would be immersed the whole time, I wear them. Then I take them off when I'm done. i don't want to spend any time out of water in soaked neoprene. Orvis also makes a sandal now with good coverage, toe bumper and felt soles for a good price.
Now, my next prospects are the Merril Ottawa WaterPro. It is a low height water shoe with a Vibram Water Pro sole. There is a sandal version. The other is the Patagonia Izaak wading sandal. It has a toe bumper, buckle straps with quick clicks (beats velcro) and a water traction sole. I don't remember if it's Vibram or not.
One other point that helps. Get some ankle-high socks that are not effected, distored or weakened by water. I have a few pair of running socks that are designed not for warmth but to function wet or dry. (serious runners need this, so there are socks designed for it.) They keep the gravel away from your skin and limit abrasion between wet foot and inside of shoe. With good ones, you'll be quite comfortable. If they're good, you should be able to ring them out and they can be dry by the next day.
I find these rigs effective and exceptable for nearly all wet wading conditions. No, of course they are not nearly as good as beefy, studded wading boots with waders and socks. But I wet-wade Penns and the Little J freqently. I wet-wade the Allegheny all summer. While its a slow river, the fast parts are truly swift and do NOT make for casual wading. This is the stuff I use. Dry feet are healthy feet. I also hike or ride the bike trail to fishing spots. Weight is important. Comfort, weight, dry time, etc... This are the rigs I choose.
Syl
