Gear for hiking to woodland streams

afishinado

afishinado

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 11, 2006
Messages
16,454
City
Chester County, PA
My ’08 resolution is to do more exploring on wild trout streams. I am trying to improve upon the equipment I use.

First of all, I have a great rod for backpack fishing. It’s a 7 piece pack rod (March Brown) that converts from 7’ to 6’ by leaving out the 2nd section. The rod case easily fits into a medium backpack and fishes well. I have a small fishing pack that holds enough tackle for the stream that also fits into the backpack.

The challenge for me right now is boots and waders for the hike in. I’m thinking of getting some breathable stockingfoot hippers and aquasteath boots. I have no experience with Aquastealth. What do you guys use? Which type and brand of boots and waders work for you. Do some of you use hiking boots and change into waders when you reach the stream?

BTW, studded felts or studded Aquasteath boots are not an option for me. Call me crazy but have you ever listened to the studs scraping against rocks when you walk along the stream? I can only imagine what it sounds like to the fish when you wade. Studs are okay for big rivers, where you really need the traction, but have no place when going after spooky fish in close quarters – IMO.

Wuddaya use?
 
I had a pair of Aquastealth boots and as far as the sole I really liked them. They gripped well enough...used them just fine on Penn's which is a pretty good benchmark. My boots were a little tight and I eventually wore the boot part out but the Aquastealth sole part was great for walking long distances. Studded would make them really grip but I had just the regular ones...I did not have the budget to replace them with new Aquastealth or I would have.

Normally when I go WAY up in I don't bother with waders, however.
 
If it is smaller mountian streams- than the answer is no waders.

The streams are generally less that a foot deep in most places so I can get around without getting in the water.

I have used wading boots with a simms wading socks and been pretty comfortable.- especially with the heat after mid-June.
 
I do a lot of this type of fishing.

For wading gear, I use hippers.

For boots, I'm not sure there is a perfect solution. Here are some options:

Regular felt. The felts will wear out fast if you put in much mileage. I frequently walk about 6 miles a day, and sometimes more, and the felts just wear out very quickly if you fish this way.

Studded felt. This is what I use. With the studs, the felts will last much longer. I'm not convinced that the noise is an issue, unless you are scraping along on bedrock. Most of the time you are crunching gravel, and I think the gravel crunches exactly the same, spike or not spikes. You step in the gravel and it goes crunch.

Aquastealth, no studs. I haven't tried it, but some people have told me it's like walking on soap.

Aquastealth, with studs. This is what I want to try next time I buy boots. A friend of mine who is also very into backcountry fishing got a pair of these and said they are the best. The Aquastealth lasts a long time, and the studs give you the traction.
 
Admittedly I don't do a lot of small stream fishing but I do put a lot of miles on my boots each trip. I used my new Korkers for the first time yesterday and started out with the rubber lug hiker sole. Took along the felts just incase I didn't like how the lug did in the water. I fished a small to medium stream that was up and colored. I had no trouble with the traction in or out of the water. I didn't have to put the felts on while fishing.

I am not so sure that fishing small streams requires felts. That is, small streams that exclude wading alot. Most of the time you are kneeling on a bank, standing on a gravel edge, etc. Staying out of the water is one of the keys to fishing small streams so I would tailor my gear accordingly. Get boots for the hiking and just be careful when wading with them.

Or get the convertable Korkers. So far I give them an A+.
 
I do alot of small streams with a long walk in.As for waders ,forget them,just get a good pair of hiking boots.Rule number 1 for small streams like this is STAY OUT OF THE STREAM.These fish are very spooky and you start going into the water and kiss them goodbye.If you are on one side of the stream and have to get to the other just walk a little more to find a good spot to cross away from where you are going to be casting to.Another thing is don't worry about the vest and tons of accessories just take the basics . I also were camo if possible to blend in with the trees and keep a low profile when aproching the stream.These steams are a lot of fun .
 
I just wear some waterproof hiking boots. These streams usually have areas that are maybe 2 inches deep in between pools. The boots are enough to get me across at those areas, provided they are too wide to jump across.
 
I have breathable hippers and the Korkers convertable boots. I would agree that for most of the small stream fishing you would do, you could get away with just using the hiking sole -- even when wading. Korkers generally come with a set of hiking soles and a set of felts. I bought studded aquastealth soles for my Korkers and that's pretty much all I use anymore.
 
DJB is pretty much spot on. If I'm going to be hiking more than wading I just wear hiking boots or just lug sole wading boots. My waders convert to waist highs and I wear shorts underneath often, but this is more to protect me from the brush, etc, than anything else.
 
Stay out of the stream? I think a lot of the freestone wild trout streams would be pretty difficult to fish that way? Can anyone give examples of streams that you fish entirely from the bank, without wading?
 
I never wear waders in a few small brookie streams. The one I speak of averages less than a foot deep, and about 3-4 feet wide. I have never needed to wade it.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. In the warm weather I do wet wade, but most of my fishing in these streams is done in the colder weather. It’s great to hike in this time of year when the foliage is down.

Troutbert wrote: “Stay out of the stream? I think a lot of the freestone wild trout streams would be pretty difficult to fish that way? Can anyone give examples of streams that you fish entirely from the bank, without wading?”

I agree with Troutbert – it’s a jungle out there – at least where I fish, and wading is often times necessary. I think I’ll give a light weight pair of hippers with aquastealth boots a try.

I spent some time today with my maps and have some places to explore. Just waiting for some decent weather. Thanks again – good luck to everyone on your own explorations.




I use the satellite images on Google Earth and MSN Live, but the following are great county maps for showing roads and streams. The PDFs are print friendly too.




PA Type 10 County Maps - PDF
 
If you find the Aquastealth too slippery, you can put some sheet metal screws in the soles.
 
What exactly is the reason for using aquastealth? I always thought it was supposed to be good for traction, but it seems that it's totally useless for that. I understand that it's more durable than felt, but what makes it better than a rubber bottomed boot?

For what it's worth, I have no idea what it is, aside from hearing it mentioned here. I'm going to google it now.
 
I used a cheap pair of Hodgman Nylon hip waders for a bit, but they leaked badly and it was better to just go with no waders at all. I used them with some Simms sandals with felt bottoms. I later switched to using just the Simms with heavy Smartwool socks, which worked nicely and kept me warm in the cool water during the summer. Last year, I bought a pair of Shannon Bug Barrier camo pants, originally for the bug purpose, but found they worked awesome for me while wading small streams. They also added a nice element of protection while walking through high grass and the like, and because they were just a light nylon mesh pant, they were cool in the summer time. For some reason, they gave me an extra element of nerve, somehow thinking that the snakes wouldn't bite me if I had them on.

I sometimes backpack while fishing, so then this small complement of fishing gear just goes in the backpack. Otherwise, for day trips, I have a William Joseph Coastal II pack that works well. Kudos on the March Brown - I picked up one of their 6'6" 3wt this fall, in the Hidden Waters line and am eager to try that out. Last year, I used a Redington 5pc. 3wt Wayfarer rod and will probably share that with a buddy the next time we're out for some wilderness trout fishing.
 
jayL wrote:
What exactly is the reason for using aquastealth? I always thought it was supposed to be good for traction, but it seems that it's totally useless for that. I understand that it's more durable than felt, but what makes it better than a rubber bottomed boot?

For what it's worth, I have no idea what it is, aside from hearing it mentioned here. I'm going to google it now.
Click to expand...

Its not totally useless...but it is the difference between bald tires and all season radials...Its tacky and I found it very grippy except for on smooth bedrock with that thin algae on it...I had no trouble on the basketball sized slime balls one the bottom of Penn's creek or any other stream...the only time I felt a little uneasy was near the bank where rocks are sometimes submerged and sometimes not.

The thing I liked most was in the winter you don't end up with snow build up that makes your felt soles look like footwear at a KISS concert. I tend to fish upstream for a few miles then walk back along the road to get back to the car...Walking that many miles will have you replacing your felt every season. Another good thing is you aren't transferring parasites, whirling disease or some other invasive organism from one stream to the next in your felt. Nothing really sticks to the rubber. If you wanna really know what its like, your gonna have to find a pair and feel them and wear them...because like anything else we discuss on here, some say it sucks and some love it.

Mine were LLBean boots and I bought them second hand and got 3 years out of them before the boot part fell apart...
 
Thanks tom. After doing a little research, the snow part seems to be one of the perks that I'd enjoy most. I hate when my felts turn to platform shoes.

Perhaps I'll get a studded pair for my next boot purchase.
 
I use plain old felt sole hippers.
I get into some pretty rough areas, and it's hard to find anything tougher than them
 
I think Korkers makes them too. That's the only three companies I see, but I didn't look very hard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Harman's North Fork Cottages


Real Time Data From
the USGS Site

Share this page

Back
Top