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Piker20

Do you like wearing rubber?

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Well its all starting to come together. Wearing stocking foot chest waders and salty fishing is just asking for me to get weighed down by a wader full of wave. Today was pretty soggy but my jacket breaks the waves before they can wash down the insides. It is too too cold for skinny dipping so don't even go there.

One guy I have seen wears a wetsuit (although a drysuit would be toasty) and I have thought more and more that this would be ideal. I could deep wade/swim to the rocky outcrops that are too deep for waders but shallow enough to not be killing myself. Team the suit up with wading boots or flat style shoes and bingo.

 

Anyone fished like this or have any experience good/bad before I take the plunge?

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After reading the thread title, I thought this post was about something else ohmy.png Of course my answer would be no, I don't like to wear rubber but when I was single it was always the safest course of action biggrin.png

 

Seriously, I don't have much input on wetsuits since the waters in Florida are usually pretty warm and even in the winter when it's I wear chest waders with no fear since the inshore flats I fish are not prone to very rough water. If it gets real choppy it's often not worth it to wade

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The wading belt does work for a quick dunk or fall but im looking at a continuous swell that breaks against upper arm/ shoulder. Its more the risk of water filling them in the sea that makes me think a wet suit would be safer plus more versatile.

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*Insert rubber joke here*

 

I have seen a few guys in my area in a wet suit during the 8 or 9 days that the water gets cold enough.

 

They have all seem to have a similar setup of a wetsuit, small pack, and a rod.

 

It sure seems safer in choppy water.

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Yeah, wetsuit and then chest pack or army surplus harness packs. The depth is not really much more than 6ft, enough to hold fish but too deep to reach from wading even with a good cast. I'm coming round to the swim/wade option.

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There is another great invention that will solve this problem, and, just in case people's suspicions are not unfounded, it is available in rubber! I'm fairly certain that you will have already used one before. It will enable you to get into all sorts of places where access is difficult. It really is the simplest answer and I'm amazed you don't seem to have considered it.

 

Get a boat!

 

Cheers,

C.

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Yeah I keep looking at kayaks but the wetsuit is a lot more transportable and a lot cheaper. Also im likely to forget my boat positioning when fishing and find im half way to Norway before i know it.

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Every fall when the mullet run starts down the east coast I break out my wetsuit. The season starts out warm but by mid to late Oct. the days are getting shorter and temps dropping just enough to chill me when the sun goes down. Sunset also seems to be when the snook get a bit more active in the surf. It doesn't take much for hypothermia to set in and I'll keep fishing when other guys leave.

Having surfed for many years in cold water I am used to wetsuits and find them much more comfortable that baggy waders.

 

Hope this helps.

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Piker

 

I never fished in a dry suit but have skied in one. I don't know how long you could take it for. They are toasty but you would end up like a bobber bouncing around. You will lose weight though.

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My advice is to stay within the limits of your waders. Coldwater-type wet suits are not particularly comfortable, and once you've reached your destination, the water's gonna drain from any part of the suit that's above the water line and you'll freeze your arse off. (the heated water inside the suit is your insulation) 50-60 degree (Fahrenheit) water sounds warm, but believe me, it'll chill you right to the bone. Another issue is buoyancy. If you get out too deep, you're gonna lose control and you'll be subject to the whims of the surf gods. It took a 24-pound diving belt for me to achieve neutral buoyancy with a quarter-inch suit - there was no way to get down without it. If you drop your rod under those circumstances, kiss it goodbye. There are a handful of lunatics (not fly guys) in the Northeastern U.S. who swim out to rocks wearing wetsuits, and they catch a lot of fish, but it's a risky business, for themselves and for their gear. You could use a dry suit, but as has been mentioned above, they're hot, clumsy, and expensive. The relatively thin wet suits that surfers wear aren't really suitable for total immersion in northern climates.

 

After fishing surf for 50 years - and I mean real ocean surf - my coldwater outer shell has evolved into belted spike-soled neoprene waders and a waterproof hooded jacket with elastic cuffs and a drawstring on the bottom. Neoprene gloves on really cold days. Unless you fall in and drift out to sea, you'll stay dry. Your stripping basket belt will also serve to keep water out if your outer jacket doesn't have a drawstring.

 

BTW - contrary to popular belief, water in your waders will not drag you down. Water in water weighs nothing. The real issue is that they're clumsy to swim in, and you lose the buoyancy that the air in the waders provided. When I was a kid and woolly mammoths roamed the countryside, the standard procedure was to fall in the river at least once per day, and we didn't know any better, so we had a lot of fun swimming around in hip boots and waders. (granted, that would be next to impossible in heavy surf)

 

I guess the point of all this drivel is that there are situations in saltwater fly fishing that are just plain impossible. Sometimes you just have to either switch to another method or haul out the camera and take pictures of the sane people.

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When I was a kid and woolly mammoths roamed the countryside,

You knew right where we'd go with that ... took the fun right out !!!

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You bring some sane thought to the table PJ. How did that happen? I had not considered the time spent out of water in a wetsuit so thanks for that. I will continue to ponder and as you say some days are just made for bait and grip leads.

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When I was a kid and woolly mammoths roamed the countryside,

You knew right where we'd go with that ... took the fun right out !!!

 

I figured I'd beat everybody to the punch and get the usual insults out of the way. Besides, Piker's life may be at stake here, and I feel it's my civic duty to help spare an innocent Scottish child the trauma of stumbling upon his bloated, weed-covered, crab-bitten corpse. The memory of those empty eye sockets has a way of haunting a person forever.

 

 

You bring some sane thought to the table PJ. How did that happen?

 

Hey, even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while. Guess the cheapo vodka didn't get all those brain cells after all. I used to dive pretty much year-round, and your post brought back memories of that first rush of cold water filling up the suit, not to mention the feeling of wearing a cold, wet inner tube afterward. The money was great, but if I had it to do over again, I'd probably sign on as a subject for medical experiments instead.

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