Wading Boot Question

[DFoster 0]

Hi Everyone, I just got a new pair of wading boots (see wading boot repair thread) and I would like to know your thoughts on a couple of points.

1) Boot dryers-   Because I store my wading boots in a lidded tote I have been using one so I'm not sealing them up wet.  Natural drying can take days but on the other side I have heard complaints of boot dryers ruining work boots by causing dry rot.   

2) These are the first felt sole boots I've owned.  What is the proper or best way to clean the felt to prevent the transfer of aquatic invasive species?

Thanks all-  

[SilverCreek 0]

3 hours ago, DFoster said:

Hi Everyone, I just got a new pair of wading boots (see wading boot repair thread) and I would like to know your thoughts on a couple of points.

1) Boot dryers-   Because I store my wading boots in a lidded tote I have been using one so I'm not sealing them up wet.  Natural drying can take days but on the other side I have heard complaints of boot dryers ruining work boots by causing dry rot.   

2) These are the first felt sole boots I've owned.  What is the proper or best way to clean the felt to prevent the transfer of aquatic invasive species?

Thanks all-  

I really depends on the invasive aquatic species in the waters you fish.

Some are are harder to kill than others.

The concern with invasive species really heated up with dydimo. Max Bothwell, a research scientist for Environment Canada, who wrote an influential article that linked angler's felt soled boots to dydimo spread, "On the Boots of Fishermen." 

Here is his original article:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232833850_On_the_Boots_of_Fishermen_The_History_of_Didymo_Blooms_on_Vancouver_Island_British_Columbia

Max Bothwell, has now reversed himself and said that anglers are not responsible.

He now believes that dydimo has been in North American waters and that it is a change in water chemistry, specifically lower phosphorus levels that has caused dydimo blooms.

Why is phosphorus lower - The clean water act decreased the usage of phosphorus in fertilizers and mandated the removal of phosphorus during waste water treatment. Less phosphorus in rivers ===> Dydimo Blooms.

Read the article in American Angler, July-August, 2013, pp 8-9.

"'I no longer believe the problem is North American streams is the result of it (dydimo) being moved around.' …. Scientists are now convinced that dydimo lives in many streams, but blooms only when the water has far less than the normal amount of phosphorus…… The most damaging dydimo episode in the US seems to have been on Rapid Creek in South Dakota, where a six-mile bloom dramatically impacted a blue ribbon brown trout fishery. In 2007 and 2008, Bothwell and other scientists added phosphorus to sections of Rapid Creek. Sure enough, the dydimo mats shrank"

As a reaction Max Bothwell's now retracted article, several states outlawed felt soled boots since the single celled stage of dydimo can survive in and on wet felt wading boot soles. However, it can survive on shoe laces, in thread used to manufacture wading boots, on and in the interior of boots, on wet neoprene, etc, etc.

Although the theory that fishermen are responsible for the spread of dydimo, the laws banning felt remain in place.

Dydimo is killed by soaking the boots in a bleach solution. However there are two problems with this solution. Repeated exposure to bleach eventually shortens the useful life of waders and wading boots. Secondly, the 2% bleach concentrations recommended for dydimo do not kill some invasive like New Zealand mud snails.

There is no single chemical decontamination method that will kill all invasives WITHOUT damaging the waders and boots. Now that it has been established that felt soles are not responsible for dydimo blooms, the worst invasive is the New Zealand Mud Snails.  They are resistant to chemicals and felt is NOT where they hide. They hide IN the boot, under the footbed and any crevice.

A study by the California Department of Fish and Game found hundreds of NZ Mud snails lodged inside the crevices of individual test boots. Over 50% of them were less than 1 mm in diameter. Replacing felt with rubber is not going to stop them.

The other key problem is that MOST of the invasive NZ mudsnails were NOT ON THE BOOT BOTTOM. So felt vs rubber will make no difference:

"The majority of NZMS recovered were associated with wading boots. NZMS were observed on the tongue area of wading boots, associated with the laces or the area of the tongue that was tucked beneath the lacing eyelets. Large numbers of small NZMS were present inside of the boots, having worked down between the boot and the neoprene bootie of the wader. If the boots contained padded insole inserts, NZMS were also found underneath the inserts, associated with sand grains. NZMS were recovered from every treated set of wading gear. Numbers of NZMS per sample (Figure 😎 ranged from 1 to 227 with a mean of 33 (Appendix 2). Over 50% of NZMS recovered were < 1 mm in size (Table 4)."

The California study found that chemical decontamination eventually destroyed the waders and boots. Bleach for example is an oxidizer and damages gear. Any spill or drips in your vehicle will damage upholstery and carpets. That is why manufacturers recommend rinsing and drying gear without the use of chemicals. HOWEVER washing and rinsing with water alone does NOT KILL NZ Mud Snail and other invasives.

Here are some photos gear that has been chemically decontaminated. Some of the gear was were treated ONLY 7 TIMES with and the gear looks like this. That is why I say there is no single treatment that will kill all invasives and won't damage wading gear excessively.

Bleach

 

 

Pine Sol

d

 

Bezethonium Chloride

 

So what is a person to do. My solution is that I have a seperate set of wading gear for Wisconsin and Montana.

If I visit several different streams, I rinse off my boots and the neoprene booties of my waders. No chemicals for me.

There is a lot of misinformation as this article reveals:

https://stopais.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Story_of_Formula_409.pdf

[DFoster 0]

Thanks for that Silver-  I've always been good about cleaning my boots off each time after fishing.   It's

2 hours ago, SilverCreek said:

I really depends on the invasive aquatic species in the waters you fish.

Some are are harder to kill than others.

The concern with invasive species really heated up with dydimo. Max Bothwell, a research scientist for Environment Canada, who wrote an influential article that linked angler's felt soled boots to dydimo spread, "On the Boots of Fishermen." 

Here is his original article:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232833850_On_the_Boots_of_Fishermen_The_History_of_Didymo_Blooms_on_Vancouver_Island_British_Columbia

Max Bothwell, has now reversed himself and said that anglers are not responsible.

He now believes that dydimo has been in North American waters and that it is a change in water chemistry, specifically lower phosphorus levels that has caused dydimo blooms.

Why is phosphorus lower - The clean water act decreased the usage of phosphorus in fertilizers and mandated the removal of phosphorus during waste water treatment. Less phosphorus in rivers ===> Dydimo Blooms.

Read the article in American Angler, July-August, 2013, pp 8-9.

"'I no longer believe the problem is North American streams is the result of it (dydimo) being moved around.' …. Scientists are now convinced that dydimo lives in many streams, but blooms only when the water has far less than the normal amount of phosphorus…… The most damaging dydimo episode in the US seems to have been on Rapid Creek in South Dakota, where a six-mile bloom dramatically impacted a blue ribbon brown trout fishery. In 2007 and 2008, Bothwell and other scientists added phosphorus to sections of Rapid Creek. Sure enough, the dydimo mats shrank"

As a reaction Max Bothwell's now retracted article, several states outlawed felt soled boots since the single celled stage of dydimo can survive in and on wet felt wading boot soles. However, it can survive on shoe laces, in thread used to manufacture wading boots, on and in the interior of boots, on wet neoprene, etc, etc.

Although the theory that fishermen are responsible for the spread of dydimo, the laws banning felt remain in place.

Dydimo is killed by soaking the boots in a bleach solution. However there are two problems with this solution. Repeated exposure to bleach eventually shortens the useful life of waders and wading boots. Secondly, the 2% bleach concentrations recommended for dydimo do not kill some invasive like New Zealand mud snails.

There is no single chemical decontamination method that will kill all invasives WITHOUT damaging the waders and boots. Now that it has been established that felt soles are not responsible for dydimo blooms, the worst invasive is the New Zealand Mud Snails.  They are resistant to chemicals and felt is NOT where they hide. They hide IN the boot, under the footbed and any crevice.

A study by the California Department of Fish and Game found hundreds of NZ Mud snails lodged inside the crevices of individual test boots. Over 50% of them were less than 1 mm in diameter. Replacing felt with rubber is not going to stop them.

The other key problem is that MOST of the invasive NZ mudsnails were NOT ON THE BOOT BOTTOM. So felt vs rubber will make no difference:

"The majority of NZMS recovered were associated with wading boots. NZMS were observed on the tongue area of wading boots, associated with the laces or the area of the tongue that was tucked beneath the lacing eyelets. Large numbers of small NZMS were present inside of the boots, having worked down between the boot and the neoprene bootie of the wader. If the boots contained padded insole inserts, NZMS were also found underneath the inserts, associated with sand grains. NZMS were recovered from every treated set of wading gear. Numbers of NZMS per sample (Figure 😎 ranged from 1 to 227 with a mean of 33 (Appendix 2). Over 50% of NZMS recovered were < 1 mm in size (Table 4)."

The California study found that chemical decontamination eventually destroyed the waders and boots. Bleach for example is an oxidizer and damages gear. Any spill or drips in your vehicle will damage upholstery and carpets. That is why manufacturers recommend rinsing and drying gear without the use of chemicals. HOWEVER washing and rinsing with water alone does NOT KILL NZ Mud Snail and other invasives.

Here are some photos gear that has been chemically decontaminated. Some of the gear was were treated ONLY 7 TIMES with and the gear looks like this. That is why I say there is no single treatment that will kill all invasives and won't damage wading gear excessively.

Bleach

 

 

Pine Sol

d

 

Bezethonium Chloride

 

So what is a person to do. My solution is that I have a seperate set of wading gear for Wisconsin and Montana.

If I visit several different streams, I rinse off my boots and the neoprene booties of my waders. No chemicals for me.

There is a lot of misinformation as this article reveals:

https://stopais.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Story_of_Formula_409.pdf

Thanks Silver- I'm glad the science is moving away from blaming us.

[Poopdeck 0]

I had boot dryers for work boots. They were very destructive to my leather work boots so I stopped using them. Never used them for waders because of my work boots experience with boot dryers.

I only buy felt soled waders. I don’t clean them. I’d pass on the chemical cleaners.  Some say to freeze them for a week. No way my wife is allowing my boots in the freezer. I let them drip dry in the sun on the back porch. Like you I get years of life out of my boots. 

[DFoster 0]

14 hours ago, Poopdeck said:

I had boot dryers for work boots. They were very destructive to my leather work boots so I stopped using them. Never used them for waders because of my work boots experience with boot dryers.

I only buy felt soled waders. I don’t clean them. I’d pass on the chemical cleaners.  Some say to freeze them for a week. No way my wife is allowing my boots in the freezer. I let them drip dry in the sun on the back porch. Like you I get years of life out of my boots. 

Thanks - I think I'm going to pass on using the boot dryer on the new boots and opt to let them dry in the sun (when possible).    I will also pass on chemicals and just rinse with water as much dirt and debris of as possible.  Keep it simple.

[skeet3t 0]

Bleach is a mild acid. I'm thinking any harsh chemical can cause failure to synthetic or natural materials. I put my boots in the bathtub, fill with about 2 inches of warm water and some Dawn dish detergent. After they soak a few hours,  I rinse thoroughly and set out to dry on the deck which has summer sun up to about 5 PM. I turn the with the soles to the sun to warm the felt.

[WJG 0]

Happiness is wet wading boots.  Mine go from the river to a cloth bag in the back of my car from April to December.

[skeet3t 0]

Some of the trout fishing areas have a disinfecting station where one can brush off mud, etc., and rinse the boots in a solution.

[DFoster 0]

Finally on Saturday it was time to try out the new boots.  I fished a pretty treacherous location on a free stone not to far from my home.   The conditions there can be described as an algae covered bolder field with 2' to 3' of flowing water over the top. The felt sole Korkers really handled the river well, exceeding my expectations, which were not high because to me felt seems like the last thing in the world that would grip slick rock.  I completely trusted the fly shop guys on this one and they were right. As I said I have never been on felt soles, all my wading being on rubber with studs.  The only time I missed the studs was when navigating up or down some of the steeper inclines to get in and out of the water.  Once in the water I was really confident of my footing.

As for cleaning I simply washed them off and set them in the basement to dry.