New Wading Boots

[Garrett P.]

Time to shelve the felt bottom boots and get something a little more stream friendly. Any advice good or bad? With or without studs? Right now I'm looking at the LL Bean Gray Ghost (http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/63709?feat=1109-GN2) or something from Simms. Any recomendations or other boots that I should check out? Thanks in advance.

[frankm205]

Korkers, studded soles and they are interchangeable. Nice boots

[MtnDawg]

I've had a pair of Simms Guide Streamtread boots (no studs) for a couple years, they've held up great. The vibram soles are also awesome for fishing in the winter, as snow won't stick to the bottoms like it does with felt, when you're on your way in and out of the stream....


-Bri

[dooberhoopa]

I absolutley love my Korkers. I have the felt soles and the vibram soles. My felts i use on one river and one river only. The vibrams are for other non confirmed didymo rivers. Then I have a pair of boot foots that are only for Didymo rivers. The korkers are the bee's knees!

[Esopus Guy]

If your going in the rubber sole direction which ever brand it may be GET THE CLEATS. Trust me!!!!! Your soles will last longer and your butt will thank you for it.

[tim_y]

I'm with Doober on the Korkers. I have used them almost exclusively since I started taking fly fishing seriously. 2 pairs over 5+ seasons, and I definitely put some miles on them. The newer ones are SOOOO much better than the earlier models. All of the problems I had were fixed. I recently switched to Orvis boots, I managed to find the top of the line models from last year in my size for $79, I couldn't pass it up. I haven't used them yet, but overall the boot construction looks top notch, the soles however worry me. I really liked the soles on the Korkers. I liked the fact that you could switch them out. I even opted for the super studded cleats for winter steelheading and am yet to find anything that could compare.

[SherpaB]

I got the side-zip brogues with the rubber bottom and cleats last year from Orvis..on sale plus gift card made it a no brainer.
I have to say, the sizing is funny, you gotta go small relative to what you would normally use but as long as you try them on first...you are good to go.
I have a full year on them and I am quite happy. They are easy on/off ,very well made...in fact they look newish still with 45-50 days on them.
The most important thing is how do they hold on a stream bed.
I would say good to very good, I would rate them equal to felts and I have given it a lot of thought. I have cleats on them but I did in my felts as well. These are good..is there room for improvement...yes but I wouldn't say a lot. If you trudge through the snow or do a lot of walking to get to your spot, you will love these.

[Troutfisher]

IMHO the BOA lacing system is something that shouldn't be overlooked. Korkers is noted for it and Simms is using it on one of their models this year. It's so innovative that I suspect it's going to be the trend in the future. My recommendation is either the Korkers or BOA Simms model.

[AaronJasper]

I am currently using the older Korkers boots with the BOA system. I like them a lot. I have had them since November and they are unly showing slight wear, which is really good considering how much I use them. They are very lightweight and comfortable. I am most likely going to bet a pair of the new ones this week. Wading boots are at about 200 on my list of things to do, but the new ones looked awesome and they looked bullet proof. I also liked for the sole goes to the edge of the boot.

Nice product!

[frankm205]

Another nice feature of the Korkers is that you no longer need a tool to change the soles. They just snap in. I also have the older model but I think I'm going to up grade to the newer ones this year.