Do You Ever Wet Wade?

[N.Y. Yankee]

When the water is warm enough, do you ever just walk into the water and fish? What do you like for lower body clothing and footwear? How deep do you get?

[bulldog1935]

at least 9 mo/yr in south Texas.  

this deep, though I'll hold up the bag to cross shoulder-deep and get to the confluence of the Guadalupe forks

 

I'm pretty much the board shorts type, and only care for shoes that drain through the soles.  

Though in coast sun, I wear long quick-dry nylon pants, like Simms Lightweights.  

 

Unfortunately, the best hike/wet-wade shoes I've ever bought have all been discontinued, and I bought up a few pairs when they closed out.  

Keen Hood River boots

and New Balance OTB Abyss II (claim to have been designed for Navy Seals)

 

Many of my kayak friends swear by Soft Science

also NRS workboot looks pretty rugged.  I tried a pair of canyoneering boots, and sent them back because they were just too big to fit in a kayak footwell.  

Neoprene socks with wading boots are always a good answer.  

Also note with the lace-up type wet-wading boots above, you still need lycra scuba socks to keep sand from your soles - I've seen my buddies take off tennis shoes to bloody feet.  

Sandals collect gravel in all the worst places.  

 

good support is important for hike/wade, which rules out neoprene booties (which don't drain, anyway) and most water tennies - even rules out my favorite kayak shoes, Astral Hiyak - the review won me a $250 Moosejaw gift certificate, which I turned into a tent-cot.  

[Finessegenics]

I love to wet wade all summer long, even in bigger bodies of water. I do it all the time. I usually just wear "athletic" shorts and have a change of clothes in the car. Footwear, I still haven't figured out and it's starting to frustrate me. I know what I would like but I'm not sure I can get everything I want in a wet wading shoe, for the price I have in mind. For now, I have just been using old sneakers, but they got all soggy and nasty so I've been looking for something that drains. 

 

I started a similar thread so you may get some ideas there:

 

[bagofdonuts]

do it all summer long. korkers are the answer for foot ware.

[scaleface]

I just wear a pair of shorts , tennis shoes and go . I'll wade waist high but have crossed the river chest high at times .  I take one rod . Sometimes I'll wear a vest with small tackle boxes and sometimes I'll just throw a few extra lures in a pocket .

[J Francho]

It's gotta be pretty warm to wade. For footwear Keen Newport H2O have done me well. 

[Steveo-1969]

I fish in a river 99% of the time and always wade if the river level/current speed is safe for wading. In the summer I wear shorts and some kind of cheap shoe. For colder water I wear chest waders. I usually won’t stand in water deeper than my waist while fishing though to get to a spot I may walk in deeper water.

[PressuredLakeFisherman]

1 hour ago, N.Y. Yankee said:

When the water is warm enough, do you ever just walk into the water and fish? What do you like for lower body clothing and footwear? How deep do you get?

All the time, I have waders for chilly weather but in the summer wearing flip flops and cargo/sports shorts is never a bad option.  just dont wear shoes if you are going to be out for a long day because it will make your feet blistery from wet socks rubbing

[mrpao]

I wade in the rivers and streams in the summer time.

I usually wear swim trunks and t shirt with crocs or water shoes.

I usually either wear a fishing vest or fishing sling for my tackle. I'll carry two to three spinning rods with me.

It's a great way to stay cool in the summertime and still catch fish.

[TnRiver46]

Bathing suit with zip pockets for keys and lures. Tennis shoes for footwear, sometimes we even have to swim a ways through deep stuff holding the rod up high (or in your teeth) . Lots of sunscreen 

[OkobojiEagle]

Yes, in years past - often.  More currently I wear chest waders or waist waders depending on water temp and location to be waded.  If I do "wet" wade I still wear long length jeans and water footwear WITH socks.  Too many ticks and leeches... and my wife has put her foot down and refuses to help pick them off when I get home.  I also fish some locations floating on a float tube... an extremely comfortable alternative.

 

Bulldog1935, can you direct me to an outlet that handles that tackle pack you're carrying in pic #2?

 

oe

[soflabasser]

Most of the wade fishing I do is in the ocean. Have done some wade fishing in freshwater lakes and rivers.

[Black Hawk Basser]

I do quite often from July-September here in my local river.  I wear whatever old athletic shoes I have at the time, and have a couple pairs of pants with zip-on/off bottom parts to turn them into shorts.  I wear them as pants when I need to walk near nettles, which are thick around the river.

[redux]

Florida is not the greatest place to wade when bass fishing. It's fine for a lot of the saltwater though.

[Uncle_MC]

Wading little creeks for smallies and rock bass is one of my favorite summer activities. I usually wear basketball shorts and crocs. I’ll wear the same things occasionally to fish from shore in the lake if it’s not too muddy of an area and I don’t feel like taking the boat out.

[Bubba 460]

When I was in my later teens (driving) my friend and I would make the 70 mile drive to the upper Potomac River. We would wade for sometimes miles in the river fishing for smallmouth bass. This area was about 3 miles below where the Shenandoah River enters the Potomac. The area is prefect for wading even thought the river is a at least  a couple hundred yards wide. Most of the time you could pick your way and not get above your waste but sometimes you needed to do a little breaststroke to get were you wanted to go.

 

Being without any monetary means my wading apparel was a pair old cowboy boots, long jeans and a shirt. We used mostly one bait, a Smithwick Devils Horse top water prop bait. On a real good day we would catch over a hundred bass a day. Sometimes you get and occasional 5 pounder but the average bass was in the 14" range give or take. We had small tackle boxes that hooked to our belt with a couple more devil horses in it. When you're young you don't need take water or food. We did this for years ~ miss those days.   

[PhishLI]

3 hours ago, OkobojiEagle said:

Too many ticks and leeches.

Dah! I can't do it. I'd never be the same if I found leeches on Mr. Jingle and the bells.

[billmac]

When it comes to fishing, it's the only way I wade.  I don't even own a pair of waders anymore.

 

The only time I've used waders was when trapping in Fall and Winter.  In fact, I had to catch enough muskrats to buy my first pair of waders, so I wet-waded in ice cold water for quite awhile before I got my first pair.

 

For wading in rapids, you need good tight fitting shoes and the times I've waded in shorts, I usually ended up shredding my legs with razor grass when walking to and from the river.

 

Most of my wading was done at a time before Lyme disease was a thing.

[Deleted account]

Not as much as I used to, but if the opportunity calls for it I'm going in. I'll wear board shorts or Columbia shorts and diving neoprene booties. 

[fishwizzard]

Wet wading is my favorite kind of fishing, take the fight to the fish and beat them in their own house. 

 

A year or two ago I started getting braver and have started wading muddy marshes as well as nice clear smallie rivers.  It's slow going, but sometimes just getting a few feet off the bank can be huge in terms of castings angles.  

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Thats my favorite way to fish, in the Ocean anyway.  I just wear boarding shorts and if I can get away with it, I wont wear anything on my feet while Im in the water.  Most of the time im fishing an inlet so its not a good idea to go above your waist.  At night I usually dont go deep then about knee height.   

[TnRiver46]

4 hours ago, PhishLI said:

Dah! I can't do it. I'd never be the same if I found leeches on Mr. Jingle and the bells.

My bells still itch from a tick that attached to them over a year ago 

[OkobojiEagle]

3 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

My bells still itch from a tick that attached to them over a year ago 

Guys... you're better off just letting it go while waist deep in the drink than dangling it out in the weeds.

 

oe

[Cdn Angler]

Yep! Any shallow river that allows it. The most fun way to fish. 

[Catt]

11 hours ago, PhishLI said:

Dah! I can't do it. I'd never be the same if I found leeches on Mr. Jingle and the bells.

 

Over sharing!