White River Fly Shop ® ECO-CLEAR Wading Boots

Well, I’m back for a second review of a new product I used for the Utah trip with the gang from fishingeuphoria.com. I was short on time to get a wading boot to go with the Simms L2 waders I reviewed earlier. I wanted to stay away from the felt-bottomed boots since many places are starting to disallow the felt-bottomed boots, all together. Again, the local BassPro Shop here in Las Vegas had a limited supply to choose from, and I definately did not want to order “blind” from the catalog without trying them on with my new waders.

So, I took my new Simms waders with me, a few days before we were set to leave, over to the BassPro Shop and went about looking for a lugged sole wading boot that felt comfortable and had a nice-sized footprint. I tried on several boots with varying degrees of comfort and a wide price range. I certainly didn’t want to scrimp on the comfort and useability, and I had an eye on something that would be useable for a long time. I wear a size 9 to size 9 1/2 shoe with a wider than average insole since I have a bit of a flat foot. When I tried on the White River Eco-clear boot in a size 9, I knew right away I had found what I was looking for. They sized to exactly what I wear in most street shoes without having the go one shoe size higher to compensate for the wading sock. If you wear a size ten shoot/boot, you just pick out the same size for the White River boots.

I found them to be very comfortable with enough flex and give in the body construction to make them “useable” right away, without a “break-in” period. The lace-ups in the upper part of the boot were nice in that you can easily adjust the tension. The lake bed we went into at Aspen Mirror lake in Utah was about 6 inches of soft mud with a huge top layer of thick, underwater grass. You could barely pull-out of the muck on each step, but I never came remotely close to losing a boot nor did I have the laces loosen-up to the point where I had to re-tie them. For a flexible construction like these, I was positive I’d have a problem in the 25+ hours we fished there but that never was the case.

I also did a fair amount of hiking to different locations and never developed a blister, hot-spot, or felt like I needed to take them off. The steel toe came in handy with the steep, rocky terrain we traveled over along the Mammoth creek stream. At $89.99 I felt like I got every pennies worth out of them. They were flexible enough to accomodate varying thicknesses of socks, stayed on my feet in some really challenging lake bottom conditions, and rugged enough to withstand tough rocky terrain on long hikes. Probably the best feature I got from them was that I didn’t have any “break-in” period but, instead, was able to use them for 3 days of hardcore fishing right out of the box without any problems whatsoever.

If your budget is under $100 bucks and/or you need a wider foot sized wading boot, I highly recommend you try on a pair of the White River Fly Shop Eco-Clear boots.

Sep

22

Simms ® L2 Gore-Tex ® Stockingfoot Waders Review

I had the opportunity to go with the guys from fishingeuphoria.com this past week to do some stream and lake fishing for native trout in the middle of Utah, east of Cedar City.  The old latex boot-wader combo looked a bit tired and dated resting in the back of the garage. Maybe a younger me would still have the energy and strength to haul those things through the thick mud and underwater grass, but the wiser and more “refined” me (insert cough) had enough of that old technology.  I went to the internet and started doing some in-depth research to see what was available in the post 18th century fishing world. I was looking for a 3 season, light-weight material that could withstand some rough overland treking as well as help me deal with the issues of overheating during the summer months.  I narrowed it down to “breathable materials” such as Gore-tex.  I didn’t want to spend an arm and leg since I have 2 little boys at home who do that for me.  I started with the obvious names but something caught my eye immediately when I went to the Simms site.  One of the stocking-foot waders, I noticed, had Gore-tex material with a price point near $200 dollars. Not too shabby for something made with the latest technology.

What I found was the Simms L2 stocking-foot waders. List price, I think, was in the low $200 range but I saw several locations that had it down to just under $200.  It was made with Gore-tex and all the usual, higher-end features such as reinforced pressure points, waist belt for turning them down below the shoulder, ankle cuffs to keep out the rough stuff, and inside chest pocket.  It comes in a huge array of sizes. I found them online at Bass Pro Shop for around $194 on sale.  I went to the local store here in Las Vegas but they didn’t carry much stock and didn’t have the model there. I was going to get them on-line and shipped to my house without trying them on, which I was pretty hesitant to do, but my sister-in-law found them in California and brought them on a visit. I’m 5’9″ about 175 lbs with a 9-9 1/2 shoe, on average.. I chose the straight mediums and was immediately surprised at just how good they fit. Foot size was dead-on.  There’s no bagginess to them but I still had excellent room when fully crouched down.  I tried them on with layers of long pant underwear and still never felt bunched up or constrained.

After 3 days of wearing them for about 10 hours a day both in the water and hiking to locations, I was still amazed at the fit and feel. Wore them with shorts underneath for 2 days and with long john’s on the 3rd day.  I can tell that if you plan on wading with snow on the ground that you may be on the chilly side with these.  They run on the thinner side so I think they will work great in the summer and when the temp runs down into probably the higher 40′s. I couldn’t be happier with the choice and feel like I got more than my money’s worth.  The extra $50 that I spent above my initial $150 budget was more than made-up given that I was so comfortable with these waders. Ensuring a fishing vacation wasn’t a bust because my new waders didn’t fit right, or were poor quality, was an easy justification.

Do yourself a favor.  If you’re looking for a 3 season Gore-Tex based product, check out the Simms L2 stocking foot waders. PS: The new Dat-Way caddis really does work.  More fish were caught on that new fly than anything else we used. I just wished we hadn’t run out of them!