How to fit wading boots for cold water wading

I see too often anglers not happy with the fit of their boots. There is really only one top consideration when sizing wading boots, and i’m hoping this tangent can help you find the perfect fit.

Thought one: Go big!

Wading is not a performance fit activity so you don’t need the boot to fit that way. You won’t need to be edging on your big toe like rock climbing, running, jumping, or anything like that. Plod, shuffle, slop is more like it . You’ll be in them all day so go big, your feet will thank you!

Thought two: Always jump up a size. At least!

If you are a 10 or 10.5, go with an 11. At least. You’ll be wearing a light sock, your neoprene booties, maybe thick sock stuffed in there too, so you need a little extra room to get it all in there uncrammed. The space is taken up fast. If it’s a little loose when its just a light sock and waders, tighten the laces a little. Or wear bigger socks…or just be okay with a roomy fit. Trust me, it’s better than too small.

Thought three: Special considerations for cold water wading…

Go even bigger!

The absolute worst is not having enough room for your thick socks. In cold water, constriction is your enemy!

As a guide, I have 2 boots to solve my wading issues. A summer boot, which I upsize 1 and a winter boot, which I Upsize 2. If I could only have one though, I’d go with the bigger one. It’s a little loose when I’m not wearing much on my feet, (like summer wed wading with just my neoprene booties) but a small price to pay compared to a day of cold feet.
In order to keep your feet toasty warm you need loft; , Just as a down jacket won’t work when it’s squeezed flat, neither will those high pile wool socks. My winter system is to have a wool sock and a fleece over sock, and to fit all this high pile stuff in the boot, you have to go big.

Last thought: Loose laces
Another fit mistake I see is people lacing their boots too tight. Again, you do not need a performance fit for lobbing flies out of a drift boat or even stepping down a run. Tightne your boots so they stay on your feet, but keep ‘EM loose, so you can wiggle your toes, stay toasty and fish longer, happier

just my 2 cents…

Patagonia Foot Tractor Boot Review

Guides complete boot review (Generation 1)

What makes a good wading boot?

It’s really easy to overlook the importance of the wading boot to your fishing program, even though we (I) expect them to perform for me day in and day out, on the water and off, and without a second thought. Your wading boot is there for you, every time you go fishing. Every trail, river, fly change, grip n grin, those boots were on your feet, humbly plodding along, indispensable, foundational to the experience. So yes, your wading boots matter!

Over the years I’ve had and owned and fished in a number of different brands wading boots, (Simms, Korkers, Chota, Orivis, Patagonia) including multiple traction options; rubber, felt, rubber with studs, felt with studs and felt with lots and lots of studs. I could go into detail on all the options out there, but this review isn’t a shootout, more the story of what hundreds of days of serious use will do to a wading boot that never gets to dry out and is repeatedly pushed to it’s wear out point.

Original Foot Tractor goes to AK

I bought my first pair of Patagonia River Tractor boots before heading up to Alaska. At the time I had been guiding in the Simms Guide Boot with felt and studs. In Alaska, felt is not allowed, so I needed a rubber alternative. Alas, Simms was out of my size in rubber when I went to order, triggering me down the Patagonia path which I am still on. It’s been 3 years of foot tractor use, and now I’m three pairs deep.

In the low gradient cobble of AK’s grayling streams I was immovable and felt super solid in the generation 1 boot. Snow didn’t stick to the rubber/aluminum bottom when hiking frozen trails and the aluminum bars bit into the rocks extremely well. They were a little heavier then I was used to, but oh so sticky to the river and trail. The boot was roomy, a little padded, and laced up easily and comfortably.

AK conclusion? Perfect boot.

Foot Tractor Boot in Oregon & California

Southern Oregon and Northern California, a super diverse landscape with equally diverse rivers was ultimately a much more appropriate test of overall durability and performance. Here we wade on all sorts of bedrock, cobble, lava, marbly shit, serpentine, trails to the river, you name it. Most of its hard, a lot of it has deep consequences of loosing traction can be bad.

 The gold standard on my home waters is usually a felt boot with about three rounds of Simms studs. Once the first 10 studs wear out, I’d stick another round in. Continue that process with studs every few months and you maintain great traction, but a puck of studs is like $30 bucks? Factor that into your purchase price.

Aluminum Bars

The metal bars are screwed into the Patagonia boot sole, which is a serious plus in my opinion, In my experience, the metal bars lasted about as long as the boot itself, so no extra studs, extra cost, or loss of traction down the line. Good idea!

The saw tooth edge of the bar does indeed find a few more nooks and crannies for purchase then a set of studs, and the soft aluminum bites on just about every surface. I say just about every surface because there are a few river bottoms that have just the right level of slime and slick rock that even these edges fail to purchase on. No boot is perfect. Also, get used to leaving some shiny aluminum on the rocks, especially if they are new. The way the aluminum works is it’s softer then the rocks, and kinda molds to the surface you are wading on.

Foot Tractor Durability

I barely noticed any wear or decrease in gripping performance for the first 60 or so river days. Most were a mix of Upper Sac and Klamath walk and wades, but also quite a few on smooth cobble rivers of AK. At about 100 days or so I had my first lace fray and the beginnings of the deterioration of the boot. After replacing the laces, they performed exceptionally well for another month of daily use before I began to notice the bars were quite flat, the seams were getting weak and I felt a little less then rock solid in the water.

Next the rand of the boot begin to split and separate after what looks like the stitching had enough abrasion to finally loosen its grip on the upper.

Conclusion

Ultimately, I wore these boots for near 100 river days of hard use, with few exceptions in use intensity. They also rarely got a chance to dry out. In all, the soft aluminum bars gripped most surfaces very well and provided more than enough purchase to feel secure.  The fit is roomy and the laces provide a great custom fit. They’re comfortable for all day use and the design and durability are good enough for most people. Personally, I was a little disappointed in longevity, and I feel a boot like this should have held up about 20% longer than it did. I have decided to give another pair a shot because I’m pretty satisfied with them overall. I’m hopeful this new pair lasts and I’ll make an edit sometime next year with the verdict.

Boot 2 Conclusion!

I replaced my first pair in winter and ran a full winter, spring and early summer of guiding. I enjoyed all of the features listed above, but near the end of their life, had literally the exact same failures as the first pair, at around the same time. A good boot, but I’m looking at what’s new on the horizon

Danner/Patagonia Foot Tractor Review

BIG NEWS! Patagonia teamed up with Danner to to make the last boot I’ll ever need! It’s $500 bones but if I can get a couple hundred day so use, cost per use will be the same of less, so there’s the value! And, if they last twice as long, that’s one less thing I need to buy to clutter up the world. Sounds like a win win!

Click here for an update on the new Foot Tractor Danner Boot!

 Happy Wading!

 Brandon Worthington