Felt Soles For Your Soul

[ness]

I'm still using felt. Jury's out on the spread of this stuff, but busting my arse is very high on the list of things I want to avoid. I broke my tailbone about 10 years ago, and it took about 5-6 years to quit hurting daily. Not fun. -- don't do it. I have a collapsible wading staff, but I haven't really gotten into the habit of grabbing it.

My tummy tells me this whole thing is overblown. But, I'm open to hearing the arguments and getting a little better educated about it.

[fishinwrench]

When it first showed up below Bull Shoals the Arkansas guys were all up in arms about it....now I seldom hear them mention it. Did it turn out to be "not such a big deal", or have they just learned to accept it and deal with it ?

I don't get down there very often so I wonder, Has it noticably effected the scud / sowbug population there ?

[laker67]

I have waited through this entire thread for someone to mention that in "06", ditymo aka rock snot, was present at taney. It was located downstream of the stairs at #3 outlet. The same area that everyone uses to cross over to the rebar and the guantlet. Why was it not spread and why has it disappeared? Did it disappear because of the excessive foot traffic in that area? Was it because of the flooding in 08 and 09, or did it just run it's course and disappear? I am surely not the only person that noticed it there. How about it, any one else see it?

[troutfiend1985]

Maybe I am ignorant and just lack sufficient knowledge in order to understand this situation(which I wouldn't argue against), but to me it would seem that almost all of our rivers and streams should have didymo if felt soled wading boots were the primary cause of its distribution. I have no doubt that didymo is invasive, and I would imagine that felt soled waders may play a small role in spreading didymo, but I just don't see enough proof that felt is the cause. I do doubt these companies intentions, and I would bet that some of the hype surrounding didymo involves the stock market and "eco-guilt." It's funny to me that didymo has been around for a while, and so has rubber soled boots but didymo is just now a big issue. Maybe I'm just a cynic, but something tells me that companies making these boots are hurting for money and looking to open a new market of boots in order to increase sales. And I think it is awfully funny that these new lines of boots coincide with an overall slow market.

I'll stick with my felt, but I'll clean it just to make sure.

Maybe I'm just wrong, but I'm still waiting for bird flu, Y2K, global warming, global cooling, swine flu. . . Just add didymo to the list.

[ozark trout fisher]

I don't know enough about it to be sure either. If there is evidence that felt soles are a primary cause of the problem then I'll give them up, and banning them would definitely be the right way to go. And the evidence that felt soles does cause this is not exactly overwhelmning. But just to be sure, I will definitely not use my felt soles in any waters where Didymo is known to exist, and I do wash them between trips. The long and the short of it is that I'm split on this. On one hand, I think it would be intelligent to ban them because it may help to prevent the spread of Didymo to some waters. On the other hand, the connection between felt soles and didymo infection seems pretty shaky, and felt soles have saved me from busting my butt pretty seriously several times. Further evidence could sway my opinion either way.

I think that voluntary angler responsibility is the best answer for now, until further evidence is found. But I wouldn't be opposed to legislation if enough a solid connection between felt soles and Didymo infection can be established.

[jjtroutbum]

[FishinCricket]

I don't know how financially secure everyone else here is, but loosing 4-6 weeks worth of work could have me wearing those Vibram boots to bed at night in a van down by the river eating hotdogs and instant potatoes.

I'm finding very little difference between this and your current situation... ?

And since when does a lack of planning on your part constitute some kind of emergency on our part? I have to (possibly) deal with diddymo because you can't afford health insurance? WTF? Maybe I can get you on my plan as a dependent... Cause I love ya like a child, ya know.. An unruly, obnoxious conspiracy theorist curmudgeon child..

I've got frog toggs and cabela bone dry waders with the rubber shoes (one set was cheap, one was a free) so I'm not too worried, but I don't like being told I can't wear felt when there's little evidence at all that I can find that says wearing felt boots is the in any way loosely related to the problem..

But, till I can afford it, I suppose I'll just keep wading in these rubber boots and creeping dangerously close to busting my butt.. (knock on wood, hasn't happened yet)

[KCRIVERRAT]

Waders are another source for transfer. I think Terry B's thoughts are on target. Find a friendly agent to get rid of the stuff.

I've encountered many a friendly agent on our rivers and lakes, but when I've questioned them on this dilemma, they promptly hand my liscense back and say "Have a good Day."

[fishinwrench]

But, till I can afford it, I suppose I'll just keep wading in these rubber boots and creeping dangerously close to busting my butt.. (knock on wood, hasn't happened yet)

Yes it has, you suffered a near cuncussion not that long ago on the Niangua and have now forgotten.

Remember, you slipped on some powerbait and tried to split a log with your melon...and it almost resulted in a divorce. Felt could have saved you all that unnecessary grief.

[flytyer57]

...and felt soles have saved me from busting my butt pretty seriously several times.

How do you know this? You didn't fall and bust your butt so the felt soles saved you? But if you didn't fall and bust your butt, how do you know it was the felt that saved you? Maybe the felt didn't do anything and you really weren't in harms way as you may have thought you were.

I've worn vibram soles and stepped onto some slick rocks and felt my feet sliding along them. Had I had felt on and had the same thing happen, I don't think I would have been all that much of a believer in felt.

If those rocks are slippery and your felt soles are sliding off them, then your felt soles may not be any better than any of the vibram soles out there and you may be transporting whatever in the felt for no other reason than the fact that you are just too hard-headed to give them up.