Felt Soled Waders Banned In Mo Trout Waters!

[Al Agnew]

LMAO. good stuff, Joe

I admitted early in this debate that I had never stepped in or even seen a didymo bloom, so my input is nothing more than me venting. I'm just going by what I notice, such as.... almost 10 years ago everyone was up in arms because a didymo bloom hit the White below BS, we went down there afterwards expecting to see this terrible snot everywhere, and didn't notice anything close to what the guys on Wilsons forum were describing. And although its been 3 years since I was last down there I still have friends that go routinely and they always come home talking about how awesome it was, complete with pics of big browns ect.

So to me it is like a story of a haunted house, I've heard a thousand ghost stories but still haven't heard of a single person being HURT or killed by a ghost..... So I am skeptical as to why everyone is scared of them.

Same deal...Guy comes back from Arkansas and says OMG the didymo is just awful, what a shame the White is gonna die, and oh by the way check out the big browns we caught ripping streamers !

I'll say it again, wrench...a BAD didymo bloom is a few orders of magnitude worse than anything you've ever seen. Does it harm the fishery? Maybe, maybe not. Does it harm the fishing? Absolutely, it just about kills it. So I'm guessing, having not seen the situation on the White, that it wasn't a bad bloom.

In looking through the various stuff on it on the net, it sounds like there aren't too many places where the infestation has been really bad in the U.S. But as I saw on the Boulder, it CAN get really bad. Maybe what killed it on the Boulder was a couple years of very warm summers, so warm the water temps got well up into the upper 70s and stressed out the trout, as well as maybe doing a number on the didymo. Or maybe it was something else entirely. Maybe the Ozark streams other than the trout waters are in no danger because they get too warm...or maybe the stuff could become established in the cold weather months (when somebody would be most likely to be wading with felt soles--most people wet wade with tennies, seems like, in the summer) and then repeatedly bloom in the spring, fall, or winter. Thing is, we don't know, but the worst case scenario is NOT something I'd want to see happen to any stream in the Ozarks. It ain't a ghost story to me, it's a nightmare reality.

[Idylwilde]

You know I was reading through this thread and I had a thought to run through my ears. I remember not that many years ago the health Department come out with a new warning about a invasive disease that was invading the US. It took only one little germ of it to kill is. We were all warned to take precautions to prevent the spread of it. Some people thought only certain people could get it, some though it would not happen to them or the were safe because of their lifestyle. Some thought about it but ignored it all together. Some of them are dead or suffering from the disease. & some took the precaution and lived a happy life without worry. Very much like the warning for our rivers and streams now. Can you see the correlation between the two. Just saying!

[BredMan]

I have looked at the Didymo issues on the web as well. You Tube offers some pretty good videos of this nasty stuff. Other states and countries that are infested have already implemented the guidelines that are being discussed here. I don't see this as another 'government conspiracy' or 'cry of wolf'. Didymo is invasive and very nasty. I would hate to see this cover the bottoms of our streams. Waiting for an infestation to occur before pro-active measures are taken could be a prescription for disaster. The cost of prevention to me out weight the cost of an entire fishery being wiped out IMO!

[hoglaw]

The pushback seems much ado about nothing to me. It's a proven fact that didymo can hitchhike on felt soled boots. A very simple alternative is available. Seems most should be thanking the MDC for having the foresight to head off a problem before it gets to be an epidemic.

To think that any goverment agent has a vested interest in promoting the rubber soled boot industry borders on rediculous. The sales tax revenue generated by the sale of a pair of rubber soled boots is MAYBE five bucks for a pair, most of which is earmarked and not all of which is collected at the state level as opposed to locally. It's not like this is going to cause a boom in the sale of rubber soled boots. In the past when I've needed shoes for stocking foot waders, I've gone to goodwill and picked up some basketball shoes that are too big for me. I have an awesome pair of Lebrons that set me back about five bucks.

I can't wear metal spiked golf shoes because they transfer diseases from course to course, and because folks who don't know how to walk in them tear up greens. Now I can't name a single course that allows them. It's an identical issue. We're smart enough to figure out that a certain type of shoe causes a problem. Is it the only cause? Probably not. Is it the easiest one to fix? You bet.

Whether "big brother" is too big or sticks its nose in too many issues is beside the point. Your tax dollars support a regulatory body that does its best to protect your resources. You don't pay enough tax dollars to have the best minds in the world doing the work, so you get blue collar folks who have the same interests as you for the most part. What's the big deal?

[troutfiend1985]

The pushback seems much ado about nothing to me. It's a proven fact that didymo can hitchhike on felt soled boots. A very simple alternative is available. Seems most should be thanking the MDC for having the foresight to head off a problem before it gets to be an epidemic.

To think that any goverment agent has a vested interest in promoting the rubber soled boot industry borders on rediculous. The sales tax revenue generated by the sale of a pair of rubber soled boots is MAYBE five bucks for a pair, most of which is earmarked and not all of which is collected at the state level as opposed to locally. It's not like this is going to cause a boom in the sale of rubber soled boots. In the past when I've needed shoes for stocking foot waders, I've gone to goodwill and picked up some basketball shoes that are too big for me. I have an awesome pair of Lebrons that set me back about five bucks.

My point is that MDC gave into commercial pressure, not that they did this for sales tax. It's called lobbying. Keep rocking those lebrons, I'm not sure how that is really relevant, unless you think people are going to substitute structured wading boots for basketball shoes.

I can't wear metal spiked golf shoes because they transfer diseases from course to course, and because folks who don't know how to walk in them tear up greens. Now I can't name a single course that allows them. It's an identical issue. We're smart enough to figure out that a certain type of shoe causes a problem. Is it the only cause? Probably not. Is it the easiest one to fix? You bet.

Bad analogy. Golf spikes were a voluntary ban and they were not banned for the primary purpose of spreading diseases. Rather there was A. an acceptable alternative in spikes when the black widow spike came out, B. metal spikes tore the crap out of greens and golfers hated spike marks, C. the ban was largely from within the golfing community, rather than a state actor, D. the ban was a simple one to adapt to in that the next time you changed your cleats you just chose the soft spike(20 dollars) as opposed to a whole new shoe($80 plus, or $5 for those sweet Lebrons), and E. while golfing you are not wading on slippery rocks, thus there is no legitimate safety concerns. Really, your point here goes counter to your argument, because the change over to soft spikes only took effect when there was an acceptable substitute for metal spikes.

Whether "big brother" is too big or sticks its nose in too many issues is beside the point. Your tax dollars support a regulatory body that does its best to protect your resources. You don't pay enough tax dollars to have the best minds in the world doing the work, so you get blue collar folks who have the same interests as you for the most part. What's the big deal?

I agree with you on the regulatory issues, in that a state has the authority to set and enforce reasonable regulations. But here the problem is the enforcement part. And this is where neither you, myself, the guys on this board or anyone I have talked to on the MDC has an answer, because, absent tax increases, there is no way to put the necessary amount of agents in the field to make this a viable and enforceable ban. One agent in Missouri has 450 miles of enforcement area. This is the big deal, because if felt is to blame, and it only takes one cell to transfer this stuff, and Arkansas with its proximity to our streams has not banned felt, then we have not really done anything except given the good ol' college try.

[ness]

C'mon Drew -- I see you lurking down there in the 'reading this topic' thing. Redeem yourself!

As for you anarchists and conspiracy theorists: Did anyone consider that, perhaps, MDC read up on this a little and decided to try to reduce the chances of didymo ruining our precious and rare cold water streams? Maybe, just maybe, because that would be a good thing for everybody? Not to sell shoes, increase taxes, take property, gain a little more control over the population, whatever?

It must be hell to be haunted by these boogeymen. Relax and buy some freakin' new boots. Or fish somewhere else.

[10pointer]

Its not going to kill me to buy another pair of wading boots (even though I really love my felted simms), and I'm all for protecting our streams. I have and Im sure alot of you guys have more money wrapped up in fishing/hunting/guns than some people have in the value of their homes. Just like others have said a cheap pair of boots divided over the course of 4 or 5 years doesnt add up to much each trip.

I invited Mark Van Patten (MO Biologist/didymo expert/tying bench host) to come speak at an event I ran back in May, and he was gracious enough to come and speak to us. He does a fantastic presentation on Didymo and it really does open your eyes to the threats that it poses. I doubt that Mark or any other head biologist with the MDC for that matter, has alterior motives and are making money off of the Didymo subject. Their only job is to make decisions off of the research that they have compiled... and to ultimately make the best decision for our rivers and lakes.

Im going to go with the flow on this one...

[ness]

10 pointer, I believe our avatars are from the same national park. Big T/Beaver Meadows in yours?

[10pointer]

yep sure is big t through morraine park

[ness]

Oops. Mixed up Beaver and Moraine. But I know that spot!