Tag: wading gear

Wading Staff Opens Access & Adds Safety

Discussing the virtues of a wading staff and detailing the staff I carry.

A few times while fishing the Chattooga River last week I thought about how thankful I was to have a wading staff in hand to test the depth of the next step or provide a “third leg” of stability while crossing the the river in significant current.

It was actually a previous trip to the same river with the same friend that prompted me to finally add a wading staff to my stream gear. Very early that day, we came to a spot where we had to cross to continue upstream, and I was apprehensive because of the depth, amount of current, and uneven bottom. My friend, Eric, had brought a wading staff, as he typically does. He ended up crossing easily, with aid of the staff, and then tossed it back to me so I could find my way across.

Eric actually forgot his wading staff at home last week. After realizing that as we geared up by my car before hiking to the river, he went into search mode along the trail and found himself a stick that was a good length and sufficiently sturdy for the job.

I should have picked up a wading staff long ago, and I’m still working on remembering to bring it (and use it when I have it). Having a probe to test the bottom depth and makeup and a third point of support makes it SO much easier and safer to wade anywhere depth, current and/or an uneven bottom make-up add wading challenges.

My Wading Staff

Aventik Foldable Wading Staff

My wading staff is made by Aventik. I’ve been happy with its functionality through several uses.

It’s a four-piece design, with elastic through the center, so it can be folded small but extends and snaps together like a tent pole. It’s 55 inches long and has a tungsten pointed tip and an EVA foam grip.

A coiled leash allows you to tether the staff to a belt loop or vest. It also has a camera mount on the handle to use the staff as a monopod, but I haven’t experimented with that application.

An included neoprene sheath is designed to hold the folded-up staff when not in use. I found the sheath tended to twist, and the pole would fall out. That’s not an issue for me, though. I keep the staff folded in the sheath at home and in the car, but wouldn’t want to keep folding and re-extending it astream anyway and would prefer to just let it drag behind me.

I like the light weight of an aluminum staff and definitely prefer something I can attach because I don’t like carrying extra things that I have to set down and remember to pick back up whenever I move. That said, a simple wooden hiking stick or even a stick you find by the trail or the river can do the job and is far better than not having a wading staff when you need one!

Waders or No Waders?

I suppose you could say I have a tolerate/hate relationship with waders.

As I trudged to the car with cold, wet feet from leaking waders, I thought about how much I dislike waders.

Don’t get me wrong, the poor maintenance and the pair I’d chosen to tote along that day were my own doing, and I really couldn’t have waded a mountain river on New Year’s morning without waders of some sort. Even when they keep completely dry, I simply don’t like the extra bulk and weight waders add or having to worry about stepping too deep.

Some people really don’t like getting pants, shoes and socks wet, and they wear waders year-round if they think they even might be stepping into the water. They reasonably like to just peel off the wet layer at day’s end and be fully dry. Some also seem to like fully gearing up to fish. Rocking waders, boots, staff, net and a vest loaded with gizmos and flies or lures just goes with stream fishing.

I’m the opposite. I’ll wear waders for true winter stream fishing or wading a big, cold tailwater, but if I can stand wading wet, that’s what I choose. I like to travel light and keep things as simple as possible.

Tending to Mending

I do need to do some wader repair. I own several pairs of different sorts, and a handful of them have leaks in one or both feet. At some point — probably this summer — I need to turn my them all inside out and fill them with water to find and repair the leaks and get rid of any pairs that are genuinely beyond repair.

I do own a few pairs of waders that I know don’t leak. None are my favorites, though. One is a fully neoprene pair with built-in boots. Beyond being a bit big for me, that pair is heavy and bulky — although less so than an insulated pair of duck hunting waders that also doesn’t have good traction for walking stream beds.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, some very old rubber waders have zero insulation value. They do keep me dry, but even without the tire patch from when I tore them many years ago, they are beyond ugly.

Soon our streams will reach a point where I can fish without waders, but in the meantime, I need to figure out which pair to wear next time I need some. I know it won’t be the pair I wore New Year’s morning!