Wet Flippering

jaredoconnor

jaredoconnor

Peabrain Chub
I want to use my float tube, without waders. I’m looking for some kind of footwear that will keep debris out, provide support for fins and are soft enough to drive my car with them on. Any suggestions? Do diving booties work?
 
jaredoconnor said:
I want to use my float tube, without waders. I’m looking for some kind of footwear that will keep debris out, provide support for fins and are soft enough to drive my car with them on. Any suggestions? Do diving booties work?
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Any neoprene-type bootie will work, diving or fishing. Unless you need to wade through muck to transition between open water and land, a gravel guard (found in fishing booties, but not dive booties) is NOT necessary. Regardless, neoprene booties will be pretty warm when driving to/from. Just change into sandals or something more comfortable on the drive.
I am a big fan of wearing booties and shorts in my pontoon boat in summer. However, if the lake/pond that you are fishing has abundant populations of ducks/geese and freshwater snails, you might have develop a skin problem called swimmer's itch (cercarial dermatitis). This is caused by the cercarial larval of schistosome (fluke) parasites. The larvae cannot successfully burrow into the blood supply of humans (though there are tropical schistosomes that do infect humans). The larvae die trying in humans and their corpses trigger an allergic skin reaction that feels like the worst mosquito bites that you even had. The injuries heal up after a few days.
Schistosome flukes have a multistage life history. Infected birds release fertilized eggs in their feces in the lake. Miracidia larvae hatch from the eggs and infect snails. The snails release swimming cercarial parasites that seek out warm-bodies flesh, like the legs of a duck (or a human). The cercariae attempt to burrow into the skin; if successful, they migrate through blood vessels to the liver, intestines, or other organs.
In some lakes swimmer's itch is a problem and in others it is not. If I have had a bad prior experience at a particular lake, I will wear my stocking-food breathable waders just to prevent a reoccurrence.
Steve
 
Cabezon said:
Any neoprene-type bootie will work, diving or fishing. Unless you need to wade through muck to transition between open water and land, a gravel guard (found in fishing booties, but not dive booties) is NOT necessary. Regardless, neoprene booties will be pretty warm when driving to/from. Just change into sandals or something more comfortable on the drive.
I am a big fan of wearing booties and shorts in my pontoon boat in summer. However, if the lake/pond that you are fishing has abundant populations of ducks/geese and freshwater snails, you might have develop a skin problem called swimmer's itch (cercarial dermatitis). This is caused by the cercarial larval of schistosome (fluke) parasites. The larvae cannot successfully burrow into the blood supply of humans (though there are tropical schistosomes that do infect humans). The larvae die trying in humans and their corpses trigger an allergic skin reaction that feels like the worst mosquito bites that you even had. The injuries heal up after a few days.
Schistosome flukes have a multistage life history. Infected birds release fertilized eggs in their feces in the lake. Miracidia larvae hatch from the eggs and infect snails. The snails release swimming cercarial parasites that seek out warm-bodies flesh, like the legs of a duck (or a human). The cercariae attempt to burrow into the skin; if successful, they migrate through blood vessels to the liver, intestines, or other organs.
In some lakes swimmer's itch is a problem and in others it is not. If I have had a bad prior experience at a particular lake, I will wear my stocking-food breathable waders just to prevent a reoccurrence.
Steve
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Damn. I think I’ll just wear my waders haha!
 
You might want to check this out before you make your final decision. :)
www.washingtonflyfishing.com

Underwater biting bugs

I had a guy come into the shop today that has some kind of bug bites all over his legs. He was float-tubing at a local lake without waders. What kind of bugs bite underwater???? Were they dragonfly nymphs? I havent seen anything like that before. They were definitely bites, and not some...
www.washingtonflyfishing.com www.washingtonflyfishing.com
 
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Cabezon said:
Any neoprene-type bootie will work, diving or fishing. Unless you need to wade through muck to transition between open water and land, a gravel guard (found in fishing booties, but not dive booties) is NOT necessary. Regardless, neoprene booties will be pretty warm when driving to/from. Just change into sandals or something more comfortable on the drive.
I am a big fan of wearing booties and shorts in my pontoon boat in summer. However, if the lake/pond that you are fishing has abundant populations of ducks/geese and freshwater snails, you might have develop a skin problem called swimmer's itch (cercarial dermatitis). This is caused by the cercarial larval of schistosome (fluke) parasites. The larvae cannot successfully burrow into the blood supply of humans (though there are tropical schistosomes that do infect humans). The larvae die trying in humans and their corpses trigger an allergic skin reaction that feels like the worst mosquito bites that you even had. The injuries heal up after a few days.
Schistosome flukes have a multistage life history. Infected birds release fertilized eggs in their feces in the lake. Miracidia larvae hatch from the eggs and infect snails. The snails release swimming cercarial parasites that seek out warm-bodies flesh, like the legs of a duck (or a human). The cercariae attempt to burrow into the skin; if successful, they migrate through blood vessels to the liver, intestines, or other organs.
In some lakes swimmer's itch is a problem and in others it is not. If I have had a bad prior experience at a particular lake, I will wear my stocking-food breathable waders just to prevent a reoccurrence.
Steve
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I bought a pair of these for the exact purpose Jared is asking about, they are knee high and really are waterproof. Along with a pair of cheap flats boots they allow skipping the waders and keep you warm and the bugs off. Tip: they take a long time to dry so May want two pair if fishing successive days, I.e. they may not dry completely overnight, especially in a camping situation.
IMG_1624.png
 
jaredoconnor said:
Damn. I think I’ll just wear my waders haha!
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I wet waded a lake yesterday in a bay that has lots of nesting geese and now I read Cabezon's post (and recall some recent discussion about Hirudinea Lake); whew, lucked out. No swimmers itch!

I've used diver's booties with fins when fishing from my float tube without waders, they worked well. Current favorites: Adams Built Knott Creek boots
 
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Curious, would long pants with the hems underneath wrap-on neoprene gravel guards keep the parasites out?
 
Long_Rod_Silvers said:
Yep, dive booties work fine.
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A little thread drift but speaking of dive "booties", I haven't looked at flats or float tube fin "booties" in a very long time, so maybe they offer more stability and support for the feet now than the "booties" I had that could be folded in half lengthwise.

I found dive boots that have enough stability in the sole, and arch support for a diver to walk over rocks - jetties with all their gear can prevent painful cramps in the foot from finning around for a long time, and are better than my old flats booties when lake fishing in my Watermaster putting in & taking out. I needed 2 sizes larger than my street shoes to fit over neoprene wader feet.
 
Brian Miller said:
Curious, would long pants with the hems underneath wrap-on neoprene gravel guards keep the parasites out?
Click to expand...
Probably. They aren't going to burrow through pants (and it is likely to mess with their detection of your thermal signature).

I can see some advantages of a pedal kayak, especially when trolling streamers or covering distance. But I think that I have a much more deft positional abilities of my 9' pontoon boat with my scuba fins. I can rapidly rotate my pontoon boat within its own length with my fins if I hear a fish rise behind me. What's a few parasite bites...

Steve
 
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Cabezon said:
Any neoprene-type bootie will work, diving or fishing. Unless you need to wade through muck to transition between open water and land, a gravel guard (found in fishing booties, but not dive booties) is NOT necessary. Regardless, neoprene booties will be pretty warm when driving to/from. Just change into sandals or something more comfortable on the drive.
I am a big fan of wearing booties and shorts in my pontoon boat in summer. However, if the lake/pond that you are fishing has abundant populations of ducks/geese and freshwater snails, you might have develop a skin problem called swimmer's itch (cercarial dermatitis). This is caused by the cercarial larval of schistosome (fluke) parasites. The larvae cannot successfully burrow into the blood supply of humans (though there are tropical schistosomes that do infect humans). The larvae die trying in humans and their corpses trigger an allergic skin reaction that feels like the worst mosquito bites that you even had. The injuries heal up after a few days.
Schistosome flukes have a multistage life history. Infected birds release fertilized eggs in their feces in the lake. Miracidia larvae hatch from the eggs and infect snails. The snails release swimming cercarial parasites that seek out warm-bodies flesh, like the legs of a duck (or a human). The cercariae attempt to burrow into the skin; if successful, they migrate through blood vessels to the liver, intestines, or other organs.
In some lakes swimmer's itch is a problem and in others it is not. If I have had a bad prior experience at a particular lake, I will wear my stocking-food breathable waders just to prevent a reoccurrence.
Steve
Click to expand...
I had to wade into a stream in MI where my kids had flipped their canoe. Next day on one foot my son counted 87 bites, there were more and the other foot was a mess too. Kids had 0 of course and thought it was gross but really funny. Steve is so right re the urge to itch. It was insane and only tempered by fairly vast amounts of alcohol. Apparently mergansers shitting the bugs out into the stream where they hide in the mud is part of the lifecycle. The weals were there for over a week before falling off as little blood blisters but oh god the urge to itch the first few days was very intense. No salve that I tried worked other multiple gin and tonics.

David
 
Cabezon said:
Probably. They aren't going to burrow through pants (and it is likely to mess with their detection of your thermal signature).

I can see some advantages of a pedal kayak, especially when trolling streamers or covering distance. But I think that I have a much more deft positional abilities of my 9' pontoon boat with my scuba fins. I can rapidly rotate my pontoon boat within its own length with my fins if I hear a fish rise behind me. What's a few parasite bites...

Steve
Click to expand...
You could cough up the bucks for the Hobie Mirage 360 and have ALL the maneuverability!
😉
They're a tad hard to hike in, though...
 
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