None of the waters I fish are clean enough to let me be comfortable enough to wet wade. My motto is if it’s not safe to drink, I’m wearing waders. There’s a lot of farmland around and the cows leave a lot of waste plus huge numbers of geese. E Coli is always present. Any open cuts are an invitation to an infection. A lot of my rivers also require you to bushwhack your way through the woods that are loaded with poison ivy, poison oak, and thorny bushes. Waders keep me safe from that. 

Some of my most favorite fishing memories are just a pair of cutoff old jeans and old sneakers and wading in the Juniata river. Never any big size but huge numbers. I still make it a point to head out every year for a few trips. Simple times and simple life.

1 hour ago, Scott F said:

None of the waters I fish are clean enough to let me be comfortable enough to wet wade. My motto is if it’s not safe to drink, I’m wearing waders. There’s a lot of farmland around and the cows leave a lot of waste plus huge numbers of geese. E Coli is always present. Any open cuts are an invitation to an infection. A lot of my rivers also require you to bushwhack your way through the woods that are loaded with poison ivy, poison oak, and thorny bushes. Waders keep me safe from that. 

I'm not far from you and I wade the Tippecanoe, the Yellow and eventually I'll get to the Kankakee.  There is E coli so you don't want to be drinking it. Open wounds are a concern. I get a lot of cuts and scrapes from work and I stay out of the water if any are "open". Once closed over I've never had a problem. I've been wading, swimming and scuba diving these waters for a very long time.

 

All that said I usually just wear jeans. They're heavy when wet but they offer some protection from brush piles or whatever else you might run into...and they're handy since that's what I wear for everything else.

 

Not to say it's the best but I usually wear wet suit boots because I have a bunch left from diving or an old pair of cheap tennis shoes. The wet suit boots don't really offer much protection. Someplace I have a pair of dry suit boots that I keep meaning to dig out and use.

 

I used to carry a small bag of tackle but I never had any luck keeping it dry. Now I usually just travel with what I can stuff in my pockets. If I need something more I have to hike back to the truck.

11 hours ago, OkobojiEagle said:

Guys... you're better off just letting it go while waist deep in the drink than dangling it out in the weeds.

 

oe

LOL

Diving sometimes gives me a warm and fuzzy...

20 minutes ago, BassWhole! said:

LOL

Diving sometimes gives me a warm and fuzzy...

The bulk of my diving was in a dry suit. Both of my dry suits are equipped with an "overboard discharge valve"..no "warm fuzzy" for me.

 

Vortex spring cave system in Florida has a room that we used to call the "Well Room". The reason it's called that is because a foot valve of someone's well pokes right down through the ceiling. I'm not the only one with an overboard discharge valve and there's no way to hold it through a long dive.

 

 

6 minutes ago, MGF said:

The bulk of my diving was in a dry suit. Both of my dry suits are equipped with an "overboard discharge valve"..no "warm fuzzy" for me.

 

Vortex spring cave system in Florida has a room that we used to call the "Well Room". The reason it's called that is because a foot valve of someone's well pokes right down through the ceiling. I'm not the only one with an overboard discharge valve and there's no way to hold it through a long dive.

 

 

LOL,

No lemon/lime KoolAid in Fl, check!

I don't even own waders. Basketball shorts and Crocs or flip flops. I'll wade in some pretty cool water. 

Yes. In the hottest months of summer. I just wear old shorts and tennis shoes.

Yes. In the hottest months of summer. I just wear old shorts and tennis shoes.