Alright guys I’m new to the whole fly fishing thing and all but when walkin out in the flats, who all wears water shoes or goes barefoot? I just need an opinion on the thing
Good Lord, please don’t go bare foot.
Old tennis shoes work just fine, you do not need high dollar wading shoes. Sure they’re nice, but certainly not a requirement.
Like Sailfish said, DO NOT wade barefoot. You’re almost guaranteed to end up in the hospital getting stitches and then dealing with an infection.
Buy a pair of $30 neoprene, hard soled wading boots from Bass Pro or Cabela’s. They’ll get the job done for the right price.
I tried it a few times with just Teva’s but figured it was a matter of time before I sliced the side of my foot or toes. So they protected the bottom of my foot fine, but not the whole foot. So like the other guys suggest, I had neoprene dive boots, and are using those now. They actually make less noise in the kayak as well, which helps when stalking reds in the grass. When things cool down, I’ll just go with my waders and hard soled boots.
I bought a cheap pair of canvas shoes at wally world. Paid like $10 for them. I rinse them off well after each wading. They have lasted a couple of years so far. But I don’t walk a lot of flats. I figure if they ruin, I’m only out $10.
19’ Sea-Pro CC
“Swagger Wagon”
Yamaha 115 - 2 stroke
14’ CMF Skiff
25 Johnson - 2 stroke
14’ Heritage Redfish
“There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.”
Ernest Hemingway
I heard some folks like the high ankle chuck taylors for wading -
haven’t tried it though
ok yall thanks for the advice. I was just thinkin about it because when I was a small kid I used to walk around the creek by the house and catch blue crabs and fiddlers barefoot but I never really ventured out in the grass just because I was scared of alligators( its a brackish creek fed pond and creek.
Believe it or not I’ve used crocs alot. They aren’t the best though and can easily come off. I’m probably asking for a sliced toe. Smash lots of snails that fall under my feet too!
There is no normal life, there’s just life.
Tarpon 140
Knot the Reel World Fly Fishing LLC
Anything but barefoot. A pair of felony flyers is all you really need.
oc