MN on the verge of banning felt soled waders. Why?

“Sec. 26. [97C.348] FELT-SOLED WADERS.
Using felt-soled waders is prohibited in waters of the state. For purposes of this section
“felt-soled waders” means boots or shoes that have water-absorbing material affixed to the
soles or bottoms.”

That was the question that I asked our friendly MN DNR biologist Nick Schlesser last night.
After all they are very effective for wading trout and steelhead streams.

“Rock Snot”.

Didymosphenia geminate, or didymo. A type of algae that is a native species, but the environmental conditions that trigger its visible growth in rivers were previously rare. Now, human-caused climate changes could be making rock snot more common in waterways, it is said.

A quick google of rock snot will give a person more then they ever wanted to know on the subject.

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They were banned in Alaska about 15 years ago. An invasive weed showed up and the “experts” believed the plant was transported by a felt sole that hadn’t completely dried. I sure miss felt. I rarely slipped when I wore them.

I thought this would happen here sooner or later, so the last time I bought wading boots I got rubber soles. They’ve been doing a lot of experimenting and designing but so far they aren’t as good as felt. Anyway I bought a bunch of aluminum cleats that screw into the bottom of the boot and they actually work fairly well. Think about how well aluminum canoes stick to rocks in the river.

One bonus, the mud doesn’t stick to them like it does to felt soles.

SR