NorthWest Kayak Anglers
Kayak Fishing => Product Discussions => Topic started by: PetitPoisson on March 19, 2018, 06:32:30 PM
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Hey all, getting excited to start fishing again. Went online and found a slightly used Kokatat Expedition Dry Suit for a few hundred dollars. I now own the suit.... question: what are you guys using for footwear
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1. When kayak fishing, particularly from a sit-on-top kayak, your feet are usually wet and often in the water. Whatever footgear you wear over your dry suit's dry socks needs to be big enough so you can wear several pairs of warm fuzzy socks under your dry socks, without constricting your feet. Footgear which constricts your feet will make your feet cold. Your footgear isn't what will keep your feet warm; the warm fuzzy socks under your dry socks are what will keep your feet warm. I wear footgear which is about two sizes larger than my street shoe size.
2. Whatever footgear you wear over your dry suit's dry socks should protect the dry socks from damage. Not just the bottom of your dry socks, but the sides and top as well. Sandals will protect the bottom of your dry socks, but they won't protect the sides, top, and ankles very well when you are walking through underbrush or sharp rocks.
3. Whatever footgear you wear over your dry suit's dry socks should keep sand and gravel from getting inside the footgear, where it will grind on your dry socks and damage them. Footgear which lets water drain out can also let sand and gravel get in.
4. Whatever footgear you wear over your dry suit's dry socks should have good traction, and should reduce the risk that you will slip on slippery rocks and fall down.
5. Whatever footgear you wear over your dry suit's dry socks should protect the soles of your feet from rocks and from the pedals of a pedal kayak. Most wet suit booties have pretty thin soles, and you can beat up the bottoms of your feet if you need to do much hiking in them in rough conditions, or you spend a long day of pedaling a kayak.
6. Whatever footgear you wear over your dry suit's dry socks shouldn't scoop up a lot of water, as that water would make it harder to climb back on your kayak if you get dumped in the water. Knee boots are a bad idea for kayak fishing. The less room there is in your footgear for water, the less the weight of the water could create problems.
7. If you have weak ankles, you can look for footgear which provides ankle support. Good luck finding any such footgear.
8. It's nice if your footgear dries out quickly. Footgear which stays wet for a long time can get moldy and stinky.
There are a lot of options for footgear which satisfies these requirements to a greater or lesser extent, such as wet suit booties and oversized inexpensive running shoes.
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I bought Akona drysuit booties on Amazon - got 1 size up from my street shoe. They have been ideal for multiple seasons. My feet are always warm (sometimes wet from dangling over the edge). I wear one pair of nice hiking socks for warmth (wool or wool blend midweight).
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1. When kayak fishing, particularly from a sit-on-top kayak, your feet are usually wet and often in the water. Whatever footgear you wear over your dry suit's dry socks needs to be big enough so you can wear several pairs of warm fuzzy socks under your dry socks, without constricting your feet. Footgear which constricts your feet will make your feet cold. Your footgear isn't what will keep your feet warm; the warm fuzzy socks under your dry socks are what will keep your feet warm. I wear footgear which is about two sizes larger than my street shoe size.
2. Whatever footgear you wear over your dry suit's dry socks should protect the dry socks from damage. Not just the bottom of your dry socks, but the sides and top as well. Sandals will protect the bottom of your dry socks, but they won't protect the sides and top very well when you are walking through underbrush or sharp rocks.
3. Whatever footgear you wear over your dry suit's dry socks should keep sand and gravel from getting inside the footgear, where it will grind on your dry socks and damage them. Footgear which lets water drain out can also let sand and gravel get in.
4. Whatever footgear you wear over your dry suit's dry socks should have good traction, and should reduce the risk that you will slip on slippery rocks and fall down.
5. Whatever footgear you wear over your dry suit's dry socks should protect the soles of your feet from rocks and from the pedals of a pedal kayak. Most wet suit booties have pretty thin soles, and you can beat up the bottoms of your feet if you need to do much hiking in them in rough conditions, or you spend a long day of pedaling a kayak.
6. Whatever footgear you wear over your dry suit's dry socks shouldn't scoop up a lot of water, as that water would make it harder to climb back on your kayak if you get dumped in the water. Knee boots are a bad idea for kayak fishing. The less room there is in your footgear for water, the less the weight of the water could create problems.
7. If you have weak ankles, you can look for footgear which provides ankle support. Good luck finding any such footgear.
8. It's nice if your footgear dries out quickly. Footgear which stays wet for a long time can get moldy and stinky.
There are a lot of options for footgear which satisfies these requirements to a greater or lesser extent, such as wet suit booties and oversized inexpensive running shoes.
Perfect description! Thanks pmpete!
One thing to add- put your footgear on the heater vent in your house after coming home from a trip- it will dry nicely
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Oh, one more thing.
My first pair of shoes were some water shoes with a firm sole that come up just below my ankle.
Bad move. Some rocks got in and tore a hole in my dry suit booties. I had to wear dry socks under my dry suit until I got them repaired.
Secondly, when I made an unexpected water entry the shoes promptly fell off my feet when I was kicking to get back in my boat, and slipped to the bottom of the river.
2 lessons: Shoes that float are good. And shoes that come over the tops of the ankles will likely stay on better and keep rocks out better.
I now use some dive boots which work quite nicely.
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Knee boots are a bad idea for kayak fishing.
Might disagree with only this comment, but it's a personal choice after all things are considered. I have above ankle and knee high Chota boots, and feel good with both.
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I've got a pair of dive boots, they work well, but don't offer much comfort when dragging kayak down the ramp or beach. I've since switched to an old pair of Simms wader boots and have been happy with them.
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For all the reasons that pmmpete said, I got the NRA Paddle Wetshoes about 1.5 sizes larger than I normally wear in other shoes. They have worked great so far. I like the height and the size zipper.
https://www.nrs.com/product/30034.03/nrs-mens-paddle-wetshoe
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pmmpete concluded, "There are a lot of options for footgear which satisfies these requirements to a greater or lesser extent, such as wet suit booties and oversized inexpensive running shoes."
I confess I am using the latter, found a worn pair 2 sizes larger than usual for me in a thrift store, $2.50. I have room for three pairs of good polypro socks and in 40F water stay nicely warm. That's a plus because I struggle to keep my toes warm. The soles are just stiff enough that pedaling all day hasn't provoked discomfort. Am watching out for sand, gravel in the shoes. In past I have taken them off once afloat, rinsed them out, then put them back on, to prevent dry suit damage. I do not plan to hike any distance in them. :-)
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I went with the NRS ATB boots. 5mm neoprene helps keep your feet warm. I would suggest 2 sizes bigger. I went with only 1 size bigger (they don't come in a sz15) and with 2 pair of socks or one pair of really thick socks they are a little tight. The cross strap helps with stability too. They are a little on the expensive side but you can sometimes find them on sale or keep an eye out for coupon specials at outdoorplay.com
https://www.outdoorplay.com/NRS-ATB-Kayaking-Booties
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One thing to add- put your footgear on the heater vent in your house after coming home from a trip- it will dry nicely
Your in the big league now buddy. Do yours yourself a favor and get a Peet boot dryer off of Craigslist. There's no moving parts so if the element heats up it's Saul Goodman. Best piece of low tech you never knew you needed until you get one. Also, I don't know about you but I like to put on/away dry footwear in the spring/summer when I'm not running heat in the house.
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I wear these basspro neoprene wading boots over my waders and will continue to do so with my future drysuit:
https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/world-wide-sportsman-flats-boots-for-men
Good alternative to some of the pricier options out there.
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i like warm feet. 8mm THUG boots. $ is right. great boot. best have ever worn. zippered too.
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As Pete and others have mentioned, get bigger sized booties than you normally wear. I wear 10.5 to 11 in shoes. I have size 13 Korkers for wading, and size 13 NRS neoprene booties for most kayaking applications. I can get two pairs of nice thick wool socks on comfortably. Take some with when you try them on. In fact put them on along with your dry suit when you try on the booties. Your feet will thank you.
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Take the over-sized boot size recommendations with a grain of salt and try them on before deciding. The general rule of thumb is that shoes are ~1/4" longer for every increase in shoe size - but that depends on whether or not the shoe was made on U.S. lasts or Asian lasts - Asian footwear starts out smaller than U.S. footwear, and the difference in shoe length is less than 1/4 inch when you get up around size 11 and larger.
I bought my NRS boots 1.5 sizes larger than my running shoes without trying them on, and they are at least 3/4 inch longer than needed. They were made using U.S. lasts, my running shoes probably weren't, and DAMHIK that there can be a downside to wearing clown shoes, too.
There are lot of options in dive boots with hard soles. Whether you paddle or pedal, I recommend that style.
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It's always better to try on footgear at the store with the socks you want to wear in cold weather under it before you buy the footgear. I have used NRS wetsuit booties for kayaking for many years, and know what size works for me. I ordered a pair of NRS ATB Workshoes on line in the same size, and they were too small for the number of layers of socks which I prefer to wear in cold weather.
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I just bought some NRS Paddle's from Kayak Academy, good thing they were relatively local and I could go down and try them on or I would have bought the wrong size. Brought my thick Farm to Feet wading socks with me. I wear an 11 1/2 - 12 shoe so was figuring that a 13 would do just fine but it was too tight with the sock on so I ended up getting a 14. Haven't had a chance to try them out yet as I'm still waiting for my semi-dry suit to arrive (needed to have bigger feet put on it).
Kevin
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just ordered a new pair of these, I got 2 years, probably close to 100 outings, out of the first pair. One size larger than my normal shoe size allows me to have 2 socks layers inside my drysuit.
(https://i.imgur.com/9as9wyp.jpg)