Trekking shoes for fishing: how to choose the best option

Long gone are the days when the only footwear of the average angler were any boots. Most often they were rubber or PVC. Of course, boots in fishing always have their own niche, especially high wading boots, but more and more often you can meet hiking shoes, which initially as a shoe for fishing was not considered at all. But gradually the so-called trekking shoes from the equipment of mountain and other extreme tourists began to migrate to the closet of hunters, and so dashingly that there were special hunting trekking. And then hunters, who are often also fishermen, began to wear trekking and fishing. Thus, the circle closed, and a new type of shoes for fishing on our feet today can surprise few people.

Overview

When choosing, I proceed from the needs of spinning fishing

In this article, based on my own experience and the experience of my friends and family, I will try to sketch out some tips and recommendations for those who for the first time choose a trekking shoe for fishing. Since my direction in fishing is spinning, I will proceed first of all from the peculiarities of spinning equipment, and other anglers will be able to draw conclusions and make their own adjustments to the selection of specific shoes.

So, let’s start with the fact that trekking shoes (from the English Trekking – traveling), is a special kind of special strong shoes designed for traveling off the road, on rough terrain. Trekking shoes are divided into several types, but for fishing (as well as hunting) of them we are interested in two: these are boots for light and heavy trekking (meaning not the weight of boots, but the degree of severity of routes). Externally you can distinguish them already on the store counter. Boots for light trekking are similar to the usual high sneakers, and boots for heavy trekking are more like high army boots.

Lightweight version

Light trekking shoes are designed for relatively simple (light ) routes with small backpacks, where the weight of the load does not exceed 25 kg. These shoes are most often created from the most modern materials, in a combination of synthetic fabrics, membrane and leather. Their soles perfectly stabilize the foot, and high lace-up shanks provide reliable coverage and fixation of the ankle. The main difference between light trekking shoes and heavy ones is primarily their soles, which in light trekking shoes are soft and flexible enough, making them more versatile on any surface, while maintaining the ability to move comfortably on hard road surfaces. That is, for streetfishing and in general for combined use in the mode “city-forest” this shoe is the most preferable, in it and in the city to walk pleasantly, and outside the city in the woods and fields to walk easily. These are such shoes, in which you can leave the house, get in the car, or train, go out somewhere, and without thinking about re-shoeing go straight into the forest for mushrooms, or fishing to the river bank, and then back to the transport also without re-shoeing, except for shaking off excess dirt from these trekking shoes with a brush.

Heavy trekking shoes

Designed to overcome the most difficult and hardest routes

These shoes provide as much protection and ankle support as possible.

Heavy trekking shoes (these shoes are sometimes also divided into heavy and classic, but the main difference there is more in the height of the shins), respectively, are designed to overcome the most difficult and heavy routes, with heavy backpacks, where the weight of luggage can be much more than 25 kg. Such shoes are stiffer and, as a rule, higher than light trekking shoes. These shoes provide as much protection and ankle support as possible. Due to their stiffness, in such shoes it is much more comfortable to move on uneven broken surfaces, including mountainous and rocky. Such reliable boots best protect your feet from injuries, bruises, sprains, strains, sprains, shock loads. Among the boots for heavy trekking there are many models for hunting, which are usually distinguished by the highest possible shanks made of the thickest leather (nubuck), protecting most of the shin from bruises and getting inside water and debris.

Rugged boots are the best protection against injuries and bruises

They’re not always comfortable behind the wheel

And if lightweight trekking shoes are sometimes not easy to distinguish from the usual high sneakers, and they can easily walk around the city and drive a car, then heavy trekking shoes are not so pretty outwardly and not always and everyone in them comfortable behind the wheel. That is, you often have to re-shoe in these shoes before using them and after hiking in them. That is, high boots for heavy trekking is essentially a replacement for rubber boots, if we are talking about a hike of several kilometers or several tens of kilometers, where trekking is much more comfortable than boots, in them feet do not sweat and do not get tired as in rubber shoes and shoes made of PVC. The only thing you need to get used to when switching from rubber boots to trekking boots is that all kinds of puddles and thick muddy sludge, which in rubber boots you are used to slurp without turning, in trekking is better to bypass if possible, sothen do not spend time and effort to wash off and scrape dried mud from the laces and other relief boots, because they are not as easy to wash as rubber boots.

Features of materials

Leather boots are still the most reliable

Thus, we have realized that the two types of trekking boots are suitable for fishermen and hunters, depending on the complexity of the terrain and conditions in which they are supposed to be used. Now a little about the features of materials, membranes and soles found in different trekking boots and their behavior in different conditions. As much as modern technology has evolved, there is still nothing that can compete with quality made leather. To reduce the weight of boots they sometimes use inserts from synthetic fabrics like cordura, but practice shows us that there is nothing stronger and more reliable than boots, whose upper is cut almost entirely from leather. And the best of such boots have an upper cut from a single piece of leather with a minimum number of seams. Even the tongue of such trekking boots is not sewn into them, but is one piece with the boot and when lacing forms a single fold, which once again protects the shoes from getting wet and after hiking to clean such seamless parts of the boot easier from dirt and debris.

Protection from moisture

Leather shoes are treated and impregnated with water-repellent compositions

Membranes work a little differently in footwear

As far as protection against wetting is concerned, of course leather is treated and impregnated with certain compositions in the production process, but from time to time after cleaning and drying the shoes it is necessary to treat them with appropriate substances, which for all types of leather, nubuck and suede can be found in the relevant stores. Membrane component in trekking shoes also has the property to protect from moisture, but it should be understood that in shoes membranes work in slightly different conditions than in clothing. Therefore, you should not rely on the fact that the membrane in trekking shoes will save you from any dampness, just like your membrane jacket with the same membrane.

The thing is that the jacket is subjected to minimal impact of various physical stresses, but shoes, on the contrary, are subjected to maximum loads, and walking on dewy grass for a couple of hours already sometimes leads to the fact that the moisture squeezed through the upper layer, such as cordura, begins to be squeezed step by step through the breathing pores in the membrane inside the shoe, because when walking the shoe bends and its upper layer works literally like a pump. The same thing happens if we walk by slapping on puddles and streams with trekkinagami like rubber boots. That is, we should understand that the height of trekking boots, even the highest hunting ones, is not a reason to force all the water obstacles on the way. It is better to avoid these wet places as much as possible, thus keeping dryness and comfort inside the boots for a longer time. Although you can go into the water in them for a while, in a static position good trekking shoes will not get wet.

Features of the sole

The choice depends on the terrain and time of year

Now a little about the soles of trekking boots. Here, the choice of such shoes depends on the terrain and time of year in which you are more likely to move in them. The most popular soles for the most famous manufacturers of such hiking shoes are produced by the Italian company Vibram, whose bright yellow emblem on the sole of your trekking boots serves as a guarantee of the highest quality and reliability.

The sole behaves differently on different surfaces

You can’t argue with that. But you should not think that if such an expensive and mega-reliable sole is on your boots, then you can’t do anything in these shoes. There are no miracles in the world, and the sole, even the best, can not equally resist slipping on snow, ice and wet wood or rocky surface. There are always nuances, and that’s why before buying a certain model of trekking shoes it’s worth probing on the relevant online forums how the model you like behaves in different conditions, including the slip resistance of its sole. Besides Vibram there are other worthy manufacturers, I liked the soles from Michelin, a well-known tire manufacturer, except that they slip more than Vibram on wet boards and tree roots.

I liked the Michelin soles

If you’re going to use trekking boots in conjunction with skis or snowshoes, it’s worth trying on how well their soles match the bindings of these snow walking devices. Not all boots may fit some of the bindings, so it’s worth considering this.

Useful accessories

Among the useful features of modern trekking boots we would like to mention the presence of special leather straps with Velcro fasteners on some hunting models, which close and press the knots of tied laces, thus preventing them from coming undone and generally clinging to various twigs and thorns on the way.

Special clasps hold the knots of tied shoelaces in place

From my own experience I can recommend to buy light waterproof gaiters for your trekking boots, which can be quickly and easily put on and taken off with the help of Velcro. Such gaiters protect very well from heavy dew and in rainy weather the boots and the bottom of the pants from unnecessary wetting in the tall grass, and when the dew and raindrops dry on the grass, the gaiters can be removed and stowed in the pocket of the backpack.

When choosing, I give preference to proven manufacturers

At the end of the article I would like to advise you to choose such a responsible part of the outfit, first of all to pay attention to worthy manufacturers with a good name, because anyone can buy soles from Vibram, membrane from Gore Tex and good leather, but not everyone can sew it all together and glue it on the right shoe.

Author: Bob Nudd is an expert fisherman with over 20 years experience and winner of many competitions.