Ban on felt wading boots???

[SatanLBZ801]

I keep hearing they're getting banned, and have been banned in many states due to the possibility of spreading diseases and can't be fully cleaned. Well of course, Murphy's Law, I heard about this after I just ordered new felt sole boots. Can anyone confirm and post a link to the documentation of this?
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[BearLakeFishGuy]

All you have to do is Google it. They have been banned a few states and there is some discussion of banning them in just about all the other ones too. For the reasons you stated.
Here is one good link:
[url "http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2011-04-28-rock-snot-felt-sole-wader-ban_n.htm"]http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2011-04-28-rock-snot-felt-sole-wader-ban_n.htm[/url]
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[SatanLBZ801]

Google it.... Never would've thought of that! I have googled it a few times, even done a search on wildlife.utah.gov and only came up with this:

http://wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/news/42-uta...river.html

Which specifically states:

"Don't use wading boots that have a felt sole. Felt-soled wading boots can pick up whirling disease spores and move them from one body of water to another. It's difficult to completely clean and disinfect felt-soled wading boots."

Fact is, all this is hearsay. Go into Cabelas and they try not to sell you a pair of felt sole boots and say it's illegal, when they still sale them??? As does everyone else in Utah so. If they're illegal, why are we selling them. That makes me think that they're not illegal and legally, I can use my brand new felt sole boots without getting a ticket.

I am not worried one bit about the transfer of diseases through using my wading boots as I usually fish the same waters and typically have a week or two in-between time. Plenty of time to kill off/destroy any of these diseases. If the time arises that I would be fishing another body of water, it's not hard to bring a bottle of mixed bleach/water and a tub and wash them off.

I've owned a boat for a few years now, the same rules apply for those, I'm not understanding what banning felt sole boots is going to accomplish in this seeing that either way, you should be washing off all your equipment if you're going to be fishing another body of water. As these disease can live basically anywhere! In your waders, rods, reels, even the flies you're using! Banning felt soles alone isn't going to solve the issue at hand.

Personally, I would rather be using felt sole boots, then the rubber boots. I've used the rubber boots in rivers, at times it's like walking on a sheet of ice. Mix a strong current in with that, you could have a bad mix! I feel that felt soles give that extra NEEDED grip when fishing streams and rivers. Therefore, I'm not going to go trade them in for the rubber boots until I can validate that using Felt soles in Utah, HAVE BEEN BANNED. And I would like to see the documentation on it. Not an article saying they've been banned in other states, as I live and fish in Utah. Other states across the country don't concern me.
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[gstott]

I bought some rubber soled waders the last time I needed a new pair because I had heard they were going to make them illegal. They were awful. In anything more than a mild current I had a hard time getting around. Luckily they had a defect and I was able to return them and buy some felt soles, which I promptly installed cleats into. They work amazingly well, I never slip at all anymore.

I heard that 409 spray is a quick way to kill the disease if you are moving to a new water, and much more convenient than soaking your shoes in bleach.
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[SatanLBZ801]

Glad to know I'm not the only one with that opinion on felt boots. Just proves my point that there are numerous other ways to kill bacteria and diseases using these boots. Banning them won't solve the problem. Where do we draw the line? Ban fishing all together? Keep people out of the rivers? How about we educate and inform people rather then strip them of their rights....

I have wrote DWR an email on the matter seeing that I wasn't getting a response from anyone here so, I will post up what I gear back from them for all of you with the same question.
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[SatanLBZ801]

Incase any one else out there was wondering about this, Larry gave a VERY descriptive response! Gotta hand it to Utah DWR for caring!

Jason: I appreciate your concern and questions concerning felt-soled wading boots. Regarding your primary question, "are they in fact banned in Utah," the answer is no, felt-soled wading boots are not banned in Utah! However, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has dissuaded our employees from using felt-soled waders on in-the-field projects. Now for the whole story.

As you already realize, to date a number of states and countries have banned the use of felt-soled waders. Their actions are for good reasons. The felt is difficult, if not impossible to decontaminate, since it affords outstanding protection to aquatic pathogens (e.g., Myxospores, which cause Whirling Disease in trout; etc.) and aquatic invasive species (e.g., Didymo, a single-celled algae that makes the bottom dangerously slick; New Zealand Mudsnail; etc.) by staying damp for weeks. So, the damp felt by harboring undesirable biota, aids in their inadvertent translocation.

The best and most often recommended method for decontamination is "Clean, Drain and Dry," which kills the organisms natural resource managers are concerned about being moved from one area to another. But, many anglers use multiple stream/river sections or even different streams/rivers or water bodies in a single day or weekend. Its unreasonable to think that the anglers can get the felt-sole dried out in just a few minutes or even hours; cleaning and draining their wetted equipment, including their waders is no problem. Drying of the felt-sole can take weeks, even in a hot garage where most wadding boots get stored between uses. My fishing trips are spaced much closer together than drying of a felt-sole would allow.

Freezing waders for 72 hours in winter or in your freezer is a very effective decontamination, while washing waders with 1400F, scalding hot water (your hot water tank doesn't achieve this heat) is effective for exterior wader surfaces, but ineffective for the inner layers of the felt-sole. However, heating the felt-sole in your oven at 1130F for 20 minutes will disinfect felt-soles. Are you prepared to achieve this aggressive type of decontamination between multiple stream/river sections or even different streams/rivers or water bodies in a single day or weekend and at the conclusion of every fishing trip?

Research has shown that Quatinary Ammonium compounds, a disinfectant oft times used in hospitals and the food industry, does kill pathogens and aquatic invasive species of concern. This chemical is widely available to the public as CloroxR brand’s Formula 409 “All Purpose Cleaner Antibacterial Kitchen Lemon Fresh” and “Antibacterial All Purpose Cleaner.” CloroxR Formula 409 does not contain bleach; can be purchased at most neighborhood markets; and is sold in small spray bottles, containing 0.3 to 0.6% solution of [#000000]dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, respectively, which is a Quatinary Ammonium compound. When using CloroxR Formula 409 to kill pathogens and aquatic invasive species, equipment needs to be immersed or repeatedly sprayed, keeping it damp for 30 minutes, followed by drying in the sun for one hour before re-use.[/#000000]
[indent][#000000]Note: Felt-soled waders will not soak-up sufficient chemical to fully penetrate the inner core of the felt and kill biota of concern using this protocol. The dense matt of fiber, which holds moisture, also interferes with soaking up more moisture.[/#000000]
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[#000000]Several wader manufacturers now provide high quality and economically competitive waders that have a soft, gripping rubber sole that can be enhanced with metal studs for even more gripping power. These wading boots decontaminate easily and quickly with any of the aforementioned protocols. I have owned such a pair of waders for several years, and they work great--better than my old felt-soled waders.[/#000000]
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[#000000]In Utah we try to devise laws that allow our citizens to make decisions on their own without unnecessary interference by government. We stress the importance of education, so the citizenry can make the right decisions. I have attached a single research paper that I believe you may find informative about this issue. For more information visit [url "http://www.cleanangling.org./"]www.cleanangling.org.[/url] [/#000000]
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[#000000]Now, its up to you to decide about felt-soled waders as an option for your fishing adventures. [/#000000][#000000]Please do your part to help protect and manage Utah's aquatic resources.[/#000000]
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Thanks.


Larry B. Dalton
Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator
801-652-2465
[url "mailto:larrydalton@utah.gov"]larrydalton@utah.gov[/url]
Postal Delivery:
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
1594 W. North Temple, Suite 2110
P.O. Box 146301
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-6301

Non-Postal Delivery (e.g. Fed Ex or UPS):
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
1596 W. North Temple, Suite 2110
Salt Lake City, UT 84116

Rule R657-60 requires each boater to fill out and properly display a Decontamination Certification Form in their launch vehicle prior to every launch. In Utah two such forms exist--a single-use form, which is a simple download, and a multi-use form, which requires participation in a 45 minute online orientation/certification course. Either form can be secured on UDWR's mussel web site at [url "http://wildlife.utah.gov/mussels/form_options.php"]http://wildlife.utah.gov/mussels/form_options.php[/url]
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[SatanLBZ801]

Forgot to post the attachment he sent me as well on cleaners! Enjoy!
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