River Kennet, Newbury, Thursday 8th March 2012

A day on the CSAS exchange section of the Kennet, the first time I’ve fished it since tree clearance works and an ideal venue to try out a new pair of waders.

I’ve pushed the boat out and bought a pair of Simms breathable stockingfoot waders and boots. Up until now I’ve been a neoprene chestie fan, they’re cheap and warm in winter so I’ve forgiven their usual limitations of universal sizing and crap wellies being fitted. Neither of the two pairs I’ve owned, however, have lasted more than two seasons and when you consider that I rarely get good use out of them in summer (they’re too sweaty) it was time for a serious think about the replacements for the latest leakers. Priorities were all day comfort in warm weather and decent footwear. That sort of narrowed it down to the stockingfoot/boot combination so off I went to Sportfish in Reading to try out a few different brands. Simms came recommended but the shop had stock of other makes so I spent a good couple of hours trying on different wader/boot combinations. Did you know that it’s possible to spend an eye watering £700 on a pair of waders?…and that’s without the boots!

Whichever way I looked at it I was going to be into £300 plus for what I wanted. I’d discounted the salesman’s opening gambit of a ‘current special offer’ because I’m always suspicious of those but maybe it was time to have a look. The deal was a set of Simms Freestone breathable waders and a pair of the Freestone boots thrown in, total cost £249. These are the ‘base’ model waders, a bit like the ‘L’ in bygone Ford nomenclature, if you want the GL (Goretex) then just add another £100 sir. The cost of the GXL and Ghia models don’t bear thinking about. What I liked about this range was the sizing, the leg lengths are available in different torso sizes so there should be something for all body shapes. The robust boots are made of synthetic material to help them dry out after use and whilst they looked heavy once on they were very comfortable, in fact the whole setup was a perfect fit. I negotiated in a set of studs (£16) and that was it, a done deal. Off to the river then.

The business end of the waders/boots, they’ll never look this clean again;

First impressions were good, it was as if I was wearing a normal pair of fishing trousers and boots. The felt soles & studs provided a surprising amount of grip on muddy surfaces and the robust boots proved their worth once in the water, ankle support was great and there was a re-assuring feeling of security when wading across the rock strewn riverbed. After a while I forgot I was wearing them and could just get in and out of the river without thinking about it. There are some downsides, these waders provide zero thermal insulation so in really cold conditions thermal undergarments will be needed. I was wearing jeans underneath and was fine but it wasn’t a particularly cold day. It goes without saying that you need to be very careful around brambles and barbed wire fences, they’re not as resilient as neoprene waders but the extra cost helps focus the mind a bit here.

So, on to the fishing. The river was looking in pretty good shape considering the drought conditions. Wednesday’s rain had bolstered levels it but had also introduced quite a lot of colour, more than I’ve seen in the Kennet for a while.

I started at the top of the section and worked my way down, in the water where possible. Bites were proving hard to come by but other anglers were proving very easy to come by, there was a steady stream of new arrivals and by the time I reached the bottom limit the venue was pretty crowded. Walking back up most of the trotting swims I’d earmarked were occupied so I decided to abandon the CSAS stretch and head back to the NAA section a short walk away.

There were no such overcrowding problems here, not from anglers or fish gracing my landing net, I couldn’t buy a bite. I tried the same constant feeding tactics in two reliable swims but after an hour in each my landing net was still very dry, not even a minnow to show for the effort. I occupied myself for a while by wading about in different riverbed conditions to get a feel for the boots, they felt good on gravel, rocks and silt although completely submerging them in the latter will let crap past the gravel guards into the boot. If this happens it’s best to take them off and clean them out otherwise you risk puncturing the stockingfoot.

So a pretty uneventful day as far as the fishing goes but a pleasing one as regards the waders. £250 is a lot to spend but come summertime the non-sweaty wading experience should be well worth it.