Chest Waders

[DavyR]

Can anyone remember What the film was called?

 

"Salmo the Leaper", IIRC.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salmo-Leaper-Hugh-...im/B00004CJX1/2

[Toady]

Definately use a wading staff. No need to buy one a nice piece of hazel modified to your requirements works fine. Beware of telescopic anything!!! If you want a really posh staff buy a stout alloy landing net handle and cut to length. Stick a rubber walking-stick button on the end and you can have a landingnet /staff all in one. I have a metal ring sliding on the shaft (trapped twixt rubber and net to which a sling is fixed) You can weight the end if you wish but I have'nt found th need to.

 

Also beware the most dangerous of situations - a sloping gravel bottom. It can all slide away eith you and you're in. Don't ask!!!

 

Enjoy...

[lutra]

"Salmo the Leaper", IIRC.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salmo-Leaper-Hugh-...im/B00004CJX1/2

Thanks for that, i couldn't think of its name and it was doing my head in. It should also help anyone who hasn't seen it to find it, but i don't think i would pay £27 for it. I think 50p on a car boot would be more like it.

[david2005salmon]

Salmo the Leaper is correct. the clip should be available to all as it is a potential life saver. can't someone put it on you tube?

[Andy Macfarlane]

Wading staff. I could have done with one of them on Saturday....

[OwdTrout]

Use boots with felt soles and studs when wading rocky rivers like the Ribble but remember what is good in the river can be lethally slippy on the bank and felt soles are!

 

Don't cast to a fish from the comfort of a bank side bench then try to stand and get down to the river once you have hooked the fish!!! Unless you want to slide down the bank on your rear into the said Ribble. Eh Al?

 

My preference is for one of the folding wading staffs. The operate like the old tent poles with elastic running through them. When you don't need them they sit out of the way in a pouch on your belt. When you need it grab the handle and pull. Instantly they form into a strong staff. Falstaff do one with a camera mount on the top, but I haven't been able to track one down in the UK.

 

There is now no way I would go back to waders with built in boots. The separate brogues give much better grip and ankle support. However you can expect a good pair of waders and brogues to set you back upward of £200.

 

If you are fishing any river that is in spate I would recommend a life jacket of some kind. I knew one man who fell into the Derwent in high water and was fished out a couple of miles downstream. So bad was the accident the lifeboat was called out and waiting for him at the river mouth. He wasn't wading but the high water loosened the bank and it gave way when he stood on it. His life jacket was a Hardy one. They ran an advert on the strength of the story. His was the first recorded incident when a Hardy life jacket saved an anglers life.

 

On one occasion, guiding a couple of anglers, one fell in face down. Her automatic life jacket (built into a fly fishing vest) fired so fast it flipped her onto her back before her face got wet. Never wear one under a coat, if it inflates it could choke you.

 

Wading will open up a lot of fishing for you. Take it steady and don't try to do too much and you'll be fine.

 

Lastly I'll repeat the advice given to one Victorian salmon fishing gentleman. "If the water is cold, get out of the river before your legs turn black!"

 

Enjoy.

 

Cheers,

OT

[ColinW]

Couldn't find the Hugh Falkus clip but (amongst some VERY strange stuff) I found this one by one of the American kayak fishermen. What really stands out is just how high the PFD makes him float compared to the bit near the end when he takes it and his wading belt off (he still doesn't drown!)

I think the waders are the lightweight, breathable, sockfoot type.

[lutra]

Couldn't find the Hugh Falkus clip but (amongst some VERY strange stuff) I found this one by one of the American kayak fishermen. What really stands out is just how high the PFD makes him float compared to the bit near the end when he takes it and his wading belt off (he still doesn't drown!)

I think the waders are the lightweight, breathable, sockfoot type.

Good clip that Colin, but there must be a big difference between a little swimming pool on a nice day and one of the fast flowing, slippery and freezing cold winter rivers some of us fish. Enough of a difference to make me think i shouldn't be in the river wading without a life jacket of some kind.

[ColinW]

Good clip that Colin, but there must be a big difference between a little swimming pool on a nice day and one of the fast flowing, slippery and freezing cold winter rivers some of us fish. Enough of a difference to make me think i shouldn't be in the river wading without a life jacket of some kind.

 

It's made me think about changing to tighter fitting sock waders for the dodgy rock fishing I do in the summer. My old PVC ones are a bit too much like a drogue!

Incidentally I did seen the Hugh Falkus film years ago. He demonstrated going in in a cold British river. The key points I remember are

1. Don't Panic!

2. Roll over onto your back

3. Float feet first so you don't bang your head

4. Wait until you beach yourself on a gravel bank and then crawl out

5. Don't Panic!

[Andy Macfarlane]

Lutra, That's the very point I was trying to illusrate on my wader thread.

If you know it's coming, it's a demo, you know there are other people there etc, it's all very well saying,

"This is what I'd do".

It's a completely different thing to being overcome very suddenly when you didn't know it was coming and you don't know how things are going to pan out. I'm sure if I was showing people how to get out of mud and there was a camera crew there and a hot shower at the ready, I'd have probably just lay down in it without fear, knowing the situation was under control and it would up to me when and how the 'accident' took place. It's nothing like reality. Training might help you in the event of an accident but it doesn't prepare you for the reality of the situation by any stretch, when you're panicking, full of adrenaline, tired, cold etc.

The main thing that gripped me was the fact that my body was reacting faster than I would have liked.

For example, I didn't ask to empty my lungs as hard & fast as possible. That was a subconscious reaction. If it had been up to me, I'd have relaxed, taken a breath when I wanted to and tried my best to keep things under control. That's not something you'd do if you're geared up for a demo. It's not even something I can replicate. It's like being winded with a punch.

That was why I posted that taking place. I know it could have gone very wrong and that's exactly why I thought people should know about it. Normally I'm super confident by water. It doesn't normally scare me at all and I became complacent beside it and nearly paid for it.

 

...Andy...