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Information on Fishing Boots and Waders.
Fishing Boots and Waders Following up the subject of the fly-fisher's equipment, let me strongly advocate the use of waterproof boots, stockings, or trousers whenever wading is really necessary. When it is not indispensable several self-evident advantages are presented by fishing from terra firma. But by getting wet and remaining so are engendered many of the after ills that flesh is heir to, in the shape of rheumatisms, neuralgias, varicose veins and what not, which when 'wild youth's past,' are apt to remind the veteran of his early indiscretions. I formerly suffered a small martyrdom myself from lumbago the result of * fairy follies ' in the wading line when I was still in my 'teens, and used to look forward to a sort of amphibious existence for eight or ten hours as ' half the fun.' To have unfrolicked such fun I would since have given something considerable. . . . Ergo, don't make a practice of going into the water without waders. In the matter of material for waterproof boots, c., there is a plethora of choice, and 'scope and verge' enough for the most fastidious. It matters little, really, whether the waders be of waterproof cloth or leather, or felt or leather india-rubber coated, so that they keep the legs dry and have plenty of nails. Of ' felt soles ' I have had no practical experience ; but I know that a scientific distribution of sharp-cornered nails will add greatly to the security of the foothold in deep and swift water. It is astonishing, by the way, what ' heights and depths ' one can ' negotiate ' in safety with a salmon at the end of the line places which it would be sheer madness to attempt in cooler blood. I recollect once when fishing the Roughty, near Kenmare, getting my fish fast round a stone under the opposite bank. The river at the point was about forty yards wide; deep ; and the water discoloured by a fast rising flood ; never theless by dint of jumping, and striding like the Rhodes Colossus from point to point of rock, submerged or projecting, I managed to get across to the other side ; sed revocare gradum ? . . . After killing my fish, a very fine fifteen-pounder with the tide lice on him, I was fain to walk a good three miles round before I could find a fordable place. Talking of the Roughty reminds me of a gallant and enthusiastic salmon fisher * quartered ' in the neighbourhood at the same time that I was. The Major was remarkable for his steady absorption of 'poteen,' which he invariably carried, when fishing, in his pocket in a soda-water bottle. On one occasion whilst following fast after a fish that was tearing down stream he successfully cleared a post and rails successfully, that is, as far as the fence was concerned ; but his activity cost him dear, for the sacred soda-water bottle, flapping about in his coat-tail pocket, jerked up as he jumped, striking him in the mouth and knocking two of his front teeth clean out. The Major's language was a thing to be remembered or rather forgotten ! . . . But the Roughty was a real sporting river, and many a break-neck scamper I have had along its channel pity it was so netted and poached. I could fill pages, as no doubt most salmon fishers could, with anecdotes of escapes or catastrophes in the wading and ducking line : personal explorations plummet-wise of widths 'obvious' but depths 'uncertain' trifling errors in hydrostatics on the force of currents unsuccessful ' negotiations ' of the ' water jump,' &c. &c. For such emergencies wading trousers are decidedly preferable on many grounds to boots or leggings. They are also, I believe, far less dangerous, as, in case of having to swim for it, instead of getting instantly filled with water, the latter takes a ' measurable ' time to make good its entry. An impression used to prevail that in case of sudden immersion the trousers would buoy up the legs at the expense of the head the latter performing the office of a sort of plummet, and of course, barring accidents, involving a certainty of drowning to the wearer. Actual experiment has, however, completely exploded this fallacy. Mr. John Lloyd, junior, who published a letter on this subject in the 'Field' of September 7, 1867, tested the question in a highly practical manner. ' I put on my wading trousers, he says, ' reeving the string at top as usual round my waist, and dived head foremost into deep water. The result agreeably surprised me, for I found that my legs were gently buoyed up in a horizontal position near the surface of the water, while my head was well above it, and I could use my arms freely in swimming. ' I swam with the greatest ease for about fifty yards, and it was not for some minutes, and until the water had found its way be tween the reeving string and my body into the trcusers, that I felt any inconvenience from having them on. My legs then began to get heavy, and more depressed in the water, but not so as to prevent my swimming easily. ' I am convinced, therefore, that there is no danger in using fishing trousers ; on the contrary, if reeved pretty closely at the top, they will act for the first five minutes positively as life buoys. It is not until after they fill with water that they become dangerous. To prevent this, therefore, as long as possible, it is in all cases most advisable to reeve the trousers tightly round the body ; you can thus confine the air and exclude the water. ' The same may be said of fishing stockings and wading boots ; a reeving string round the thigh would in these have the same beneficial effect.' [The above experiment was in still water.] To ' make assurance doubly sure,' however, waders are now manufactured by Messrs. Cording, the well-known water proofers, of 125 Regent Street, with an airinflated edge a sort of 'life-belt trousers,' in fact which enable the wearer to face all contingencies of the drowning category with perfect equanimity. For these the makers obtained a medal at the Fisheries Exhibition. The ' life-belt ' part of the affair consists of a tube about six inches wide when lying flat, * inflatable ' at will, which comes under the arm-pits, being attached to, and forming part and parcel of the waders. CORDING' s LIFE-BELT WADING TROUSERS One further hint : the higher the trousers come up tfie better. Neither the ordinary wading trousers, nor stockings, however (nor their equivalent in leather boots), fulfil adequately a need which I have constantly experienced myself, and which I suppose, therefore, other fishermen have also felt : namely, a nether garment, that one can ' paddle about with ' in wet weather, wet grass, and (if occasion requires) do a little extem pore wading in, without encumbering one's movements with the ordinary waders or boots, which, whatever their other no merits, are a serious hindrance to locomotion, and, in the case of the less robust (owing to their weight), a tax on the physique which is almost prohibitive. In Hampshire, for instance, where ' water-meadows,' periodically inundated, form the usual river borderings, a pretty constant state of dampitude is likely to be the condition of the lower extremities of the unwater proofed ' pike-fisher or fly-fisher. Then there are the * drawns,' or shallow watercourses sometimes dry, but more often ' flooded,' and draining into the main stream, where to cross, unfurnished with something in the shape of waders, is, of course, to insure a ducking at least to the knee, and to ' turn the flank ' of which by a succession of strategic movements to the front and rear involves much waste of time. Bearing in mind the caveat I have already entered in the earlier pages of this chapter against the cultivation of damp legs, on the ground of stored-up rheumatisms, &c., I have had made for myself a sort of ' half ' waders, not so cumbersome nor quite so long as the ordinary wading stockings or boots, but long enough to make me independent of watery impediments so far as flooded meadows and irrigation conduits are concerned, and which at the same time are so light and comparatively cool as to be no hindrance to locomotion. These aids to the amphi bious have been christened 'OverKnee Waders,' and, as their name expresses, they come well up five or six inches above the knee, below which again they fasten with a buckle-strap (wide cut). By this arrangement I get rid of those inconvenient appendages, waist or shoulder straps, by which the ordinary wader is sus pended, at the same time reducing the weight and transferring the point of suspension to its more natural situation below the knee. The { leg-part' of the Over-knee waders is of fine, but at the same time perfectly waterproof, material like that of ordinary wading stockings, but very much lighter and this is con tinued at the foot under light buff leather boots, kept in position by a strap across the instep. The * sum tottle of the whole,' as Mr. Hume used to say, is that whereas a similar pair of ordinary wading stockings and boots (coming up only an inch or two higher) weigh between five and six pounds more often nearer six than five the Over-knee waders are, for a man of six feet, barely over three pounds not much more than one half, and little, if at all, in excess of the weight of an ordinary pair of shooting boots. There are many anglers, not quite so young as they used to be, to whom the weight of the orthodox waders is almost prohibitive; and there are many others who, though like myself, quite up to ' carrying weight ' when really necessary, object to doing so when no real neces sity exists. And all this holds good just as much in the case of the Trout-fisher as the Pike-fisher. Perhaps, indeed, even more; inasmuch as, whilst the enforced wadings of the one are more or less exceptional and intermittent, those of the other are the normal conditions of his sport. I often think that the question of ' weightcarry ing ' in the matter of dress and equipment generally is less studied than it ought to be by sportsmen. A man will give fifty guineas more for a pair of Purdey guns, because they weigh perhaps a few ounces less than a pair by some other maker with, as he believes, an equal chance of safety to his head and he knows by experience how those few ounces will ' tell ' towards the end of a long day's tramp over a grouse moor. In all this he is, so far as avoirdu pois is concerned, perfectly right but why does he not go a step further and devote a little attention to the weight of the other portions of his equipment ? Why, for instance, will he allow his bootmaker to put nearly a pound more into his shooting boots than is really necessary ? As I have said, the weight of the latter is usually not far short of three pounds, whereas, two pounds is nearer the weight that is really necessary, if the bootmaker is anything of an artist in his business. By using one very thick and solid piece of leather for the sole, and t hinner leather than usual above the foot (where thickness is not needed except by those with weak ankles), I get my shooting boots down to the weight indicated, without any sacrifice that I have ever been able to discover either on the score of ' water-proofness ' or durability. Many people now shoot in shoes and gaiters as being still lighter. The manufacturers of the Over-knee waders are Messrs. Anderson, Anderson and Anderson, 37 Queen Victoria Street. As all waterproof garments are liable to become more or less damp from repressed perspiration, they should invariably be dried after use, as well to prevent the linings, and, indeed, the rubber itself, becoming rotten, as for purposes of health and comfort. The best way of drying is to fill the legs and feet of the boots, stockings, or trousers, with warm bran, oats, or barley, which should be shaken out as soon as it begins to cool (if this precaution is not attended to the moisture which has been absorbed begins at once to re-evaporate). When the waders have been emptied of their drying contents they should be turned inside out and hung up, foot upwards. In the case of the combined rubber and leather boots noticed, this (of course) cannot be accomplished, and many fishermen keep the ' feet-part ' always filled with carefully dried grain or sawdust, or on boot-trees, with the object of swelling or keeping them in shape, and to avoid shrinking. Whenever waders are used, thick warm woollen stockings, and leggings also if possible, should be worn inside. For under garments and generally for sporting purposes I used always to wear and recommend the all-wool fabrics made by the well-known Jaeger Company, but my patience gave way at last before the combined inconveniences of excessive shrinking which I suppose in their otherwise excellent manufacture is inevitable and the inconvenient forms in which they seem determined to thrust an essentially good idea down the public throat. Shirts doubled over the chest rather than (if any where) over the back, and buttoning up at the side instead of in the front in lieu of linen, woollen neck-bands which con tract into ' chokative ' dimensions the first time they are washed and so on ; until one feels at last almost inclined to start a rival company, and call it the ' Jaeger system stripped of fads and made possible for ordinary mortals !'...! Still, however, feel under obligation to Dr. Jaeger for his capital idea from which, all drawbacks notwithstanding, I and many more have derived much advantage and comfort. The Jaeger stockings are still not to be beaten. I, now wear, summer and winter, shirts and under garments made by the Cellular Clothing Company, of 417 Oxford St. The ' Cellular ' material, by comparison, shrinks hardly at all ; also I find it quite as warm and it has no irritating effect on the skin as wool very often has. From a hygienic standpoint there can be no doubt the cellular unbleached cotton ('Ecru') is excellent. It was strongly advocated by my friend the late Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson. A propos, I cannot imagine why some more simple and convenient style of dress has not long ago been adopted by * lady fishers,' as well as by anglers of the sterner sex. Many ladies who now would never dream of approaching the river bank (nearer than the towing path) for fear of spoiling their dresses or wetting their shoes, would if suitably ' appa relled ' find as keen an interest and enjoyment in the sport as we do, and might even become enthusiastic votaries of the gentle art. How charming it would be when we sally forth after breakfast to lake or stream, to have the companionship of some ' sweet girl graduate,' who, with hair either golden or otherwise, would by her graceful companionship double the pleasures of success ! There would be no slovenly casting, no calling to halt for pipes or liquor when fish were on the rise then. Fight on, brave knights ! Bright eyes behold your deeds, written of the ' free and easy passage of arms ' of Ashby de la Zouche, finds its modern parallel in the hunting field, the polo ground, and the rifle tournament, in fact, wherever youth and ambition meet in the presence of beauty to try who is the best man. From this category no one who has watched the keen interest with which the spoils and incidents of the day's chase are discussed at the dinner table, and the number and magni tude of each man's ' bag ' appraised, can except the ' knights of the angle.* There are indeed already not a few angling cham pions of the gentler sex who now enter the lists, especially as fly-fishers, and amongst whom the fair daughters of a well known noble Duke have acquired enviable fame.
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