For years now I’ve used wading boots with metal cleats on the soles. For my streams, I prefer aluminum cleats as these work best for the slippery bowling balls that make up the bottom of my streams. But every once in a while I’ll go fishing in hiking shoes instead of my regular wading boots. I’ve tried a lot of various hiking/wading boot combinations but I’ve never found one that can do both hiking and wading really well. I find (despite all the advertising and review hype) that they either are great at hiking but suck at wading or vice versa.
So this past season I tried Chota Cloak Wading Shoe Covers. These slip over your shoes and help turn them into a better wading platform than your shoes are by themselves. The Cloak Covers have a removable felt sole, and it’s these that make the magic happen. I’m not usually a fan of felt, as I don’t like hiking in felt soled boots, but since these covers are removable, you can hike in your comfortable footwear then slip the covers on at the stream. The felt soles are held on by hook-and-loop attachments so they can be removed at home to be cleaned and dried easily.
They are lightweight and pretty inexpensive (for Chotas, that is). They work pretty well too! Are they perfect? No, nothings perfect, but they work quite well for this type of wading.
So, Chota Cloak Wading Shoe Covers give you another option for your wading kit. They’re lightweight, convenient, inexpensive and they can be compressed and placed in a plastic bag when you are done wading (so your pack doesn’t get all wet and gross). Nice! Give them a try and see if they work for you too!
Disclaimer: My opinion regarding this product is just that, my opinion. Your opinion may differ. I purchased the Cloak shoe covers at retail price. I have no formal affiliation with Chota.
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Interesting!
How’s the durability ?
Aren’t felt soles prohibited in many areas including some of the Western national parks?
Yes, they are, and in some other non-NP fishing regions. Always follow the appropriate fishing regulations.
It would be great to see extended testing results for this product. My concerns: would the sole stay connected to the boot? Would the over boot stay in place? The conditions I’m interested in is the swift current with rocky bottom (large boulders, not gravel).
There is a strong alternative to this product, it is low profile crampons (i.e. Hillsound FreeSteps6 Crampon). Assuming use of rigid boot, they do work and stay in place. IMHO in winter conditions (with a lot of ice around) they are the best option. But they work well year around – they just bite through the slippery goo.
Hi Igor – I’ve never tried these for wading ‘cos I thought they’d just slip off the rocks – my streams have round rocks with slippery algae covering in very fast water (pocket water on mountain streams). Even the simms hard bites struggle here.
Have you experienced these conditions with your crampons? How did they perform ?
Hi Craig – honestly in my conditions I do not face very heavy algae which I can not go around, so I may have a wrong idea about your conditions. I’ve used crampons I mentioned over regular wading boots on “normal” algae covered rocks, they worked well for me. In fact I use them instead of spikes on wading boots because I hate walking around with spikes on. But I do not use regular wading boots often, most of the time I can go away with just Altama Maritime Mid’s (very lightweight boots, a lot more agile).
There are some limitations and some learning curve with crampons. You need to be careful when placing your feet because you need enough surface to bite. And you want a surface that is relatively level – for the steep slope there is a risk that the crampon can either slide from the boot or break. It is also more easy to lose balance wearing them (wading staff is a must). But they are about $20 for a generic brand on Amazon (looks pretty much the same as FreeSteps6, they just added a velcro strap which is a good upgrade). So relatively affordable to try.