“A felt ban, it’s not a panacea by any means,” McKnight said. “But it removes the most organism-friendly mechanism for transporting this. Felt is almost like a petri dish for this.
‘We didn’t think we could do nothing because the stakes were too high. We’re talking about pristine waters, great fisheries, at risk.”
Pennsylvania has didymo within its boundaries. According to the Fish and Boat Commission, it’s been discovered in the east and west branches of the Delaware River.
The commission has not yet considered a ban on felt-soled waders, though, said spokesman Rick Levis.
“We do not have any action pending right now related to felt soles. Staff is evaluating the issue, but are not prepared at this time to make a specific recommendation to our commissioners,” Levis said.
Practicing good disinfecting of your waders, boat bottom and water holds, and any other possible means of transport that an invader could use should be common practice for every fisherman because we need to consider the impact that we are having.
That said, there's no way I'll risk fishing most waters that we think of as trout waters (moving water, lots of stones and growth on the bottom) without felt waders. I've slipped to many times and for my own safety I just won't do it anymore, which means that when states ban felt, there are a lot of waters in that state which I won't wade anymore.
I've tried the studs, and rubber soles, and neither provided the traction of felt, and the metal studs become painfully uncomfortable after a while. Further, Trout Unlimited is taking this step:
In the meantime, Trout Unlimited has asked wader manufacturers to phase out felt-soled waders by the end of this year. That hasn’t happened completely yet, but manufacturers have been developing alternatives that will still satisfy anglers, said Trout Unlimited spokeswoman Erin Mooney.
Truly, this smells of another huge overreach by the zero-tolerance types. Have a problem? Institute a ban! By the evidence of the report itself it took only one year to go from discovery of the presence of the algae to a complete ban. Considering how long it normally takes to accomplish anything when politicians are involved, how many alternatives could the have investigated?
Whatever the rulings, I just know that without felt or a reasonable alternative (which either isn't on the market because I have tried everything I could think of just out of curiosity, or is too expensive for me), I simply won't wade certain waters. Since wading is my preferred form of fishing, I guess that means I'll just have to go elsewhere.
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