I have been informed that there is legislation afoot (no pun intended!) to ban felt soled wading boots by our "esteemed" Senator Ron Erickson, a Democrat from Missoula (see the link below). Rubber soled boots are not the cure-all to invasive species. I believe rubber soles will only aid in spreading invasives because anglers will be lulled into a false sense of security. Furthermore, rubber soled wading boots pose a serious safety concern. You can view my opinion on rubber soled wading boots in a previous blog entitled "To Felt of Not to Felt".
I encourage everyone to write a opposition letter to the Montana Senate. If you are a Montana resident please send/email a letter to your senator. If not, please send/email a letter to the following below. I have sent an email to my senator, Sen. Bob Lake, R-Hamilton, as well as all the senators listed below. It is my job to inform you. Now do your job to be proactive!
President of the Senate: Jim Peterson (R-Buffalo) jimpetersonranch@gmail.com
President Pro Tempore: Bruce Tutvedt (R-Kalispell) tutvedt@montanasky.us
Majority Leader: Jeff Essman (R-Billings) jessmann@mt.gov
Majority Whips: Taylor Brown (R-Huntley) taylor@northernbroadcasting.com
Chas Vincent (R-Libby) cvvincent@hotmail.com
Minority Leader: Carol Williams (D-Missoula) cwilliams@montanadsl.net
Minority Whip: Kim Gillian (D-Billings) glonky@aol.com
Link to the proposed bill: http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2011/lchtml/LC1760.htm
Osprey Outfitters Guide Service and Fly Shop
Osprey Outfitters Guide Service and Fly Shop
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I received this comment via email from a long time client who now lives in Belgium:
ReplyDeleteIf this passes I am not bothering with rubber waders, I am gonna tie a banana skin to each foot and call them wading sandals. Just at effective, bio degradable and much more comfortable in the warm weather.
Dumbness, pure dumbness. Well go buy shares in fracture casts (or start a riverside funeral business)
Pete
I wrote Sen. Bob Lake, R-Hamilton about this issue and this is the email response I received. He authorized me to publish the email.
ReplyDeleteSean
As a "mature" fisherman fly's only thank you. I will not go back to the rubber soles. I have a hard enough time walking on dry land let alone slick shoes on slick rocks. I need all of the traction I can get, felt soles help.
Bob
Here is a link for an article posted today on Mid Current:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.midcurrent.com/news/2011/01/will-montana-be-the-next-state.html
This is an article published on Oregon Live, a news website, regarding the reaction to a felt ban in Oregon. It looks like they may favor safety and prevention over rubber soles
ReplyDeletehttp://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/02/ban_on_felt-soled_waders_doesn.html
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteA good friend and expert fly fisherman, who has fished with us on the Bitterroot, visited me last weekend.
We had a spirited discussion about boots/boats/other equipment and the issues you raised about transfer of dangerous and exotic plants into our favorite trout streams.
AWARENESS of problems is probably the biggest ally that we can strive for. From there, thoughtful regulations and more importantly, a personal committment to PREVENTION, is necessary.
We had two ideas for YOUR businees and clients:
One is that any of your clients who wear footwear, even wading sandals etc., have their footwear treated BEFORE AND AFTER the day's outing. This could be as simple as using a large "tub" that the clients step into to kill any foreign material. I understand that a solution of BLEACH is as good as anything.
However, you may be aware of an even better "boot bath" to reduce the odds of contamination.
Next, we came up with the "bowling shoe" example. Noone ever buys bowling shoes. They simply rent them at the bowling alley since they visit the alley infrequently.
In this case, YOU would provide foot gear for your clients. This would obviously require an INVESTMENT by Osprey Outfitters, but you would then have CONTROL of the footwear to encompass their whole encounter with the river.
I suppose that cleints could "rent" the required footwear, but it might be easier to include that price into the cost of the outing.
You would have to maintain a stock of quality footwear over several sizes, but in the end, you would be able to sleep well at night knowing that you were doing YOUR very best to help solve the problem.
I personally think that your business would benefit when folks found out how committed you were to preventing the threats of exotic species to the streas you fish.
Perhaps these ideas seem a bit too simplistic....but, what the hell. We were talking fishing and how much we enjoy fishing with you in Montana.
Good luck!!
Chip
Chip, Thanks for the suggestions; they are good ideas. Education and awareness are definitely the best solutions. One good thing is the new Korkers wading boots will come with both a rubber and felt sole, which are removable. You could use the felt for your home waters and the rubber for traveling. I have also found out that freezing and heat will kill invasives.
ReplyDelete