Winter wading fun in the snow – fishing for steelhead isn’t always about how many fish you catch. Sometimes it’s just about escaping the crowds and spending some quality time with the river. For the DRYFT waders crew, this crisp, cold, and damp winter day was just that.
Recently we heard rumors of some half man half wolf beast terrorizing fish with a fly rod up on the Kenai. We investigated and this is what we found…
Oh, the horror.
While getting ready to do the real business of the season, they certainly aren’t past cozying up behind spawning salmon and smacking a big bunny fly or egg sucking leech.
We bet you use the mesh carrying bag your waders came in all the time to transport your waders to and from your fishing trips. Yep. Right. Ok yeah, so maybe we don’t either. So here are some other good ways to use that mesh bag that your waders came in.
Beer cooler
Throw some beers in the bag and hang it in the water while you fish. Just tie that bad boy to a tree, or hang it off the side of the boat and have cold beer all day long.
And here are a few other possible uses…
Lunch sack
Throw your lunch in it and keep it separated from the rest of your gear.
Garbage sack
Have some trash from lunch or some empties kicking around the bottom of the boat? Throw em’ in the bag and tame that trash until you reach the takeout.
Wader carrying bag
Novel idea but use it to safely transport your waders. Rolling and tucking them into a bag keeps them from snagging on anything in the truck, tidy’s them up and keeps them out of the way. The mesh allows them to dry out too.
Have another way that you use your wader bag? Scroll down and drop a comment here and let us know.
An Oregon metal fishing expedition video, Spring 2016.
Chances are if you’ve spent a good deal of time in waders you’ve struggled a bit dialing in the fit to get all day comfort from your waders. There are a few reasons why selecting the best fitting wader for your body size, and then dialing in the straps just right, is a best practice. We’ll dive into a few of those reasons here.
Dialing in the fit of your waders for durability and comfort starts before purchase. First step is to order the size that fits your body type best. We offer a sizing chart that helps do just that. To find the best fit you’ll need your shoe size, inseam length and biggest girth through the waist and chest. Use the size chart to find the waders where you fit into the correct range.
Once your new waders arrive it’s a matter of setting your shoulder straps to the appropriate height. This seems overly simple, but you’d be surprised at how often anglers don’t adjust the straps at all, or simply wear them too loose so the waders sag down and only come partway up the wearers chest. By adjusting the straps so that the waders ride as high as possible on the chest it takes strain off your back, and lets you fish hard all day long in comfort.
Not only will wearing a good fitting wader be more comfortable, it will also greatly increase the life of the waders themselves. Wearing your waders without the straps set high enough, or wearing waders that are too short or long in the inseam, or too baggy overall can cause undue wear from rubbing on the breathable material and can also cause stretching of the seams.
Excess fabric can cause folding or bunching in the legs, which when repeatedly bent and rubbed back and forth can actually cause the material to wear through over time. It’s an easy thing to avoid, but just needs to start at the beginning with adjusting your straps correctly to a high set position. Set your shoulder straps high so that the top of the waders ride as high as possible on your chest.
It goes without saying that safety on the river is all important, but is often overlooked. Wearing a good fitting wader with the belt, shoulder straps and upper drawstring strapped tight will greatly increase your buoyancy in case of a fall into the water, and will also help keep water out in case of submersion.
We hope these tips are useful. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions about sizing, fit or river safety.
We’re expecting to have all sizes of jackets and waders on hand and shipping by the first week in June. This includes 3xl sizes!
If you’re interested in pre-ordering, just visit our site to place an order, which will ship just as soon as we have stock on hand. We expect all backorders to ship by June 7th. Check out the jackets and waders in the shop.
Huge thanks everyone for all of your interest in our gear, and for your patience as we work to get them back in stock!
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With a last hurrah spring steelhead is going out with a bang. We saw some great fish this winter and spring, but are looking forward to trout, bass, and other warmwater exploits soon.
Stay tuned for product updates soon, along with some new shirt and hat designs for summer.
-Nick
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For every wader we sell we plant one tree along salmon and trout bearing streams.
