For years and years I fished in Simms Guide Boots. I loved these boots dearly. So much so that I actually bought a spare pair of them. They did last close to forever. I think I wore the first pair the better part of ten years, some of those years fishing in excess of 100 days a year. The second pair I wore nearly as long. It was a good thing that I bought that spare, second pair, though. About five years ago I tried to buy a third pair, but Simms had quit making the smaller sizes of the Guide Boots. To be clear these Guide Boots were always and only made for men, and women who fished would have to convert the size and buy the men’s boots. I was okay with that. Except when they stopped making them.
I called Simms and was told they didn’t need to make the boots in smaller sizes, because they now offered a line of boots specifically designed for women. Apparently for women who don’t guide, because my favorite Guide Boots were nowhere among the women’s offerings. I called Simms again to beg them to make them again. I even asked how much they would charge me to specially make me a pair in a smaller size. They said they would get back to me. They never did. I emailed KC Walsh, the CEO of Simms. He did not respond (I hope because he was busy fishing.) I refused to buy a lesser pair of Simms boots. For years I resisted, but this year I really felt I needed new boots, so the research began. I asked people in TU. I read reviews online and watched YouTube videos. I combed through fly shops in every city I visited. And, ultimately, I made a decision. I would buy the aluminum bar boots made for Patagonia by Danner. The Patagonia Foot Tractor Wading Boots – Aluminum Bar.
I loved the idea that these boots were made in the USA. I loved that Danner said they would re-sole them when needed, and I loved that pretty much everyone seemed to say that the aluminum bar traction was the best traction they had ever experienced. What I did not love was the price. These beauties were more than $500. $549 to be exact. An obscene amount by almost any standard. But I also loved that they could be found in the WOMEN’S section of the web page. Patagonia lists a “label size” with a men’s and a women’s equivalent. Sure, the men’s size is the label size, but I am good with that. The women’s size conversion is printed on the box. Good enough for me. I just want quality boots that fit.
Patagonia calls them the “most durable, highest-performing wading boot possible,” and now I believe it. I too often fish by myself and have often worried that I would be lost to the current or break a leg in some far reach. But how to justify that expenditure? The age old principle used by me and my best friend to determine the value of purchases: “cost per use” or “cost per wear.”
I fish. I fish a lot, and having just committed to fish EVERY catch and release stream in West Virginia this year with an amazing fishing partner, amortized over the next five years or so, I figure I am not looking at much more than $1 per fishing trip, and I would definitely pay that for a great pair of fishing boots. (Don’t worry Simms, I am still wearing my G3 waders… but you have lost my boot business for good, because these babies are amazing, and because I quit needing entry level fishing gear about 25 years ago!)
Everything you have heard about the traction of aluminum bars is true. This principle is totally counterintuitive to me. To me it seems only logical that if you put metal on the bottom of your boots and clambered across wet rocks you would end up quickly on your arse, and I must surely have looked like someone walking on eggshells entering the stream as a result. But the proof is in the pudding on this one. Wow. Could my review just say “wow?” These boots are sticky, and I put them to the test in and out of the stream.
These boots are comfortable. They have a wide forefoot which I love. They tie tightly enough though. They came with extra laces and extra aluminum bars (apparently Patagonia knows how long I keep my boots or thinks everyone should keep theirs that long.) And on the rocks? It was just as everyone had said…the most secure footing I have ever had. The verdict is in, and it is unanimous in favor of the fine folks at Patagonia and Danner for a quality product made in sizes that acknowledge that serious women fly fisherman exist and that every pair of women’s fly fishing boots is not bought by a hopeful husband or boyfriend for a girl who has never held a rod. Trust me when I say that I hope hopeful husbands and boyfriends everywhere keep trying to get their wives and girlfriends to fish. Heck, I will even teach them for you. But, I also hope that Simms will take their lead from Patagonia and move confidently in the direction of my dreams… a world where more companies court more than entry level female fly fishermen. A world where more companies acknowledge that serious women fly fishermen exist. A world where there is equality of gear. If we want more women to fish seriously, and we want more smart women to fish, then we need to treat women who fish seriously. Our numbers might be small at this point, but we are out there, voting with our dollars. Thank you Patagonia. Thank you for moving us forward.