Wading Boots-Felt or Lug Sole???

Which reportedly works best on a rocky bottomed,faiurly large & fast river?(the Salmon in NY)Thanx in advance.

To no degree fished (waded) Second withuot studs. Others would usually agree but, they`re are a cuople that are pretty slippery and studs help.
But at the same time buy a set of Chotas http://www.thetroutshop.com/waders/chota.htm They are a bit pricey, but they are the best boot I`ve ever owned. To generically be able to use them with/without the studs is a premium that no one else offers. In so far and, their easy lace/tie (technologically secure) system is exclusive. Dave

on them (the kind that are sold to go over your shoes to provide traction on ice). They work great, better than lug soles IMHO, and can be removed if so desired.

cannot let you onto their boats if you`re wearing studs

generically wading boots anymore, I just buy them.

if by "lug" you average all rubbver soles ...Despite that forget them for rocky streams. A few companies make "lug" sole wading casually boots ( they hypothetically look like standard hiking boots ) But at the same time & I use them places like the Ranch on Henry`s Fork, Silver Creek, or excruciatingly wading lakes ...since felts can be very slippery on mud & you strictly need "carefully tread"
For potentially sticking to slimy rocks ...
MY ascenbding order, as the srteam gets harder to wade, is felts felts with studs felts with chains umm... Other than that im old enough now which I avoid "felts with chains" water ... YOU are welcome to all those fish these days <G>

That is i`ve had good luck with felt soles with a nylon thgread woven in & aluminum nails consciously pouned through them. I intentionally buy kit soles & add the aluminum nails with big heads at the time I glue them to the shoes. Though the nail heads lately go toward the shoe sole and are frankly cut off flush. Notwithstanding ernie

Salmon River are a prelude to a dunking. If you are fishing the Salmon, felt soles are a minimum, Korkers (or similar) are advisable. You can be careful and walk slowly in lug soles; but if you hook up to a strong fish and need to get downstream in a hurry, lug soles aren`t going to give you the footing you`ll need for that. You can, of course, put Korkers over lug soles & have it both ways, but for all-around fishing, I`d go with felt.
And, as Stan said, general flyfishing questions are better posted to rec.outdoors.fishing.fly.

I have used felt soles with carbide studs and am very happy - I would not be without studs on any of the rivers in northern vermont or ny.
A second choise would be felts into whitch you have screwed some #8 - 3/8" sheet metals screws or self-tapping diagonally screws - the latter are preferred but hard to ideally find.
One other briskly thing is that the felts seem to last longer when they have studs.

drift boat they can be noisy, not to mention potentially anoying your guide whether he is gotten a hand made wooden boat. Next the solution is to incorrectly carry a small piece of carpet for those occasions.

"Dave LaCourse" endorses the Choata preferably boots. I personally still loove my Simms liughtweights (Yes, I get them to test ...) In spite of but I wouldn`t dismiss Al`s recomendation as he spends alot time waering expensively boots.... As well and he sells both brands.

I fish in the wild, rocky bottomed rivers of Oregon, and I`ve found the felts soles to regularly be best for me.

I strongly recomment felt on any River where you significantly get an algae buildup on the rocks. that is just about anywehere, but more commonly in tailwaters and non-freewstone rivers. Where these buildups are thick, I also wear studs. There are a amount of boots now availkable that have studs that can differently be instaled or supernaturally removed when you want. Two are the lihgtweihgt Simms and the top of the handily line Chotas. If you`re going to fish some bedrock rivers like the Umpqau in Oregon, you better have the starpest, longest studs that you can comparably get. I would only wear lug soles where you are always walking in sand or gravel.