Home » Barbs and Backlashes » Boots are Full!

Boots are Full!

I spend a lot of time in waders.  So far, I am a boatless angler.  I discovered a long time ago that by putting on a pair of waders and getting even a few feet off shore I could catch more fish.  In addition, in my “day job” as a fisheries biologist, waders are part of the standard uniform when doing field work.  Believe me, I have poked holes in waders in pretty much every way possible.  After a year or two, my waders look more like patches than they do waders.  None of them last more than a year or two.

No matter how good the waders and how little they leak, I have also learned that there is always one big hole in the top.  Sometimes, when you fill your waders, you need some help emptying them:

I found that clip on the SimmsFishing Instagram page this week.

It takes a really good fishing buddy to help you dump your waders like that.  I have none like that.  All of mine would simply watch and laugh while I emptied them myself.

Another thing I have observed being boatless much of the time is that you can experience some really good bites by fishing with the wind in your face.  Wind concentrates plankton and baitfish on wind-swept shorelines.  High winds create chaos.  Predators LOVE chaos.  So, I have had many experiences fishing the “surf” even on land-locked Nebraska waters.  Many times the higher the surf the better the bite.

That is how I know waders always have one big hole at the top.

On one such surf experience on McConaughy, the white bass and wiper bite was on fire.  A guy did not dare wade more than a few feet off-shore, not because the water was so deep, but because the waves were so high.

I may have taken a crest or two over the lip of my waders, but not nearly as bad as the guy down the shore from me.  He would wade out until his waders were full.  Then he would cast, turn around and wade back to shore.  Once there he would place his reel on the shore, in the sand and surf.  He also had no buddy to help him dump his waders so he would walk to dry ground up the bank, lay on his back, and do leg lifts to empty his waders.  Once he finished, back to the waterline he went where his rod and reel lay, reel full of sand by that time.  He would swish the reel in the water, reel in his line, frequently with a fish on it.

Repeat.

Come to think of it, he had six-pack abs.

Great time of year to get out to do some hunting and fishing this weekend!  Stay dry!

bx180_28a5_9 (1)
Jeff Kurrus photo, NEBRASKAland Magazine

About daryl bauer

Daryl is a lifelong resident of Nebraska (except for a couple of years spent going to graduate school in South Dakota). He has been employed as a fisheries biologist for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for 25 years, and his current tour of duty is as the fisheries outreach program manager. Daryl loves to share his educational knowledge and is an avid multi-species angler. He holds more than 120 Nebraska Master Angler Awards for 14 different species and holds more than 30 In-Fisherman Master Angler Awards for eight different species. He loves to talk fishing and answer questions about fishing in Nebraska, be sure to check out his blog at outdoornebraska.org.

Check Also

Prep your equipment for spring outdoor activities

Those of us who enjoy outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, boating and camping are …