Felt Soled Wading Shoe Ban + Awesome New Product from Waterworks/Lamson

For those of you from Maryland, more specifically the Anne Arundel County area, you know about the Capital-Gazette newspaper. Chris Dollar, the writer for the Outdoors section had an awesome article in the Sunday paper about didymo (Didymosphenia geminata) aka Rock Snot, the single celled algae thats taking over a lot of streams in the US, Europe and New Zealand. Its a yellow-brown snotty looking algae that can "suffocate a waterway". It literally covers everything making coldwater streams nearly uninhabitable especially for fish. This microscopic algae can be spread in a single drop of water. New Zealand has already banned felt soled wading boots/shoes based on recently found research. Based on that fact that didymo can survive in a single drop of water, felt soled boots/shoes are an ideal habitat for didymo to grow/live in and be carried from stream to stream. Locally, the Gunpowder River has been consumed in didymo and a lot of beautiful east coast streams have been seriously affected. Maryland legislators have decided that felt soled boots/shoes will be banned in our waters starting this upcoming March, awesome, I'm happy for that and more states need to do so. I think Alaska has passed a law and followed right behind New Zealand. If you know of any other states, feel free to comment!


Dont hesitate to write your local congressman and ask what may be going on within the state to ban these shoes/boots and what their plan of action is if didymo is found in local waters. Its our responsibility to watch over our beautiful environment for future generations. So, needless to say, my felts are in the trash as we speak.


On to the next subject (which goes along with didymo), Waterworks/Lamson has come up with an awesome product called the Gear Shower, it runs at about $49.99 but could probably be made for cheaper (potentially a future DIY on the blog?). This is from the Waterworks/Lamson website..."The spread of aquatic species (AIS) from one body of water to another is a serious and growing ecological problem. Once an invasive species is established in new water, it can be impossible to eliminate. The method recommended by experts is to rinse gear after fishing at the take-out so that the AIS are not transported away from the site. And that’s where the Gear Shower can play a positive role. Fill the Gear Shower with tap water from home and use it to rinse away all visible material from gear at the take-out. Leave AIS behind! Let the Gear Shower make it easy. The Gear Shower is very easy to use: lower a vehicle window an inch or more and hang the shower. Tap water gravity-flows through a shower head with on/off switch, allowing for the 2.2 gallon capacity to clean boots, waders and other gear. Money from your purchase of the Gear Shower is donated to the Clean Angling Coalition. To learn more about AIS and recommended cleaning methods, visit the Clean Angling Coalition at www.cleanangling.org." Here's a pic of didymo at its worst...

Check out the website, and for more info on didymo or clean angling, feel free to Google or search most fishing blogs, theres a wealth of information out there!


Tight Lines...Morgan <*)))><