We’ve found the only sure thing in wading is the variable conditions we meet throughout the fly fishing season. So don’t hesitate to customize the quantity and placement pattern of your studs to fit your specific fishing conditions. Here are a few tips when customizing with studs:

Patterns: We like to avoid placing studs in the dead center of the sole’s arch and in the dead center of the heel. Also, we seem to get more traction by using an uneven pattern, so we like to “scatter” the studs as much as the tread will allow instead of juxtaposing them in adjacent parallel rows.

Quantity: More isn’t necessarily better. For instance, if your #3000A studs protrude significantly past your highest tread knob, the more studs you add, the less overall sole surface area will contact the wading surface. We all know wading on rocks with rubber soles is slippery, but replacing the sole’s entire rubber contact surface with an all-metal contact surface can be almost as slippery. Stud placement and quantity should ideally increase the traction of the rubber surface, not create a completely new surface of metal spikes only.

Be Creative: One of our field test guides determined he liked mixing the Standard #1100’s and the Aggressive #3000A’s together on the same boot. Extra studs are available in refill packs without an installation tool. The Standard and Aggressive studs use the same installation tool, so if you want to mix them up, simply get a kit of one model and a refill pack of the other.

In the end, it’s all about making your fishing day an awesome experience. Each trip involves its own environmental wading hazards – moss, silt, slime, or rocks. Grip Studs™ wader boot studs easily customize your boots to deliver your immediate traction needs!