Noisy Wading Staff

Bob , I’ve been using the Folstaf wading staff for about 4 or 5 years and had the same problem. I found a rubber chair leg cap that fit the end of the shaft just right. It really cut down on the noise made by the tip dragging on the bottom.  I was afraid it would come off while using so I wrapped some plastic electric tape around it and up the shaft an inch or two. It works well.

Great question. Something most fly fishers don’t think about. S.B. seems to have a solution but does it “spook” fish. I believe, yes it does. Maybe not in our State Parks but if in an area out West or East where the trout are more skittish, I think that it would spook the fish. They can here us walking in the stream/river, they spook when indicators go over their heads, and even when we make a bad cast and slap our line in the water near the fish. I remember talking to a member of the Belgium Fly Fishing team when we were both on the Eagle river in Colorado. After our talk and him telling me about the numbers of trout he was catching (more than me), he entered the water like a “Heron”. One quiet step at a time. No staff clicking on the bottom just stealth walking and stalking. So, unless in very fast turbulent waters I think those spooky trout will be long gone when the clicking starts from that wading staff.