Question about chest highs

[Salmo Gairdnerii]

I am seriously thinking about trying out chest high waders. I have been a hip wader guy for over 30 years and I feel it is about time to give chest highs a shot. I am loking at the Cabela's Three Forks Featherlights (I have these in the hip wader). They work great, but where I do a lot of my summer steelhead fishing I am constantly wading the river as I work my way up stream or down stream. There are portions of the river that won't allow me to cross with just hip waders, thus chest highs come into play. Being the novice I am to chest highs, what kind of pants do you wear underneath? I wear jeans with hip waders, but do you need something that heavy with chest highs, especially in the summer? I fish from sun up to mid-afternoon and it can get pretty warm. I appreciate any info I can get my hands on. Thanks a lot!

[ZaQ]

I have always worn just plain old pair of shorts under them in the Summer on the Deschutes. When I wear them in the winter, rare, I wear a pair of guide fleece pants under them. Toasty warm.

:grin:

[jaydee]

Consider waist highs too.
Bought a breathable pair and love 'em for the summer months.
It might be a good comprimise if you don't plan on wading anything over hip hight. Plus even breathable chest waders get aufully warm dispite where I do most of my summer fishing. And they're good to hike in compared to hip or chest waders.

J.D.

[Blazerboy]

when I fish for summer steelhead in the heat of summer I just wet wade with a pair of shorts that will dry out easily but when it does start to get cold in the mornings and the water temp starts to drop I do wear the chest waders. I normally wear jeans or athletic pants underneath, however when you are walking up well for example cedar creek when you take or your waders you will make steam but for crossing cold water that is deep, chest waders are the only way to go.

[Ivana Fishalot]

I went float tuning at Round lake this year. It was about 75 degrees or warmer ambient temperature. I wore my 3.5 mm neos with only shorts underneath. I was really amazed that I was shivering after about an hour and a half. My waders were pretty loose though. I think that this might be the reason. I wear a 5/3 mm wetsuit when I ride my pwc in the ocean with no problem.

Counterargument...

I also wore longjohns and sweats underneath them and fished the clack for over two hours nearly waist deep and was really toasty most of the time. I started "feeling" the temp towards the end though.

Finally,
I don't wear jeans because they restrict movement too much. Really it is going to come down to trial and error. The old layers school of thought always works but is a little more of a pain in chest highs.

[Jennie@ifish]

Why do you want chest highs? How many times do you actually wade over your waist?

I thought about that, and figured I rarely, if ever wade over my waistline.

Are there other reasons for chest highs?

Jen

[RogueFisher]

I wear chest waders frequently. Several times I have come close to falling and am glad I had the extra up to my chest. I also like the way the suspenders keep them up on you.
I've never tried just the waist waders.
I've never seen them at G.I. Joe's. I've only seen them in catalogs.
I just think you'll limit yourself if you do decide to wade into deeper water.

:grin:

[Ivana Fishalot]

Originally posted by Jennie@ifish:
How many times do you actually wade over your waist?

Jen

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Don't hip waders only cover your thighs? When I bought waders I purchased them for float tubing. I didn't know that there were different heights of waders that had suspenders (that would allow you to wade waist deep). I've noticed that breathables do not go up as high as my chest waders but it is only a marginal difference. I thought I would wade that deep but I don't.

I rarely get waist deep in the winter. River flows are way too fast. In the summer, I'll cross chest deep quite often on the Sandy and the Clack. Chest highs are a necessity then because I hate hiking in wet shorts.

[Corkie Monster]

I'm over my waist all the time. It usually happens when I'm enroute to one of my holes. I like the security of having that extra foot of wader. My brother has the waist highs and he has been restricted on where he can go. I rarely fish when I'm waist deep though. Oh, and I where Polar weight thermals with fleece wader pants underneath the waders. keeps me plenty warm. Jeans/Cotton seems to ball up and get sweaty and are just uncomfortable under waders. Wear somthing that wicks the moister away from your skin.

CM

[ 01-25-2004, 05:59 PM: Message edited by: Corkie Monster ]

[lilnorthfork]

Picture yourself standing in the Deschuttes on one of those epic D days... not too hot but not too cold, lots of good water and the bite is on. You have a good foot between the river and the top of your waist-highs, no problem. Problem... here comes one of those ##$%^ jet boats down the river. Fortunately, he slows down to go by you (not) so the wake is only a foot and a half high. Wish I had my chest waders. Here is another scenario. Standing in knee-deep water at Rockaway hurling polar shrimp flies into the surf in search of perch. A bigger than average wave comes up and hits you on the chin. Cold as heck, but sure glad I didn't have any waders on.
The beauty of breathables is they are so darn comfortable. Throw them on over shorts when it is warm, over fleece when it is cold, or over your work pants when you only have an hour to fish. :grin:

[stilly bum]

I wear breathables year round. In summer I wear a pair of nylon warm-up pants underneath. In winter I wear a pair of fleece pants and if it's really cold then I'll add a pair of thermal long johns with the fleece.
I think the waist highs are ideal but they're not available from as many manufacturers as the chest highs.

[foxer]

Ivana, where do you ride your PWC? I used to ride with a bunch of guys down at Pacific City a few years ago. Oh yeah, chest high breathables are the way to go.

[Ivana Fishalot]

There and outside of Depoe bay, Newport, and Taft. It is nice to be near Devil's lake to blow it out on the way back.

That is a crazy bunch of guys that hang out in Pacific City. I have to laugh at what some people think is an extreme sport when compared to those guys. I just enjoy motoring past a whale watching excursion and the "What the _____" look on all the people's faces.

[mophile]

I think that waist highs are kind of a marketing ploy. If I want to turn my chest waders into "waist highs", I just roll them down over a wading belt. I can roll down chest waders, but I can't "stretch" waist highs. Also, I never wear jeans or shorts under breathables, just varying weights of polypro long johns. As Corkie Monster stated, wick-ability!

[jaydee]

Don't get me wrong SalmoG. I wear neoprene chest waders way more often that any other wader. Merely suggesting to consider it.
I have found some advantages that my waist high breathable waders have over my others (chest and hip), just as the others have certain advantages over my waist highs. The main one is that they are the most comfortable of the three sets that I own. Especially more so than my neoprene chest waders.
But like it said above, if you want to wade waist height water, stick with your idea of chest waders.

J.D.

[dampainter]

what is a PWC????

[Salmo Gairdnerii]

Thank you to everyone for the input. I appreciate all of your help and wise advice. Tight lines!

[Ivana Fishalot]

Originally posted by dampainter:
what is a PWC????

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Personal Watercraft

[foxer]

Ivana, sold my GP1200 right before I got married. Last time I rode out there was in 99'. That was a real fun time in my life. Yes, there were a few "interesting" folks I hung out with. Nothing like catching 6ft of air off of a 6ft wave with no/one hand. Devils lake was always the flush out. Then dinner at Kylos's.

[ 01-26-2004, 10:41 AM: Message edited by: foxer ]