Navigating slick river or jetty rocks isn't getting any easier with age, and taking a spill seems to hurt a hell of a lot more, so I was super stoked when the guys at Rock Treads were kind enough to send me one of their kits to install on a set of Korkers Omnitrax removable soles. A few weeks back I wrote up a review of the Korkers Hex Soles, so now I've had a chance to to see and try both companies' aluminum disk traction systems. I've only had the Rock Treads out once, so I'm posting this video of the product, installation and some basic feedback. I plan a more extensive review at the end of the fall run, and hopefully some information on where you might be able to check them out first hand in the North East before next season. I will say, during this one trip, my feet stayed glued to the jetty rock, on steep angles and even the snot slick stuff that was getting washed over by the tide. They provide a ton more surface area than the Korkers Hex Treads, are made of a higher aircraft grade aluminum, and as you can see from the video and pics, are considerably beefier. They're gaining quite a following among river guides and freshwater fishermen, and are looking to expand into the surfcasting scene. They'll need to introduce all stainless hardware for that, but my initial impression is that this product is a winner.
The number of sole options for Korkers boots seems to have exploded. I recently bought a pair of the KorkersTRIPLE THREAT ALUMINUM HEX SOLES
when I stopped in Mossy Creek Fly Fishing on my last trip down to VA. The hex
cleats seemed like a much better option than the aluminum bars, which don't
really allow for much flexibility in the soles of your boots. I've avoided
wearing the studded felt soles (banned in an increasing number of places) in an
effort to prevent the cross contamination that is ruining many of our streams,
and have generally used the less aggressive studded cling-on soles. I also
wondered how the Hex Soles would fare in a saltwater environment, rock hopping on
jetties. Would they be as effective as my Korkers RockTrax? Busting ass on a
jetty at night is not fun! After a several trips out in a variety of terrain environments,
I have to say my overall impression is pretty positive. They excel in all of
the river bottoms I waded, from smooth and slick, snot covered rocks to
sharper, jagged bottoms. They grip everything and I could wade with confidence.
That should easily translate to the salt, right? Here, I still have to go with
the RockTrax for two key reasons. As the tide drops, you get rocks exposed that
are covered in much heavier layers of seaweed and other stuff, and the spikes
just cut down through this better. I also noticed that they wear pretty quickly, especially on rough, dry jetty rock, so I'll probably be ordering another $30 package of hex discs pretty soon, and using these mostly in rivers.However, if you're a predominantly
freshwater guy that does an occasional surfcasting trip, these will more than
meet your needs.
Navigating slick river or jetty rocks isn't getting any easier with age, and taking a spill seems to hurt a hell of a lot more, so I was super stoked when the guys at Rock Treads were kind enough to send me one of their kits to install on a set of Korkers Omnitrax removable soles. A few weeks back I wrote up a review of the Korkers Hex Soles, so now I've had a chance to to see and try both companies' aluminum disk traction systems. I've only had the Rock Treads out once, so I'm posting this video of the product, installation and some basic feedback. I plan a more extensive review at the end of the fall run, and hopefully some information on where you might be able to check them out first hand in the North East before next season. I will say, during this one trip, my feet stayed glued to the jetty rock, on steep angles and even the snot slick stuff that was getting washed over by the tide. They provide a ton more surface area than the Korkers Hex Treads, are made of a higher aircraft grade aluminum, and as you can see from the video and pics, are considerably beefier. They're gaining quite a following among river guides and freshwater fishermen, and are looking to expand into the surfcasting scene. They'll need to introduce all stainless hardware for that, but my initial impression is that this product is a winner.
