How do I care for my fishing shoes?

At one time or another, we've all had to deal with loose soles or seams on our fishing shoes. Right in the middle of our fishing trip!

Soles 

When it comes to soles, there's no such thing as miracle glue to keep your soles in perfect condition on your uppers. Imagine: your shoes are in the water and then exposed to the sun (most of the time). They return to the water and so on over the course of a fishing season, which can be quite a lot. After talking to a number of glue professionals, they all told me that at some point, given the stresses described above, the sole will come unstuck, so what can you do?
Firstly, NEVER dry them in the sun, but find an airy, sheltered spot. Then, before you go out fishing, check that your soles won't end up in the current.

If you see the first sign of delamination, don't panic: there are glues available to repair it, and you'll find a plethora of them on the Internet.

Seams

For the seams, I'd say it's the same physical phenomenon (drying then returning to the water) that can occur with cotton or polyester thread. We even had the idea of using Kevlar thread, but it was hard to find. The same advice applies to seams: stay out of the sun. What's more, depending on where you're fishing, the line may be subjected to abrasion from rocks or other objects. Here's a tip for preserving your line: prepare a mixture of clear silicone and a few drops of white spirit. Using a brush, spread this mixture over your seams. This will protect them. You can also grease them.
We use abrasion-resistant, quick-drying components for our shoes.

A final tip: take the soles out of your shoes and rinse the inside to prevent small stones from remaining and damaging your waders.
If the knurling system becomes blocked by sand or sediment, pull the cable on either side, passing the knurling under water pressure. This should take care of the problem.
For velcro fasteners: use a brush to remove any weeds trapped in the hooks.

Once your fishing season is over, clean your fishing shoes with the products we recommend and store them in a ventilated area with newspaper inside.