Home Forums Fishing Flyfishing Collapsible wading staff.

Had a great day on the East Walker River here in Nevada today. 12 fish on, 9 to the net. Browns and Rainbows on nymphs.

Did some treacherous wading though with a few sticks I broke off/found.

Anyone here use a wading staff and have an opinion on them? Going to get one, just looking on which to trust my life with.

Has to be easy to stow when it's time to cast.

I've got an aluminum one I bought at Cabelas years ago and it works great for wading swift water & slick riverbed rocks. It's collapsible and weighs hardly anything. It's kept he from busting my ass in midstream many times.

I wont fish without a hiking pole, wade staff these days.I do alot of hike ins to creeks and rivers and try to access areas that most fisherman wont hike to and a hiking pole or two come it handy. Saves the hassle of falling down hiking up and down steep banks, crossing river or hiking on slick rocks.

I usually just use an old ski pole connected to my wading belt with a oiece of rope.I have this staff that i use too but find the old ski pole more handy

https://www.amazon.com/Hammers-Coll...-3&keywords=collapsible+wading+staff

I've been using a Folstaff for the past few years. Deploys itself as soon as you pull it from it's holster making instantly useful if needed. Works GREAT and is very solid.
It has saved my butt more than a few times ..I will not wade without it! Can't recommend it highly enough.
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This is the winner. Thanks for the input.

I rarely if ever use a staff, but if my life is going to depend on it, anything the will collapse, telescope, or was held in place by bungee cord would not be my choice.

For swift water I only use a solid hiking staff. For lazy shallow streams I use a collapsible staff. A member of my fly fishing club recently drowned after falling in swift water. I’ve now added a better automatic personal flotation device to my kit.

I've been using the Simms wading staff for years. It is rock solid when deployed and has saved my butt many times.

The Folstaff is a damn solid unit once it is deployed. The bungee cord is only used to 'self assemble' and once assembled can be somewhat difficult to take apart if the joints aren't frequently
waxed. They will NOT come apart on their own.

I lost my Folstaff a couple years ago. Suspect I left it leaning up against a tree by the parking area. As MickyD (and others) have said, when pulled from the holster and extended it's rock solid. It is a pain to get apart after use and tapping the end on a rock will allow you to do so. I had a spare staff from LL Bean I've been using and it's a lot less "precision" and easier to get apart and still snaps together quickly when pulled from a holster.

I don't fish much water that needs a staff anymore but the couple I do it's an invaluable tool and I pull it out and let it float behind me if I think I'm going to need it.

I would avoid any bungee type of wading staff. The bottom section will stick in mud. I have had to reach down into the water and pull the bottom section out of the mud to retrieve it, a real pain in the neck and dangerous. It works fine for rocky bottoms but for mud it is worthless.

Dont like the Folstaff. Had one for 20 years. Tthe bungee cord loses strength after a season or two and it wont snap itself together like when new. Also, lower segment can stick in stream bottom leaving you with a liability instead of an asset.

i have a hundred dollar orvis one, still fall in all the time

sse,

Sounds like me. - FALLING seems to be my "hobby" these days.

FYI, in my opinion, NOTHING beats a HICKORY staff. = Mine was turned on a lathe from a well-seasoned stick of native hickory by a local "VO-tech" teacher at the HS.

yours, tex