LaSportiva has finally gotten their TxC canyoneering boots out, and I grabbed a pair on the hope that they’ll be as good a rough terrain tenkara fishing boot as the long discontinued 5/10 Canyoneers.
Narrower than the 5/10s they fit more like a climbing shoe, and for me that’s a big positive. The soles grip on slick wet granite like crazy, and the long approach hike was nice because they’re substantially lighter than my 5/10s. Happy feet at the end of a long day and a lot of high country brookies.
Priced less than boots marketed for fly fishing too.
Nice, like the look of those a lot. Thankful there are seemingly more and more options being made available for those that want to be light on their feet but not sacrifice traction in stream.
The 46 in all the other models is a 12, but this boot is sized for a very snug 3mm neoprene sock, so a 44-44.5 is right if your just wearing a quite thin sock.
They fit like rock climbing shoes, snug all over.
Thank you for this James - it arrived just at the right time as I was able to include it in a detailed review post of wet wading gear and tips on Fishing Discoveries. I gave you a name check and linked back to the 10 colors forum to cite my sources.
Mike I also saw the Tenkara Angler post as I got to work on the topic (suggested by my keyword research tool) - I’ve made sure to offer some different perspectives and also leaned it more towards the fly fishing demographic to try to cover some different ground.
I just read your article… wow, it’s pretty nearly my exact setup!
Your reasoning is even the same, and I like that you explained it so well. From the need for nimble feet and unquestionable traction leading me to canyoneering shoes, to neoprene gaiters for all the benefits they convey, especially the sleek cross section in very fast water. (I use the Daiwa brand.)
Safely and comfortably fishing in “very interesting places” is something the Japanese anglers have perfected and I’ve just copied them.
Very very good article, I hope many people read it.
