Carefully picking your way through wild blackberry, slipping down a twig-ridden track, or removing a wind-driven fly from your leg. Sooner or later, you’ll need to repair a leak in your waders. There is nothing worse than feeling cold morning water seeping through to your previously warm feet with a full day of fishing still ahead.
In my case I stumbled and fell onto a particularly sharp rock in a small stream – clearly looking at the water ahead rather than my footing. While my shin has to repair itself, it was clear I needed to do something about the water pouring through a galaxy-sized tear in my relatively new waders. At least it was easy to find the leak!
Luckily, there are great products on the market to help with the repair, and to follow are some simple steps to get you water-tight and back in the water.
Step 1: Find the leak!
While my tear was easy to see, this often isn’t the case. There are a couple of common methods to use:
- If you suspect a pinhole leak, the best method is to spray the exterior of your waders with isopropyl alcohol. As they dry (quickly), little black dots will appear like magic! Have an indelible pen on hand to mark the holes for treatment.
- For feet and seams, the best way still seems to be to capture air in the waders by rolling them from the top, plunging them into water, and watching for bubbles. I’ve found a deeper laundry tub or bathtub good for this purpose.
Step 2: Prepare the repair area
A good clean of the area to be repaired ensures that subsequent product application is successful. Again, isopropyl alcohol is perfect in most cases, though always check your wader specifications to make sure that this is okay. As an example, there are official Simms videos online showing their repair department utilising this, so that’s a good indication.
for finding pin-holes, and pre-repair cleaning.
Step 3: Choose your repair product
While there are several options on the market, this Riversmith swears by Aquaseal. GearAid makes a convenient pack that includes Aquaseal, an applicator brush and ‘Tenacious Tape’ for larger holes that need a little more support.
Step 4: Apply the tape to the wader exterior
Because I had a decent hole, I decided to use Tenacious Tape that came as part of the GearAid kit. If you’re dealing with pinholes, you can use masking tape as a temporary measure to keep the Aquaseal on the inside as it cures.
Afterwards, I realised that there was a white tape option, but hopefully this is the only black dot needed on these waders! Polka dot fishing gear isn’t yet a thing.
Step 5: Apply the Aquaseal
Turn the waders inside out.
If you wish to, you can use disposable gloves as this point. (It turned out that the ones we had in the house were too small, so I had to ‘go commando’.) Using the applicator brush, a small piece of cardboard, or ice cream stick, apply a the Aquaseal over the hole, tear, or seam, ensuring that you spread it a little beyond the hole. Spread lightly, as the adhesive will naturally settle some more, and you want to maintain some depth to the repair.
If you’re using Aquaseal UV, you can cure it immediately with a UV light as per the kit instructions, otherwise it is important keep the repair area as flat and level as possible over a 24 hour period.
You’re likely to have plenty of Aquaseal left over. To keep it at its best, you can store it in the freezer. This has caused some amusement in my house when the kids found it while hunting for icecream!
Last Step: Go fishing!
Note: This is my experience repairing my waders, and it worked! These are general instructions and the smallprint is that we are not responsible for any damage caused. ALWAYS follow manufacturers instructions, or test on someone else’s waders before your own 😉
Riversmiths NZ 