"Tim G" wrote

Any thoughts?

I think the fish care and that loud wading and loud thumping up and down the
bank ... bare minimum ... alert the fish to possible danger and make them
more careful in feeding. Due to a bad knee, I have taken to carrying an
aluminum wading staff I found and I'm quite sure tapping it on the bottom
has scared off fish I was stalking ....

But, in my case as a wading klutz, I find that cleat noise ( and/ or staff
noise ), kept to a minimum, is not nearly as scary to the fish as my rotund
body splashing head first into the water with my prey, so I wear the cleats
and carry the staff as a lesser evil.

I have two pairs of boots and do NOT wear cleats in any spring creek type
waters and after using it to help with the big step getting into the water I
stick the staff in some weeds or silt and wade without it ... often just
the small waves from wading will spook fish in such water, let alone
clanging and banging under the water.

P.S. Sound can't travel from air to water well and that is why normal
talking isn't likely to scare fish -) ... however, IF I curse loudly UNDER
water while submerged from one of my klutzy falls it certainly scares more
fish than just the fall itself