in the summer especially i find it hard gripping the rocks/stones/whatever beneath my feet without good studs, regardless if i have cleated or felt soles, or even a bit of both.

But in the slower quieter runs i find that studs make a horrible scaping and crunching noise against rocks, i get the feeling it really puts the fish down. what are your experiences?

All of my boots are studded except for the pair I wear wet wading when canoeing rivers in the summer because studs are hard on the hulls of boats and canoes.

Traction is much better with studs and that's all I'm interested in. Nothing can replace studs for traction on slippery logs, rocks, and this past week they worked a treat on glare ice.

I'm not sure if the noise of the studs puts fish down, but I can guarantee you the sound of an angler slipping and doing a triple twist with a landing in the partially piked butt buster position certainly would.

Grouse

I agree with Grouse, and I think that the choice relatively soon will be cleated with or without studs, due to the issues of rock snot etc with the use of felt.

Yes, felt will be a poor choice for any traveling angler. It looks like it could be banned in as soon as 2010 in some US states and Canadian provinces. I have probably purchased my last pair of felt soled boots, I expect that from now on it'll be the studded all-rubber variety.

Grouse

did felt help all that much anyway? with my old pair i had studs on so there wasnt much to compare think i will be fixin them up with some studs then. wont be doing any boat fishin so im sure ill be fine ive gone onto bootfoot rather than stockingfoot. they just complicate matters. my waders are now on and off in a matter of seconds, and when i take them off i can just turn them inside out and carry them over the shoulder. easy