If you want to look good on the river bank, then take a good look at the new
leather boots from Dubarry of Ireland. It’s the first time the
world-renowned manufacturer has launched a boot especially for men.
And the Wexford is multi-functional - providing a swanky look in the
country, and a hard-wearing and robust response as a work-horse.
Dubarry says it is suitable for all outdoor pursuits including gardening
(well that’s not for me), walking ( wot, exercise?) and, yes, fishing - ah,
now that’s better. And which of course is why I bought mine. They aren’t
cheap at £265, but they will provide a lifetime of loyal and robust service.
I’ve had mine seven months, since they were launched, and that’s just long
enough to claim that they are now tried and thoroughly field-tested. And
they still look like new with a minimum of after use care. They would have
really looked the part last summer for a day on the famous Houghton Club
waters of the River Test had I bought them before then.
But actually I lie, the Dubarry’s that day, albeit it not Wexfords, did look
good - a small group of like-minded friends and fishers gathered by the
Grosvenor Hotel in Stockbridge on the Wiltshire/Hampshire borders to share a
beer on the way to the hallowed trout stream - and we fished the following
day just below Stockbridge on the equally wonderful Bossington Beats.
What did look good were the Dubarry boots worn that late summer’s day by
Bertie, whose guests a number of us were. Thanks Bertie. Did the boots help
him catch more fish? Probably not, but they kept his feet 100 per cent dry
and cool (thanks to the Goretex lining), even when ‘wading’ on the gravel
shallows at the top end of the fishery by the summer house.
It was a wonderful day, the sinews of my little two piece 8ft five weight
Barder cane straining (but not overstraining) to a good bag of wonderfully
conditioned brownies - I had four in total, the best just over four pounds,
and all taken on the dry fly, and all of which were returned to provide
sport for other anglers. And I had a fine brace of rainbows, the biggest a
cracking fish of five and three-quarter pounds that ran me a merry dance on
an Edward Barder tied Daddy Long Legs, several of which the master rod
builder kindly gave me in advance of the visit.
Indeed it was a killing pattern - as was also predicted by the knowledgeable
assistant in Robgents, the Stockbridge shop that has a gorgeous traditional
feel to it, unlike the branded Orvis shop across the road. If you share my
traditional values you will know what I mean.
But I digress. That was the day I saw my first pair of Dubarry Boots. I knew
the name of course, but not the quality of workmanship. Bertie’s old pair
were battered and bruised, and showing the scars of almost two decades of
hunting and fishing, and keeping up with his fine brace of labby gun dogs in
the Cheshire hillside.
He swore by them. I swore I’d get a pair. And as luck and co-incidence would
have it when I searched the web for stockists upon my return from the chalk
stream of all chalk streams, Dubarry had just that week launched the Wexford
- the first boot specifically for men.
It is a knee high boot, with full length outside zips, hand-crafted from
water resistant Dry-Fast-Dry Soft (that’s a trademark I guess) breathable
leathers. With a push button strap fastener at the top of the zip to hold it
in place when closed, the Wexford is both sturdy and practical, even in deep
mud.
I haven’t been in deep mud in mine (yet), but I have been calf deep in silty
margins and almost up to the knee in the Rivers Gade, Bulbourne, Lea and my
local clubwater gravel pits.
As an aside, and at the risk of sounding like Ronnie Corbett in his armchair
or the great Billy Connolly, two chalk and cheese characters who have the
knack of going off at tangents in front of a live audience and returning to
the exact spot they left twenty minutes later I must tell you this. It’s
something I have not personally witnessed but I am told that the Dubarry
salesmen at The Game fair and other country shows, strut their stuff all day
long in up-market ‘paddling pools’ to convince even the most sceptical among
us that these boots are made for walking. And getting wet. They are 100 per
cent waterproof. And 100 per cent dry.
I say dry and I mean that, and not just because of the conditions on the
outside of the leather. My trusty Hunter wellies are superb, handcrafted
and leather lined, and admittedly they cost £100 less. But on a full day
roving the banks of the Amwell Magna trout fishery, outside of the Houghton
Club, one of the country’s oldest continually fished fisheries on the old
River Lea In Hertfordshire. Or when trotting corn or flake for cold water
winter Ladies on the Test, the feet do sweat a little, leaving them (and my
socks) a trifle damp - and that makes for cold feet in near zero
temperatures, the sort of weather we used to have before the daffodils were
in full bloom at the back end of January!
And, as I found, when I walked several miles with Bertie on the Bossington
Beats (the sweat that is, not the daffodils for it was late summer). But not
so with my Wexfords which feature an insulated Goretex lining that wicks
away moisture from the foot ensuring I remain dry and comfortable whatever
the weather conditions. It even makes them rather cool....in more ways than
one, on warm days as well as cold!
And one of the features of the Wexford is Dubarry’s new hard-wearing,
durable rubber outsole providing maximum grip, especially on a muddy and
somewhat slippery bank.
And grip is something my old DAM felt-soled neoprene waders don’t give me -
just ask all my friends and business acquaintances who have had to provide
me with their mobile telephone numbers yet again. What’s he on about now, I
hear you ask?
Well, while chubbing on a flooded Upper Great Ouse with fishing partner
Barbel Dave ‘North of Bedford’ (don’t you just hate that phrase?) last
autumn, I slipped on the bank while wearing those dam (and DAM) waders. I
was on the phone to a printer at the time, the one business call I had to
make before enjoying my day away from the office.
Whoa...over I went and, it seemed at the time in slow motion, up went my
phone, spinning high and dropping, just out of my reach, into six feet of
marginal spate water. Boy did I know what it it must feel like as a women to
lose your hangbag. My life was in that phone. But again I digress, something
I’m prone to do in my easily distracted middle years.
Another Wexford waterproof feature is that behind the full length zip is a
concealed leather bellow within the side of the boot, offering adjustable
leg width and affording maximum foot entry. Now that’s important and I know
you’ll sympathise here. It enables me, the end of day weary angler, to
remove my boots withy ease. How many times have you struggled in the car
park at the end of a long day, perching on the edge of the car, to remove
your boots, wellies or waders. Through fatigue, and a tight fit.
Not only is the Wexford bellow a great idea, but that expanded gusset, for
that’s what it is, provides extra leg room when wearing thermals, trousers
and extra thick full knee length socks without restricting movement in the
calf.
I know I’ll never need another pair of these knee length boots, unless
health remains fully on my side and I am still casting a fly or trotting a
stick or Avon float when I am well past 75
***
The Dubarry Wexford, £265 rrp, is available in sizes 7-12 including half
sizes (and that’s great for a bloke like me who takes an eight. I don’t need
to shuffle about in a nine, even with thick socks when an eight and a half
is perfect). For stockists visit www.dubarry.com or telephone Dubarry on 00
353 90 9642348
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