I like to think of my self as a minimalist and get by with the least gear possible, but some things you need to be comfortable. In cold water you will need a pair of waders.
These happen to be chest waders and you can see it comes all the way up to my chest. These are breathable and have neoprene booties.
We were fishing in these [waders] last winter with temperatures as low as 9°F. The lines were freezing up and everything was freezing up and we were in and out of the water and for the most part we were pretty warm.
In warm weather you don’t necessarily need these [chest waders]. In this little canyon today with the runoff that we’ve got, 24 hours ago this water was still ice and it hasn’t warmed up a whole lot yet, so you should get a good pair of waders like this.
As for wading boots, these happen to have felt bottoms on them. So they give you pretty good traction on the slickest rocks. I don’t know if you’ve tried to walk across rocks with moss on them, but it can be fairly treacherous.
This doesn’t take away all the danger, but it helps. There is a lot of support in these wading boots and they have the felt bottoms on them.
I wouldn’t wade anywhere without good foot protection because there are too many people that throw too many bottles and there is too much broken glass. So you need good foot protection when you wading are in the stream.
Learn what equipment you need to fly fish a small trout stream. Choose the right length fly rod for little creeks with trees and brush. Have the tools you need and carry them in a fly fishing vest. Dress in layers to stay comfortable when fishing in the West. Consider the bare essentials for fly fishing while wading a small trout stream. Look at and compare a couple of fly boxes that work well. Save money on line clippers. Sometimes you don’t need a lot fly patterns.