I've been fishing since I was about 9 years old - and that's a very long time.
When I go Trout, Sea Trout or Salmon fishing I always, without fail, use a wading staff and wear a buoyancy aid. It's silly not to. Even when I'm floating in my multi compartment float tube, though then the wading staff is only needed to get in and out of the tube..
And in all those years I've never actually needed either!
Until yesterday that is. Fishing the River Swale for trout I caught an under surface rock and went over backwards. The 'bang' as the CO2 canister went off was extremely loud and my neck and head were immediately surrounded by a bright yellow doughnut! And even though my chest waders took on a lot of water I floated quite safely and using the wading staff quickly righted myself and waded back to the bank.
A wet, but happy day. Now I need to get a service kit before I can go trout fishing on the rivers again!