Found this article that sportsmen and gun owners might be interested in. Looks like the EPA is making a move to ban lead in bullets and sinkers:
http://weeklystandard.com/…uest-ban-led-bullets
I think we all can see the impact this could lead up to.
Good read thanks.
As long as we keep teaching people and friends and are kids and grand kids how to hunt and fish we many have a future. If we keep all this stuff to ourselves and limit what we share are future is bleak. It’s all about the fun in the outdoors. more and more people are losing there roots, I will not be one of these people My kids, friends,and grand kids will be out there with me experiencing the great out doors in hopes they too pass it on to there friends and kids.
Petitions like this are always being considered because they have to. Even though most ideas are a joke at best they still have to evaluate the petitions. They have already eliminated lead from waterfowl hunting and now the state is giving away bullets to hunters in the Zion unit to protect condors. Arizona already bans lead in areas condors live. The EPA will not do anything to ban lead and if they try will have dozens of lawsuit filed. The same tactics used by PETA or SUWA will keep them from trying.
Man, what a drag. A couple years ago, I made a fishing trip to Yellowstone Lake. In preparing for it, I soon realized that lead was not allowed in fishing up there. Wanting to target macks, getting deep was important. Non-lead weights or jig heads to my specs were very hard to find. So I thought, “I’ll troll Dipsy-Divers”. Yea, right … they have lead in them too. In general, it was a frustrating problem. I haven’t been there since because of that regulation.
No doubt, if we have to go to non-lead lures, engineers and manufactures will rise to the occasion. But gone will be the days of the easy homemade lead lures for anyone that wants to make their own lures out in their garage. Can you imagine trying to melt and pour your own steel jigs at home?
I think that 90 % of the lead problem in environment is a result of lead shot, 9% in fishing tackle, and 1% in hunting bullets. So, I don’t think that there will be any measurable environmental improvements as a result of outlawing lead bullets.
Just my two cents.
It’s funny this story broke yesterday and already the EPA has decided NOT to ban lead in bullets or sinkers and take on the 2nd Amendment.
I’m sure that 2nd Amendment opposition was highly disappointed that the EPA would not challenge the 2nd Amendment through the back door. Without ammo, your guns are worthless but your 2nd amendments rights are still “intacted”.
This is a good decision for sportsmen BUT who’s to say if this was a decision based on the political climate and concerns of repercussions with the midterm elections and not a true environmental concern. If it was politically based due to circumstances, we’ll be seeing this type of shenanigans again.
Interesting. I see it coming myself. No lead in Yellowstone and other waterways.
I can be done without lead…I don’t use it in my fishing or my Shot Gun.
Really? Who knew that the Obama administration invented the whole lead poisoning thing! Wow!
Since this is a fishing board, brass and tungsten sinkers work really well, btw.
Regulation, and not legislation, through a federal agency controlled by a current administration to circumvent our Constitution and hijack your guaranteed constitutional rights is wrong and unacceptable. As you are very well aware of, it’s not about lead poisoning.
Have you ever tried to cast brass or tungsten ??? I haven’t bought a jig head, sinker, split shot, spinner bait, buzz bait etc for 30 years. I prefer to make them myself and I have yet to find a way to cast the “non-toxic” metals at home. The move to ban lead sinkers, lures, etc, lead ammo is just another kick in the teeth for our individual rights. It is coming my friends, don’t give up without a fight.
yea thats why i only use diamonds in place of split shot, and solid gold bead heads in my nymphs… harharhar
i to dont use lead, but what about the lure industry. the GF likes to toss spinners and jigs, its one of her favorite ways to fish. now banning lead will cost jobs.
the Obama conspiracy comment makes me giggle
http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?r=view&i=411672&aID=605E6&cID=FROOGLE_411672
Just a few.
I grew up with lead in paint, gas, dishes, and probably my toys…still here, but then again, both my parents smoked.
alot of people accuse me of eating lead paint chips
I’m wit choo, Bro. Ridiculous to expect both private and commercial lure makers and jig pourers to eliminate lead totally from production. It would take high priced smelting equipment and expensive raw materials to be able to make all of the cheap but effective lures that now rely on lead in their manufacture. And for what? A pittance in the total pollution potential of any given water. How about the inflows of commercial waste, agricultural runoff, mining toxins, etc. ?
What I find ludicrous is the mere thought that if lead is banned how will they police it…with lead “coppers”? Heck, they can’t even stop the inflow of illegal immigrants…a much greater problem. And they can’t stop other “petty” crimes like murder, rape, assault, theft, terrorism or other things that are of far greater potential consequence to humans. Why target something as minor and foolish as the use of lead by fishermen?
When lead is outlawed, only outlaws will have lead.
If they want my lead they will have to pry it from my cold dead fingers.
Put 100# tippet on that lure! Any lure that costs $30 you don’t want to loose. And I thought flies were expensive!
Back in the “old days” before I took up fly fishing, we fished some big rivers in Western Washington on a pretty regular basis. Frequently we would make our own tube or “bag” sinkers.
We used the outer woven cover of some polypro rope. The kind of rope that has a woven cover around a bundle of straight fibers. Anyway, cut off a two or three inch piece of rope, push the center core out. Then heat seal one end of the tube you are left with. Using a small funnel or metal tube we would then fill the rope tube with something to add weight. Once filled you heat seal the other end. These can be attached to your line with a swivel as a drop shot etc.
The key here is that they can be filled however much you want with whatever you have. You don’t have to use lead. We have used, BBs, steel shot, and even coarse sand. All of those work very well and don’t snag on the rocks. Oddly enough, my favorite was tightly packed coarse sand. It got the line down, but didn’t over weight it and catch on things. Maybe because it was always packed tighter?
I tried to find pictures of these kind of weights on the Internet, but couldn’t come up with anything.
Hope this made sense.
**(quote) What I find ludicrous is the mere thought that if lead is banned how will they police it…with lead “coppers”? Heck, they can’t even stop the inflow of illegal immigrants…a much greater problem. And they can’t stop other “petty” crimes like murder, rape, assault, theft, terrorism or other things that are of far greater potential consequence to humans. Why target something as minor and foolish as the use of lead by fishermen?
When lead is outlawed, only outlaws will have lead.**
Sorry, I find this more a problem than the lead. Total blatant disregard for the law is not an answer. People don’t like it, write your congressman.
Isn’t this what they were talking about on the Idaho board?
Because one thinks it is LESS a crime does not change the facts.
Just like felt sole shoes…not gonna stop the spread and is a small percentage, but it is a start.
Tubedude FYI, I think the quote should be " from my cold, dead hands" not fingers. Poor guy was clearly in the early stages of Alzheimer’s at the time he said that.
Banning lead in bullets in condor areas makes sense to me but otherwise I’m not sure it’s worth the cost in most places.
Lead is a natural resource and it has more of a negative impact where large quantities exist in the earth. A few bullets or lead sinkers are negligible, if even measurable, and through what means? It is a power grab for anti-gun advocacy groups and it is not rooted in sound statistics or convincing reports of heavy metal poisoning in water or on land. If you go to Jellystone again, use heavy spoons for sinkers and then you have a dual purpose sinker and lure. I like Little Cleo’s and Dare Devils for starters and there a bunch of respectable spoons to use for fishing weights but that’s a matter of personal preference. I’ve used them all and they all have their time to shine. If the amount of hooks on a line is a factor then take off the trebles and use the fluttering lure to draw strikes on your bait, jig, etc. The next bunch to get pissed about it will be PETA. Libs always have some axe to grind so if we kill their rules through innovation they’ll just have to come out and say they don’t like us catching fish or taking game animals that we pay to manage. Heck, use a bag of marbles for weight and let’s see how far they are willing to go to outlaw marbles.
I got a screamin’ deal on 2 lots of weights from a different fishing board. 95% of the weights were lead and tungsten and the other were brass and steel. The size of the brass/steel is ridiculous compared to the size of the lead. The tungsten is smaller than lead for it’s weight and that is why I bought it.
I’ll do my part to preserve the wildlife (assuming it’s even human related) by using lead alternatives if it’s cost worthy but they want 5-6 bucks for a package of four tungsten weights at the local store. I don’t know about the rest of you but I can’t afford that. If somebody presented proof that lead fishing weights is harming the local wildlife I would be more concerned but it seems to be more about politics than wildlife.
Sorry about the fouled up plagiarism. Usually doesn’t get much learned attention on these boards. It’s the thought that counts.
Actually, I am a huge proponent of saving our environment, and if I truly felt that giving up my lead trinkets would make a difference in the ecology of the waters I fish…I might do it. But I have read a ton of writeups and website blogs about lead and its studied impact on various waters and I am still not convinced that it is a serious factor on any of the waters in our area. We have lots of other pollutants from other sources that are infinitely worse.
Yes, there are isolated areas and wildlife scenarios…such as the condor example…where restrictions on the use of lead might help. But let’s keep it to that and not institute a nationwide ban on it just to address a few localized problems.
As others have commented, it is more of a political thing than a general consensus of opinion by knowledgeable citizens. If it was REALLY about saving our environment and protecting wildlife then we would have banned cars, motorcycles, boats and airplanes a long time ago. They consume diminishing natural resources, befoul our whole environment and kill untold millions of wild critters…as well as other humans. They are terrible killers and should be banned. BUT…they have more powerful lobbies than do the users of lead for fishing tackle.
Have you ever tried to cast brass or tungsten ???
I don’t get the problem - open the bail, swing back, swing forward. Even a Caveman could do it!
( Just joking - saw the rest of the post. )
So don’t we have some super dense plastic or rubber materials that are maliable, and meltable. Ok, so never mind that their production pollutes 10X what the lead does. How about “transparent aluminum”.
Really - if lead is SO bad, why do they put those lil’ bite-wings on Split-Shot, and just TEMPT you to use your teeth to open/close 'em! I grew up chewing lead covered toys, and sniffing asbestos. And look at me now, brain damaged and malformed. Only the good dye young.
Maybe it’s just me, but judging by the adverts on the site - I think there’s a “bit” of a political schwing. Hype? yah. False accusation - goes with the territory. Threaten gun rights for political gain? Nah - that’d never happen in America! Don’t tread on me.
Ok - Fly-Goddess/Tubedude - ya’ll can kiss’n make up already. [pirate] But seriously - I agree with both sides. Doing what we can - every little bit can add up. (that’s why I have a box of aluminum cans/plastic bottles under my desk) But at the same time - the lawmakers and political shakers could do well to look at the BIG picture, and focus more of what can have the biggest impact, rather than catering to their biggest financial contributors, and lobbyists.
Why are we so dependent on oil? Because it’s BIG business. Oil/Auto industry have very little motivation to seek alternative energy. Profit trumps Pollution.
It’s like Global Warming, the occurrence of which is a FACT. It’s the causes, and the actions that can/can’t impact it happening that bring forth the controversy.