Lead-free Lures?

[danlee]

I was wondering if anyone had a good local source for lead-free jigs and/or lures. I know they do a number on loons and other birds on freshwater, and I assume it's the same deal in the salt. I saw an ad in On The Water for an Australian company but nothing local. Thanks.

[cwn]

DONT BE SO GULLIBLE!! LEAD IS TRULY HARMLESS. LEAD IS A NATURALLY OCCURING ELEMENT THAT COMES OUT OF THE GROUND. CASES OF BIRDS BEING HARMED ARE VASTLY OVERSTATED BY PEOPLE WHO HAVE AN AGENDA. THE NEXT TIME YOU ARE OUT ON A BAY OR THE OCEAN LOOK AT THE VASTNESS AROUND YOU. NOW IMAGINE LOSING A 3/8 OZ JIG. WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF AN UNSUSPECTING BIRD COMING ALONG, EATING THE JIG, AND DYING AS A DIRECT RESULT OF DOING SO? THE WHOLE NOTION OF LEAD BEING HARMFUL TO WILDLIFE WAS STARTED AS PROPAGANDA FROM ANTI-HUNTING GROUPS THAT WANTED TO BAN LEAD SHOT IN SHOTGUN SHELLS AND BAN THE HUNTING OF WATERFOUL.

[lilstevie]

"lead is truly harmless" - oh really? The fact is that lead is a severe neurotoxin and one of a relatively short list of bio-accumulating environmental contaminants (meaning if a fish eats it - then you eat the fish...). "Lead is a naturally occurring element that comes from the ground" - true. So is plutonium. While I agree that the idea of losing a lead sinker or jighead to the bottom of the ocean isn't one of the things that should keep a person up at night worrying, if there's substitutes on the market - why not use them? You think that a 150 oz fish that bites off your 1/2 oz. lead jig head and swallows it isn't going to have a significant exposure? What if that fish is a female - lead is known to cause reproductive effects... Again, why not use a substitute if it's available?

Also - you find a loon that died of lead poisoning and has half a dozen split-shot sinkers in it's gut - what conclusions are you going to come to? And once more - if there's a metal that can be used in place of lead for birdshot, why not use it?

[fishbuster1]

I bet you find loons filled with split shot all the time on the planet that you live on. But here on earth the risks of fishermen and hunters using lead sinkers and shot have been vastly overstated by environmentalists who truth be known would prefer that we not fish or hunt. Environmentalists love to use these anicdotal stories of birds being harmed by lead sinkers and shot in order to tug at the heart strings of people who havent a clue of what the reality is. The truth of the matter is that such cases are so unlikely to be true in the numbers stated by environmentalists that they lose all credibility. The previous writer was exactly correct. Use lead sinkers and jigheads to your hearts content without fear of harming the environment. Just dont eat your sinkers!!!!!

[fishbuster1]

I bet you find loons filled with split shot all the time on the planet that you live on. But here on earth the risks of fishermen and hunters using lead sinkers and shot have been vastly overstated by environmentalists who truth be known would prefer that we not fish or hunt. Environmentalists love to use these anicdotal stories of birds being harmed by lead sinkers and shot in order to tug at the heart strings of people who havent a clue of what the reality is. The truth of the matter is that such cases are so unlikely to be true in the numbers stated by environmentalists that they lose all credibility. The previous writer was exactly correct. Use lead sinkers and jigheads to your hearts content without fear of harming the environment. Just dont eat your sinkers!!!!!

[lilstevie]

Maybe I should clarify my position on the subject of lead sinkers and the environment: I do not believe that lead sinkers pose a major threat to our environment. However - lead is toxic at relatively low doses, and does persist in fish tissue. The possibility does exist that a fish can become contaminated via lead sinkers and jig heads. Someone catches that fish and takes it home to the pregnant wife...

Also, ever think about where these lead products come from? Some non-polluting environmentally friendly smelter somewhere?

The point is that if there's a substitute for the lead weights - even some sort of alloy or bound form of lead that does not pose these hazards, and the cost is not prohibitive...why not use it?

[fishbuster1]

The risks of using lead are so remote that anglers should not worry about it period. Short of eating your sinkers or breathing the fumes while casting sinkers you are at no risk from using them. Simple care just has to be used when handling lead like washing your hands before eating and using a resperator when melting it. Lead IS the best for the job. As far as where the lead comes from the vast majority of lead if not all of it that is used for casting sinkers and jig heads comes as byproduct of other uses for example car batteries and tire weights. The lead that I use came from a hospital that was being renovated this lead would be in a landfill today had I not salvaged it. There are far greater risks that we as anglers should be worried about ie. Lawsuits by environmentalists to close fishing seasons and closing areas to recreational fishing.

[cjn]

The problem is that there is no quantifiable data that shows that there is any risk associated with lead jigs and sinkers. All of the reports that are out there are anicdotal.

[cjn]

The problem is that there is no quantifiable data that shows that there is any risk associated with lead jigs and sinkers. All of the reports that are out there are anicdotal. There is an almost urban legend quality to the supposed risks of lead shot and sinkers on fish and birds.