They're never going to freakin stop. $500 fine proposed for lead jigs.

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6394/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=92299

Connecticut Anglers Face $500 Fine for Using Lead Jigs and Sinkers – Make Your Voice Heard

Send a message to your state legislators opposing burdensome and unwarranted fishing tackle regulations today

A bill has been introduced in the Connecticut General Assembly to prohibit the sale and use of the most commonly used lead sinkers and jigs in state waters. This comes on the heels of a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that a federal ban on lead fishing tackle is unwarranted. Further, anyone found in violation of this proposed ban will be fined $500 per incident. That is six times more severe than the penalty for fishing without a license! A ban on lead fishing tackle in Connecticut will have a significant negative impact on the state's recreational anglers and fisheries resources, but a negligible impact on the waterfowl populations that it seeks to protect. There is no scientific data to support such a ban.
How You Can Help

KeepAmericaFishing™ needs your help to protect your right to fish in Connecticut. By sending thousands of letters to the EPA and Members of Congress, anglers like you helped ensure that the federal lead ban petition was rejected. You can do the same to defeat the lead ban bill in the Connecticut General Assembly.

Please take action now to ensure that this lead ban legislation will not be adopted. There will be a public hearing on this bill on January 31, so please send a message to Connecticut state legislators today! Connecticut residents are also encouraged to attend the hearing to voice your opposition.
The Situation

In an attempt to ban the sale and use of the most commonly used lead fishing sinkers and jigs in Connecticut, S.B. 59 was introduced in the General Assembly on January 10. Connecticut anglers generate over $268 million in retail sales with a $445 million impact on the nation's economy. A ban of lead sinkers and jigs in Connecticut is not reasonable or warranted without the scientific data to support such a ban. Fishing tackle made from alternatives to lead can be much more expensive and do not perform as well. Adding to this, S.B. 59 proposes a $500 fine per violation, while the penalty for fishing without a license in Connecticut is only $77. If anglers don't act soon, the cost of fishing in Connecticut may significantly increase.

The ban proposed by S.B. 59 is unjustified. The impact on loons and other waterfowl is the most often cited reason for bans on lead fishing tackle, yet Connecticut does not support a breeding loon population and wintering grebe populations are isolated to a few select waterways. Waterfowl populations in Connecticut are subject to much more substantial threats such as habitat loss, water acidification and mercury poisoning. Any lead restrictions need to be based on scientific data that supports the appropriate action for a particular water body or species. The bottom line is that this proposed ban on lead sinkers and jigs is not supported by science or an identified need.
Act Now!

Enter your zip code below to send a message to your state legislator to express your opposition to this scientifically and biologically unjustified fishing tackle ban. Please take action now to ensure that the Connecticut General Assembly does not adopted this unwarranted legislation; send your message today!

We also encourage Connecticut residents to attend the hearing and to voice your opposition. The hearing is located in Room 1E of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford at 12 P.M. on January 31.

our feathered friends can only swallow split shot used in
freshwater finesse fishing not huge saltwater sinkers.....

the elimination of lead bird shot was for that specific purpose
and i do agree with the science behind it

but this,,,, this is total CRAP!

Unless I'm reading it wrong it looks like the bill only applies to lead of less than 1 oz. for fishing. NH has had a law like this in place for several years and it hasn't been much of a problem, at least from what I've seen.

"For purposes of this section, "lead sinker'' means any sinker made from lead, the lead portion of which has a mass of one ounce or less, and "lead jig'' means a lead weighted hook that measures less than one inch along its longest axis. Lead sinkers and lead jigs shall not include lead fishing-related items including, but not limited to, fishing line, flies, lures or spoons."

Scott your right the Peta morons will never stop. I went to the public hearings in NH. More Peta stickers than I've ever seen. I have to laugh as the lead shot that carpets every bay brook and river that hunting for birds was done for the last 5 to 6 hundred yrs before lead shot was banned are still covered with the stuff and when these weed eaters dive down and pull a plant out to eat roots and all bring the old lead shot up with them. Try it at a historic bird huntin spot and you'll find it with out a lot of digging.They want to out law fishing and going after the gear is the easiest. The saltwater fishing liscence was a start. gear is next.We pay more taxes and fees than about any user group out there. Draw a line and tell the antis to knock it off.Or fishing will just be a memory.NH was dead wrong in that stupid law they inacted and Conn is just as bad for it or worse.God save us from rich idiots that want to outlaw everything they don't do or like.

This world is crazy

Unless I'm reading it wrong it looks like the bill only applies to lead of less than 1 oz. for fishing. NH has had a law like this in place for several years and it hasn't been much of a problem, at least from what I've seen.

"For purposes of this section, "lead sinker'' means any sinker made from lead, the lead portion of which has a mass of one ounce or less, and "lead jig'' means a lead weighted hook that measures less than one inch along its longest axis. Lead sinkers and lead jigs shall not include lead fishing-related items including, but not limited to, fishing line, flies, lures or spoons."

Is it the total length of the jig? I can see banning small weights and tiny jigs. They are bad news for water fowl. If it prevents using a 1/2 jig head with a 2 in. hook, then it is certainly unnecessarily restrictive.

This is what I found in the bill.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2012) (a) On and after October 1, 2012, no person shall sell, offer to sell, market, distribute or use any lead sinker or lead jig for the taking of fish in any waters of the state.

(b) The Department of Environmental Protection shall have authority to enforce the provisions of this section. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall pay a civil penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars for each offense. Each violation shall be a separate and distinct offense and, in the case of a continuing violation, each day's continuance thereof shall be deemed to be a separate and distinct offense.

(c) Any person who knowingly violates the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(d) If any person violates any provision of this section, the commissioner may request the Attorney General to bring an action in the superior court for the judicial district of Hartford to enjoin such person from continuing such violation.

(e) For purposes of this section, "lead sinker'' means any sinker made from lead, the lead portion of which has a mass of one ounce or less, and "lead jig'' means a lead weighted hook that measures less than one inch along its longest axis. Lead sinkers and lead jigs shall not include lead fishing-related items including, but not limited to, fishing line, flies, lures or spoons.

(e) For purposes of this section, "lead sinker'' means any sinker made from lead, the lead portion of which has a mass of one ounce or less, and "lead jig'' means a lead weighted hook that measures less than one inch along its longest axis. Lead sinkers and lead jigs shall not include lead fishing-related items including, but not limited to, fishing line, flies, lures or spoons.
This seems to be pretty common and a relatively fair compromise between protecting birds, while not overly restricting fishermen. Doesn't MA have a similar bill?

If I see DEM coming while fishing my 1oz bucktail I'll tell him it's a 1.5.Next will be the use of lead in Plugs and the sale of lead without a license.It's going to get worse.

You can send a letter objecting to the proposed ban from here Connecticut Anglers Face $500 Fine for Using Lead Jigs and Sinkers ? Make Your Voice Heard (http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6394/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=3136)

If I see DEM coming while fishing my 1oz bucktail I'll tell him it's a 1.5.Next will be the use of lead in Plugs and the sale of lead without a license.It's going to get worse.

Unless the overall length of the lure is 1" or less, your 1 oz jig is fine. They are targeting small lead substances swallowed by loons and other waterfowl. It is hard to play the "they want to take your plugs card based on the way the bill is written. If they were going after larger lead I would be shouting in the streets too. I will have a lot of useless shad darts, though.

The hard part with all this is that the birds are dying from ingesting old bird shot from the bottom of the water ways and the places we shoot birds not from fishing tackle.
Someone once said -Once the camel gets its nose under the tent it's not long before the rest of the camel follows-. Your choice is wether to let the camel get it's nose under the tent on issues like this. no more mackeral jigs split shots or small barrel sinkers even though none of them affect water fowl. OOOOPPPPS what about that 2 oz jig inside a striper that a raptor eats. Oh well get rid of them too.after all they're not that much bigger. Bird shot isn't going to evaporate from the bottom and it will keep killing the bird and fishermen will take the blame.Look into it. See if you can find any pictures of the bird with fishing gear in them. And how many times a year do you see someone removing a plug or a bait hook from a dump duck and hear oh the poor little birdy.Be care full who you compromise with. PETA means to shut down all fishing and hunting. Ask the NRA how bad they are and how far they will go to misrepresent their side of the issue to stop both.