Is it true......

[Flaptail]

That Maine and some other New England state are about to ban the use of soft plastic baits in both freah and Saltwater? Heard something the other day and thought "wow" thats extreme.

Anyone else heard that?

[spence]

If true that would rock the entire tackle industry.

But then again, Nebe did just dump Surf Hog didn't he

-spence

[BasicPatrick]

I haven't heard anything...will make some calls

[MrHunters]

i would be interested in the "some other ne states" portion of that question.

[Raven]

why it's ok... about some forms of plastic and not others.

[Rockport24]

oh my god this would be horrible! don't these tackle companies have lobbyists to stop this?

[spence]

Originally Posted by Rockport24

oh my god this would be horrible! don't these tackle companies have lobbyists to stop this?

Call EXXON, it's all oil anyway and I'm sure they have a few

-spence

[Gunpowder]

its hard to pick which side to be on for this type of argument. i fish plastics all the time and definitely lose my share of them. however, right now, we are dealing with several moratoriums including alewifes and blueback herring with menhaden and eels on the horizon perhaps. with all the technology out there, wouldn't it be better for the sport if they were not banned, but instead made of an "environmentally friendly" soft plastic that would dissolve if left in a salty environment for a long period of time? if they ban plastics, i can assure you that lead will be next and then who knows what next. if this "ban" is true, i hope it gets reconsidered as soft plastics have received huge amounts of acceptance with fisherman that do not want to fish with bait because many are scarce right now or just because they enjoy fishing with artificials. i hope this isnt true though. just my two cents.

[beamie]

Gunpowder,

Funny you should mention lead.

Did you know there is an upcoming bill in Mass to ban the sale, use and posession of lead weights less than 1/2 ounce.

[Raven]

ain't enough man power to enforce it

[BigFish]

That would be sweet for us "wood" builders!

But.....it will never happen! Heck, folks still use lead weights!

[Jenn]

Originally Posted by Raven

ain't enough man power to enforce it

This is very true indeed!


I can definately see the reasoning behind it. Use of lead is already forbidden in some lakes/areas.

[The Dad Fisherman]

I'm pretty sure lead weights are banned in the lakes and streams of NH.

[Gunpowder]

Originally Posted by beamie

Gunpowder,

Funny you should mention lead.

Did you know there is an upcoming bill in Mass to ban the sale, use and posession of lead weights less than 1/2 ounce.

I would have thought that the weights prohibited would be larger than .5 oz. not less than .... any reasoning behind this?

[Clammer]

that would blow the hell out of 3/8 jig heads >>>.

it ain,t happening in my lifetime ><.,. if it does // add another broken law to the long list on CLAMMERS record

[patpatriot]

The lead weight ban would probally be on split shot or maybe tiny rubbercore sinkers because birds sometimes mistake for food. If theres a hook attached as with a jig i cant see that being bad.

Banning plastics would be rediculous, and im getting pretty fed up with all the witch-hunts. Lady today asked if the store i work at's going to rid of plastic bags, I imformed her thats how they get the items outside to there cars. It's crazy enough we had to take about 120 nalgene bottles off the shelves

[Raven]

birds eat small pebbles
(and they are fond of round ones)

that remain in their Gizzard to grind up food

[numbskull]

I think Flap is just worried they'll ban inflatable dolls, too.

[pmueller]

Interesting thought, one of the obstacles they would have is the number of companies that market to the local industry.
I cant imagine Connecticut banning the use of Sluggo's when they are made right here.
But then again, they are politicians.
It would be a truley dumb move for something that as far as I know there's very week evidence that soft plastics hurt the environment.

[beamie]

The attached is what I received in an email a couple weeks ago.

[Clogston29]

i've heard of certain lakes/rivers banning the use of any soft plastics that contain scent or salt, but not all soft plastics. I'd like to see a study of the effects of these baits when injested by fish and some information about wehter fish will injest them when they're just sitting on the bottom (I assume that they will at times). I always feel alittle guilty when fishing surf hogs on wobble heads because I often lose the plastic when I get a fish. Environmentally, I can see that there is an argument for banning soft plastics, but I really hope it doesn't happen.

[WadingWill]

I was looking at the Gulp rubber eels because they look like the real thing. On the packaging, it said the the eel was 100% biodegradeable. Maybe I'll give them a shot...

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by Gunpowder

I would have thought that the weights prohibited would be larger than .5 oz. not less than .... any reasoning behind this?

Waterfowl ingest small lead weights.

[Saltheart]

I like the idea of the plastic lures being made from a biodegradeable plastic. I bet you could do well if you can find the plastic that works well and is biodegradeable.

[FishermanTim]

The lead weight issue was brought about by the decline in the common loon, primarily in maine and New Hampshire. They've had a ban on lead weights for some time now.
The ban was targeting split shot and egg sinkers (i.e. terminal tackle).
The did not include lead jigs, probably because you are more likely to lose an individual weight that the whole jig during any fishing trip, or any cast. That plus the comment that the waterfowl were indeed ingesting small weights as they would small pebbles. I do not think a bird would confuse a lead headed jig for a round pebble.
As for the plastic issue, I would have to see proof that they are an issue, besides the possible "trash on the seashore" issue.
I didn't invest in a year's worth of plastic just to have them deemed illegal at some legislator's whim.

[DZ]

Originally Posted by numbskull

I think Flap is just worried they'll ban inflatable dolls, too.

Flap,
Are those dolls recyclable? If so where do you find the recycle symbol?

DZ

[wheresmy50]

I think they should ban anyone with a non-sealed reel from deep wading. The oil and grease can leak out an pollute the water. We'll need an organization to test and certify reels as being sealed. There should also be studies to determine if fish attractants and artificial bait is healthy for fish to eat. Chemicals can leech from the paint of fishing lures into the ocean. There's no way someone should be able to drag a plug loaded with as many as nine sharp hook points through the water. How can we be sure cute little seals or dolphins (or loons) aren't harmed? I almost forgot about the seagulls - we need seagull safe hooks so the poor critters aren't hurt when they dive bomb our poppers or snag a tin out of the air.

God only knows the impact of thousands of fishermen peeing into the water.

The only loons that were harmed by sinkers are the environmentalists who stayed up wetting their hemp-sheet-covered beds worrying about whether or not it's possible that birds can find sinkers that somehow fell or broke off the line and might eat them before a leaf covers the thing and renders it harmless for eternity.

Sinkers kind of look like shotgun shot, maybe that's how this nonsense started? Maybe if these folks ever got outside, they'd know that unlike shot, sinkers are attached to the line and aren't released into the water 600 at a time.

Small lead sinkers? Plastic baits? Look folks, if we keep going until fishermen and outdoorsmen in general have zero environmental impact, we'll all be fishing in those portable trout ponds.

Storm probably started the rumor so people would hoard swimbaits.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by DZ

Flap,
Are those dolls recyclable? If so where do you find the recycle symbol?

DZ

Originally Posted by wheresmy50

I think they should ban anyone with a non-sealed reel from deep wading. The oil and grease can leak out an pollute the water. We'll need an organization to test and certify reels as being sealed. There should also be studies to determine if fish attractants and artificial bait is healthy for fish to eat. Chemicals can leech from the paint of fishing lures into the ocean. There's no way someone should be able to drag a plug loaded with as many as nine sharp hook points through the water. How can we be sure cute little seals or dolphins (or loons) aren't harmed? I almost forgot about the seagulls - we need seagull safe hooks so the poor critters aren't hurt when they dive bomb our poppers or snag a tin out of the air.

God only knows the impact of thousands of fishermen peeing into the water.

The only loons that were harmed by sinkers are the environmentalists who stayed up wetting their hemp-sheet-covered beds worrying about whether or not it's possible that birds can find sinkers that somehow fell or broke off the line and might eat them before a leaf covers the thing and renders it harmless for eternity.

Sinkers kind of look like shotgun shot, maybe that's how this nonsense started? Maybe if these folks ever got outside, they'd know that unlike shot, sinkers are attached to the line and aren't released into the water 600 at a time.

Small lead sinkers? Plastic baits? Look folks, if we keep going until fishermen and outdoorsmen in general have zero environmental impact, we'll all be fishing in those portable trout ponds.

Storm probably started the rumor so people would hoard swimbaits.

Thank you both for the laughs - definitely needed

[Shake N' Bake]

On Plastic, I googled NH's ban and found nothing.
On lead, NH banned it years ago, for both fishermen and waterfowl hunters.
I agree with the ban and still do. I have caught plenty of fish and shot many ducks/geese with steel shot. I saw proof of dead loons, that was enough for me.
I'm more worried about having to buy a saltwater licence then the ban of plastic worms, only because one of them have been discussed many times in NH Gov. and the other I have never heard of.

[Rob Rockcrawler]

I cant see it with plastic. Im a law abiding citizen, BUT if they were to ban plastics i would be a criminal. Imagine the black market, eben would start up another surf hog. Im sure the pleasure stick could be smuggled in some interesting ways. Ptown would be miami with the coke from the scarface days.