mad craw 77

"Essentially, the argument goes, sinker manufacturers make that many pounds of sinkers each year so fishermen must be purchasing them to replace lost sinkers. Now if this were true it would mean that lead sinkers contribute a number not that far below what was supposedly contributed by lead shot."

 

But, he never really addresses what happens to all that lead. I never thought about it myself till I read this article. If manufacturers are selling "x" amount of lead, where does it all go? If not in the water then where?

 

I think he's got it wrong about tungsten also. To my knowledge, tungsten alloy is WAY denser than lead. So it's actually advantageous to use, fishing-wise.

Except for the expense ( a fly fisherman compalining about the cost of tackle?? Do I hear tiny violins?). There are some cool tungsten weights and jigs out there, I might add.

 

In all other walks of life, lead is regulated. It's nasty stuff- toxic, I believe the word that is thrown around. And where it's banned, everyone continues to fish. Frankly, I don't think it's a bad idea and I'm suprised it didn't happen sooner.

im not a fly fisherman but i do exclusively use lead. but if i can get lead weights for 1/10 of the price of tungsten then it's a no brainer. If you can bring the price of tungsten (and any of the other alternatives to lead) down or match the price of lead im all for it. I just went to cabelas and checked out a how much a pack of 100 lead bullet weights cost in 1/4 oz. $9.99. went to a website at random which sells 10 tungsten weights for the same price. now at tru-tungsten, for a 3 pack of plain colored bullet weights is $6.35. now a ban on lead in illinois would drive the cost of these "alternatives" up considerably. so yes, it would be a huge expense for me.

can anyone confirm this?

Lead ban counfounds industry 3/16/2009

A recent action by the Obama administration has left anglers and the fishing industry scratching their heads. Last week, the National Park Service (NPS) suddenly announced it would ban lead fishing tackle in national parks by 2010.

The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) weighed on in the controversy with a widely distributed statement. "The sportfishing industry is surprised and dismayed by the March 10 announcement made by the National Park Service," said ASA VP Gordon Robertson. "Their intention to eliminate the use of lead in fishing tackle in national parks was made without prior consultation of the sportfishing industry or the millions of recreational anglers who fish within the national park system."

Robertson added: "In his Jan. 21, 2009 Executive Memo to federal agency and department heads, President Obama made it very clear that he expects the federal government to be transparent, participatory and collaborative and that 'executive departments and agencies should offer Americans increased opportunities to participate in policymaking and to provide their government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information.' We expect the National Park Service to follow the President's order."

In the normal course of events, the sportfishing and shooting-sports industries (lead component ammunition is also included in the ban) would have been notified by the NPS about this change in policy and would have been invited to discuss this decision with NPS staff, the ASA noted.

Robertson also said: "The NPS policy announcement, issued by a press release, does not explain how this decision was reached, why it may be necessary or how this rule will be implemented. To our knowledge, there has been no proposed rule, nor any opportunity for public comment. We request that the NPS withdraw this proposal and discuss the rationale for it with the appropriate stakeholders before taking further action."

As the story stated.... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/24/...D8J2I95G4.shtml

 

That results from the study that was done after the La Crosse tournament are still highly contested to this day. It was done in the heat of the summer, one of the hottest in a long time. The pens/tubs that the fish were held in were way overstocked and under aerated. Then they were taken to a river that feeds the Mississippi and was in near drought conditions, (ie., low water conditions with oxygen levels way down), and released the fish there! The WDNR really dropped the ball on this one.

 

Having fished a lot of tournaments, these are never the conditions that a boated fish will encounter during a normal event day.

I share the same concerns as you jim. dropped the ball is right but did you know that this wasn't the only study done in wisconsin? there where other studies done with similar results following other tournament trails not as renouned as flw throughout wisconsin. wdnr should follow this study as a standard for conducting in the future. who knows if this will change anything though, it's no big secret wdnr has been fighting tournament circuits for quite some time now.

welcome jude, it did actually come from a some what biased source. a tournament angler as well as a conservation director ran this study. biased because they did what they could to keep these fish alive! the reason why this study is such a big deal is because of a study done in wisconsin in similar fashion presented alarming results.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/24/...D8J2I95G4.shtml

I searched the forums here and noticed there where questions concerns about mortality during tournaments. this should put some of those question/concerns at ease. here is the direct link to the article and this mortality study was done in illinois in our own state.

last year I was inquiring about a mortality study done during the everbloom tournament trail regular season and the results are in.

http://everbloom.us/home/node/6150

Illinois Natural History Survey

Submitted by Mike Blake on Tue, 02/24/2009 - 1:40pm.

From April through October 2008, the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) and the University of Illinois (U of I) conducted tournament research in coordination with the Ever-Bloom tournament trail at Evergreen and Lakes. The goals of this study were to 1) evaluate delayed mortality (fish that are weighed-in alive but die within 3 days of the tournament) after bass tournaments at Evergreen Lake and 2) evaluate the physiological status (stress) of tournament-caught bass at Lake Bloomington at a seasonal scale. Little attention has been paid to smaller, club-style tournaments (<50 boats) although they are more frequent and localized than larger, tour-style events. Results from this study will not only provide a clear picture of what is going on at tournaments at Evergreen and Bloomington lakes, but will also provide recommendations to tournament organizations throughout the state and country to improve tournament practices and minimize the impact of tournaments on fisheries.

Research Methods

Visited tournaments at Evergreen and Bloomington Lakes in 2008, one tournament per lake per season (seasons defined as early-spring, late-spring/early-summer, mid-summer, fall)

Performed delayed mortality estimates at Evergreen Lake using holding pens

Placed tournament-caught fish into holding pens following the conclusion of the tournaments

Checked for delayed mortality for 3 days, then released remaining fish

3 days is a standard length of time used in other studies—if kept for more than 3 days, any mortality of bass is probably not due to the tournament

Used 9 feet deep soft mesh cages to allow the fish to choose from a variety of depths/temperatures and minimizing the effects of the holding pens

Collected control fish using electrofishing gear to account for cage-induced mortality

Evaluated physiological condition (stress) at Lake Bloomington

Took blood from tournament-caught bass following the conclusion of the tournament

Some whole blood was stored in liquid nitrogen while the remainder was separated into plasma and red blood cells which was then frozen in liquid nitrogen

Analyzed blood and plasma samples at our lab in Urbana for stress indicators

Also collected blood from a "resting" control group of fish to determine seasonal baselines of blood parameters

Results

Evergreen Lake

No delayed mortality during early-spring, late-spring or summer tournaments

1 delayed mortality during fall

Water temperature was as high as 82ºF during the summer

All tournaments combined, there was a total of 1% delayed mortality

5% delayed mortality is considered the standard for "very good" so Ever-Bloom tournaments were even better

Overall, Ever-Bloom tournaments had very minimal impact with respect to mortality at Evergreen Lake

Lake Bloomington

Blood/plasma parameters indicated that summer was most stressful followed by late-spring, early-spring, then fall

Fall fish exhibited very few changes in stress parameters, indicating fish caught in the fall were only slightly affected by tournaments

Summer fish (both resting and tournament-caught) had low levels of hemoglobin which carries oxygen in the blood (similar to humans). This suggests that bass simply don't carry as much oxygen in their blood during the summer

Late-spring fish showed changes in stress parameters even though water temperatures were relatively cool. This is possibly due to stress or recovery from spawning.

Summary

Although we saw increased stress parameters during tournaments, we did not observe any significant mortality even though water temperatures were upwards of 82ºF during summer. This is most likely due to the extremely efficient weigh-in procedure during all tournaments. From previous studies, the weigh-in has been identified as the most stressful part of a tournament for bass but the weigh-ins conducted by the Ever-Bloom circuit were quick and efficient. Some notable practices that reduced stress in bass:

Boats were trailered before weigh-ins

This meant that fish spent minimal time in weigh-in bags. Fish only had to spend a small amount of time in weigh-in bags as anglers got their catch from their nearby boats rather than docking boats, putting fish in bags, carrying them to the scale, and then waiting for others to weigh-in.

Livewells are comfortable environments for bass as they are aerated, shaded, and temperatures do not fluctuate severely

Weigh-in bags are uncomfortable for bass as they are un-aerated, exposed to the sun, and have less water than livewells so temperatures can change more quickly and more drastically

Only a few weigh-in bags were allowed out at a time

If many weigh-in bags are allowed out at a time, then fish spend a lot of time in them as anglers wait for others to weigh-in

A lot of times, if there are anglers waiting, they usually rest their weigh-in bags on the hot asphalt/concrete which can be bad for bass

Some organizations like to distribute a lot of weigh-in bags because they think that it will speed up the weigh-in process. At the Ever-Bloom tournaments, even though there were only a few bags let out at a time, weigh-ins were continuous and quick.

1-pound dead fish penalty

This is about 4 times higher than the standard dead fish penalty

This penalty definitely made sure anglers were conscientious of the health of their fish

Anglers ensuring aerators worked and making sure aerators were run during tournaments to avoid such a large penalty definitely reduced the stress and mortality of the fish

Conclusion/Suggestions/Recommendations

This study showed that when run properly, tournaments can have a minimal impact on the fishery

The Ever-Bloom circuit did several things right and provides a good example for other organizations to learn from

I only have 3 suggestions for the circuit to further minimize stress of bass:

Consider using aerated weigh-in bags, especially during summer

Fish carry less oxygen during summer, warmer water holds less oxygen, and weigh-in bags can heat up quickly because there is not much water

Consider conducting weigh-ins in a shaded area to further reduce the temperature changes fish can experience

Keep doing what you're doing! These 2 suggestions are only suggestions—the circuit has shown that mortality is almost negligible using their procedures

Things learned from this study for other organizations to consider

Trailer boats before weigh-ins

Only allow a few weigh-in bags out at a time to minimize the time fish spend in them

Consider using large penalties for dead fish – this makes anglers double check their fish

Fish carry less oxygen in summer so be extra careful to aerate during summer

Consider using aerated weigh-in bags

Consider performing weigh-ins in the shade

Tournaments can have little to no mortality if run correctly and efficiently as shown by the Ever-Bloom Circuit

General comments for everyone

We saw increased stress levels in late-spring even though temperatures were low. Fish spend a lot of energy spawning and may not have fully recovered so take extra care of these fish.

Run aerators continuously, even if you have 1 small keeper in the livewell or a 25 pound limit

Be careful of temperature changes in livewells—you can cold shock fish by adding too much ice

Thanks to all tournament participants and especially Terry Brown and Mike Blake for allowing us to conduct this study! We've learned a lot from this study and hopefully can apply these finding to tournaments throughout the country to minimize the impacts of tournaments everywhere.

Any questions can be sent to Matt at mvanland@illinois.edu.

QUOTE (Mike Clifford @ Feb 11 2009, 06:51 PM) Most U.S. bans affect only the sale of new fishing sinkers, not the use of existing ones. Home manufacture of sinkers is also not prohibited; according to the EPA, "It is estimated that between 0.8 and 1.6 million anglers may produce their own lead sinkers" (reference 1).

Pass this along on all your favorite sites and share it with other clubs as you see fit.

i have passed this along as well as any updates on the issue to date. if i didn't come on this website i would have never known the bill ever existed. and good work on representing us as a whole you guys its good to know we have well collected and rational representation.

Hi Alex.

I recall signing you up on Saturday at the show.

 

Looking forward to getting out there if winter ever ends!

 

Welcome aboard!

thanks again guys. come on ice out!

im a chicagoland sports show guy too.

hey guys, I signed up this past saturday at your booth in the outdoor show. looking forward to fishing with some of you in the future. as far as myself. i live in schaumburg and fish the shores of dupage county forest preserves as well as the fox chain. and if im lucky i'll head up to wisconsin for some smallie action. hopefully I won't have to do a lot of that with you guys . i'm a catch picture release kinda guy. I wont pick out fish to eat in our inland waters. and if i have a craving i'll just go to the local store for a nice fillet

can't wait for ice out and to meet some of you personally.

tight lines, al v