Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, August 29, 1993                   TAG: 9308290021
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: E9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MANY GROUPS URGING ANGLERS TO HURRY UP, GET THE LEAD OUT

The Izaak Walton League of America, one of the oldest and largest outdoor groups, believes anglers should get the lead out of their sport. The league cites evidence that linked lead sinkers to the deaths of nesting trumpeter swans and loons.

But the American Fishing Tackle Manufacturers Association expressed delight when the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works dropped a provision that would have banned the import, manufacture and distribution of fishing sinkers, jigs and other lures containing lead. The provision was in a bill called the Lead Exposure Reduction Act of 1993.

The association says there is no evidence to support the need for a wholesale ban on lead in fishing tackle. Such a ban, it says, would have a serious economic impact on tackle manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

The fact that the Senate Committee has backed off doesn't mean the issue of lead is dead. The Environmental Protection Agency is examining the impact of certain lead sinkers on waterfowl. In January, the EPA is scheduled to publish for public comment a proposed rule that would ban the manufacture, processing and distribution of certain lead sinkers.

Beginning in 1994, lead will be banned in Yellowstone National Park, one of the most popular trout-fishing areas in the country. You might ask: What impact might that have on trout anglers? Well, no lead split shots, no lead twist-ons, no lead-eye Woolly Buggers, no lead-weighted nymphs.

Where the weight really would be felt is in warm-water fishing situations and on the saltwater fishing scene. Think how many lead-head jigs and lead spoons are used to go after stripers at Smith Mountain Lake. And how much lead it can take to hold a bait in the surf at Hatteras, N.C.

Lead is popular among anglers because it is dense, yet soft and easy to use. That, coupled with the fact it is inexpensive, makes it a common lure-building material for hobby and serious tackle-makers. There's no telling how many discarded tire weights have been melted into lead lures and sinkers.

At first glance, some fishermen are asking: Can all this talk of a lead ban be serious?

You have only to look at how lead shot was phased out of waterfowl hunting. In a short time, and amid the howls of many waterfowlers, it became illegal to use lead shot, even though replacement steel was more expensive and less effective.

A ban on lead use in fishing would have a much greater impact, considering there are an estimated 60 million anglers in this country.

Some tackle manufacturers already are promoting lead-free alternatives. Orvis says it isn't grumbling over the proposed ban. The company sees the issue as a simple one: Lead is poison and there are many alternative products to replace it, and more are on the way. One of them is the non-toxic split shots it is importing from England.

Berkley is offering non-toxic lures, including a line of non-lead jigs. Cost is a disadvantage, but that's a small price to pay for a commitment to the future, a company spokesman said.

Other companies promoting environmentally friendly lures include Custom Bass USA, Bullet Bait Co., RJC Outdoors and Hildebrant Corp. In most of these cases, tin is being used to replace lead in buzzbaits and spinnerbaits.

Tin costs 10 times as much as lead, but the manufacturers who promote it say its lighter weight comes in handy when an anglers is trying to "walk" a buzzbait or spinnerbait across the surface.

Going deep is another matter.