I'm split on the issue. On one hand, most of my tackle (and some of my favorite lures) comtain lead. On the other, I am not aiming to harm the environment and lead alternatives work just as well if not better. It's a tough call to make. Maybe a sales ban on lead lures would be more effective?

I would fish lead substitutes, if the states made a rebate program or somehow cheapened the price. I LOVE tungsten weights, but at 8 bucks for 1 1oz flippin' weight, thats a little hard for a 15 year old to get. If the state somehow made trade in program or something, where you would give them the lead gear you had in return for "Friendly" gear, I would be in for it. Problem is, stopping the use of lead won't solve anything for 50+ years. Lead doesn't magically disappear, it hangs around for awhile. Birds will still manage to eat it. If you really want to help the birds, stop using chemicals on lawns near the watersheds. Sure, your grass looks nice, but the birds that eat the pellets or swim in the runoff (When it rains) can be affected. I too enjoy the molding of lead jigs and lures, and some of my favorite lures, and almost all of my surf lures, contain some sort of lead. I have easily 10,000 jigs and lead "Jigging" spoons in my storage room waiting for either paint, or the right conditions to fish. I'm not just throwing away all of those if the state bans lead. To hell with them, Ill fish lead all I wish, the state doesn't realize there are bigger problems that lead sinkers.

It's a great way to limit access to the sport. It strenghtens a nasty precedent. I don't want to hurt loons (birds) but I don't want loons (people) telling me what I can and can't do.

I picked up hunting as a teenager, with the help of a friend's family, but without a family history of hunting. You know the most challenging part? Learning the regulations, then finding equipment that I could afford and met those regulations. If you want people doing this, you need to keep it simple.

I live real close to a town called Leadmine in SW Wisconsin. How much naturally-occurring lead is in our streams and does that cause problems? That used to be the big industry around here.

I think the groups opposing it see the writing on the wall. It's the "first step" if you ask me. If they pass this, then all tackle containing lead will be next, THEN the "cost factor" will make a HUGE impact on people's participation in the sport. Mr. Merwin, I have the UTMOST respect for you, and consider your fishing advice and tales as words from 'the master', but really, how much fishing gear do you have to actually buy these days? If you're not getting free stuff, you sould be. Tungsten is great, but the prices are rediculous, and if lead-bans progress, the fishing industry will be decimated. I'm all for protecting our environment, and I know lead is bad stuff, but there's tons and tons of it in the ground all around our streams,rivers and lakes, so I think the lead that gets left in waters from fishermen is a miniscule amount. Maybe I'm wrong, it's been known to happen;)

You know what, I've been asking the same question. I grew up here in Minnesota and have been using steel split shot all my life. I don't exactly burn through split shot so I don't really mind paying a couple bucks more a year to save some loons. They are our state bird and are pretty enjoyable to watch when the fish aren't biting. That being said I still use lead jig heads. Frankly I've never even seen any non-lead jig heads. I think a ban on selling lead fishing products is probably a good idea but like others on here I think there needs to be an effort to make non-lead alternatives available and affordable to the average angler before a lead ban is put in place.

50 cents more is the difference between Jonny, age 10, fishing and not fishing, like as not.

All regulations need to start somewhere, I suppose. People will be opposed because of the impact to convenience. But many destructive tendencies are inconvenient, and they've got to change sometime.
Lead substitutes are quite nice, but they are rather pricey.
A similar problem is for those who use older guns for waterfowl hunting-- steel shot loads can be rough on the barrels of certain guns, and substitutes are certainly available, but are also quite expensive.
It really comes down to how much one cares about these sports. Though my wallet may get emptied more quickly (I'm a student, it's not as if I have unlimited funds) when buying non-toxic shot, in sinker or shot-shell form, I feel much better knowing that I'm not doing something detrimental to the environment in which I love to fish and hunt.
Also, and importantly, if interest is shown in non-toxic alternatives, manufacturers might be more pressed to develop quality and economical options. Just a thought.

When I was a young boy like "jonny" age 10, I tied a rock onto my line for a weight and used a cork for a bobber. I didn't have an X box, I didn't even have a tackle box, but I caught fish! Lead or non-lead we'll be O.K.

Summing up my thoughts, I'm down on bad science, and most of it comes from the environmental left. Raising prices, anything to discourage hunting and fishing (ie) folks out killing, and even harassing game, and they want to eliminate them. They have an agenda for applying bad science.
The lead shot band for ducks and geese has been an unethical failure. 3 1/2 million ducks and geese in Canada and the USA fly away and die because of the use of steel shot. The negatives far outweigh the benefits.

I would like to point out that for hundreds of years lead sinkers have been used along with other lead products, without the effects causing drastic harm. Given the fact that there are more people fishing now than before, most of these people fish in large commercial bodies of water in the summer. I don't want to make it sound like I don't care about the environment; that is top on my list, but lead is the most practical thing for sinkers.

I don't know if anyone has used Eagle Claw's new weights (relatively new) but the split shots I had rusted shut after one humid day and the bullet weights rusted as well. I think regulations should be put in place where yes, some weights should be without lead, and also Tungsten should be lowered in price when the demand goes up. A lot more thought should be taken into affect instead of people just saying, "it's hurting the loons and it needs to be banned." Loons are some of the coolest birds on the water, don't get me wrong, but lead is in fact a natural occurring metal as it was said above and things seemed to work okay for millions of years before.

Lead costs 2.00/pound retail Bismuth 14.00/pound. Bismuth price will not come down it will actually go up because there is not much supply nor will there be.

Tungsten requires a 6192 °F furnace to melt vs 300 for lead. If this law passes alot of small fishing tackle business will be gone, and China will pick up the slack.