James Rickard"Lead" astray pt.2
November 16th 2007 02:41
Yesterday’s post pointed out the problems associated with lead and how they affect living creatures. Today, I’d like to be a little more specific and examine what is being done in the tackle industry to thwart this problem.
Concerns about the health impact of lead have been reinforced by studies over the past 10-20 years that state, in no uncertain terms, that waterfowl are being poisoned by lead sinkers and jig heads. In an effort to protect waterfowl, tackle manufacturers are offering alternatives that include tin, steel, tungsten, and even granite. Unfortunately, none of these materials can be shaped into weights or jigs as cheaply or easily as lead although they may offer other advantages.
Tungsten is one metal that has garnered a lot of attention in the past few years. One big advantage to some anglers and manufacturers is the fact that tungsten is denser than lead which means that a tungsten weight can actually be smaller than a comparable lead weight depending upon its design and metal purity.
Although there are other smaller advantages, anglers are often put off by the price of tungsten sinkers. Although it’s hard to put an exact figure for the tungsten/lead battle, suffice to say, tungsten will ALWAYS be more expensive. Nearly half of the world’s supply of tungsten is in China. Add in tariff fees, import duties, and transportation costs and it’s easy to see why tungsten weights are so expensive!
Aside from all of these costs, you also have production costs. Lead melts at only 860F degrees. Tungsten, on the other hand, melts at over 6,000F degrees. Which furnace do you want to pay the heating bill for?
Bottom line—they’re out there and they work! The bad news is that tungsten tackle will remain more expensive than lead.
Both tin and steel are lead alternatives that were introduced in the 1990’s. Anglers generally approve of steel because it transmits sound and feeling better than lead at a comparable price. Tin has similar characteristics due to its hardness. The main drawback for many is the fact that either metal is lighter than lead which requires weights of larger sizes to equal the mass of lead.
Natural materials such as granite are also on the market. The first thing you’ll notice is that these weights are quite a bit bigger than the same thing made from lead. The upside is that if you lose one it’s just like throwing a rock into the body of water.
One thing I’ve avoided is the reported snag-proof qualities of various designs. Companies producing tackle smaller than its lead counterpart tout its ability to snake through crevices that would snag larger tackle. Conversely, manufacturers of large tackle make the same claim, promoting the larger size as having the ability to crawl over snags due to their size. Time will tell on that front!!!!
Despite everything I’ve said (and the fact that it took two days to say it) it seems like lead is going to be around for a while. Although the use of lead tackle has been regulated in different areas, there is no real push to have and out-right ban. And if that day would come, how would you regulate the guys with lead furnaces and molds?????
Until next time--watch yourself and watch your line!
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Comment by katyzzz
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That could be a good example of a BAD animal shot for your blog. The problem is that the photographer was trying to shoot the dark eye of the duck against its dark feathers of the head and they probably needed about a half stop more exposure (providing they were shooting slides) to get the eye to separate from the feathers. I wish I could post my OWN duck pics but, they're all slides.
Comment by tlcorbin-raginravensview
I'm going back to fishing with dynamite sticks or wicker traps.
The only lead I want to deal with anymore is the stuff in my pencil.
Raven