Tons Of 'plastic' Baits/year ???

[barbelliott]

Is there anyone out there that has ANY idea how many tons of 'plastic' baits that  are manufactured in the US every year?? (need to have source - than you) Just curious - the state of Maine is considering passing legislation to BAN use of all 'rubber'  baits.   I need to write to some legislators.  

Thanks!!!

Barb/upstate NY

 

[Long Mike]

Has it ever occurred to the idiots of your state legislature that they have no definition of what a "rubber" bait is?  In addition, do they have a definition of what a "plastic" bait is?  Since 99.9% of all lures these days are manufactured from either a pliable or ridged "plastic," it would appear to me that the only recourse for your idiot legislators is to ban everything but live bait.

[deaknh03]

Has it ever occurred to the idiots of your state legislature that they have no definition of what a "rubber" bait is?  In addition, do they have a definition of what a "plastic" bait is?  Since 99.9% of all lures these days are manufactured from either a pliable or ridged "plastic," it would appear to me that the only recourse for your idiot legislators is to ban everything but live bait.

don't give them any ideas

[bmlum415]

and balsa crank baits and spoons but why ban plastic, thats all i use

[barbelliott]

That is exactly what they are planning to do  - and any  non-evidence  based information they have to base such misguided legislation on is very poorly thought out and will be an in-effectual piece if legislature - not worth the paper it is written on.  I have attempted to gain access to anything they have that they are basing their efforts on - but so far, I have not heard what prompted such an oddly directed action.

I have fished in Maine at various times in the past, and do almost all of my fishing with artificial  lures and baits.  I do not enjoy using live bait - save the occasional worm -  and were the legislature of Maine were to pass such legislation - I would most likely never buy another Maine freshwater fishing license.  If you are concerned (and I would be no matter what state I lived in) as if this legislature is successful in passing such a legislation, it has the tendency to spread  like a cancer infecting the minds and process of nearby states.

 

There is a site "Keep America Fishing" that has a place you can send your support towards the defeat of this misguided effort

http://keepamericafishing.salsalabs.com/o/6394/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=4098

 

The public commentary date was 2/5 - but it would not hurt to continue to let the Maine leaders how people feel.  The letter at that link is pre-populated with a form letter  - BUT if you insert your cursor into the letter at the beginning - it will allow you to insert something personal - which I encourage everyone to do - POLITELY and informatively stated as 'trash talk' tends to be weeded out and not considered right from the beginning.

        Legislation without evidence-based information to base its construction on is doomed to be ineffectual - a waste of time and effort, I hope everyone that reads this will take a few minutes to enter a personal comment to let Maine legislators know hoe this could affect their state tourism or fishing license sales.

And to add insult to injury, they also have another  planned piece of legislation to ban ALL non-degradable hooks too....

see this link

http://keepamericafishing.salsalabs.com/o/6394/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=4099

 

(btw - this is a great site to keep up to date on most of the legislation that is  out there that could have an impact on your fishing)

 

There is a working group of legislatures scheduled to get together on the  2/19 - PLEASE!! - it is NOT too late to get some opinions floated to this group - to hopefully sway this  inappropriately directed  piece of legislation.

 

Thank you!!.

Barb/upstate NY

[LgMouthGambler]

They can take my lures when they take my guns, and I dare them to come after my guns!

[rockchalk06]

They can take my lures when they take my guns, and I dare them to come after my guns!

Sorry officer. I lost all my plastic baits in a tragic gun accident last week!

[LgMouthGambler]

Sorry officer. I lost all my plastic baits in a tragic gun accident last week!

Trust me, won't be any ACCIDENT, lol.

[J Francho]

I'd use overall fishing revenue data, along with the sheer numbers of anglers and angling hours for your state to bolster your argument, than plastics sales.  That factoid might backfire on you.  Taxable revenue data, and angry constituents never backfires, when dealing with politicians.

[jerzeeD]

Nice to see these state governments have fixed all of their real problems and now have to start thinking of BS to justify their salaries!!!

[Big Bassman]

What is this world coming to? I do believe our politicians are getting dumber every year! I guess it correlates to our US education going in the pot as well. If what is going on in our Country wasn't so sad & terrible, it would be hilarious. Some of the things they come up with leaves a man speechless!

[gripnrip]

I read an article in Bass Times that a guy had started recycling plastics a tournaments and melting them down and pouring new ones.  I would rather see stations at local sporting good stores where we could do more of that rather than banning certain things.  Like jerzeeD said they are just trying to justify their salaries.  

[South FLA]

Let us follow the details behind "Prohibiting use of rubber lures for fishing"

 

Sponsored by Paul Davis (Republican)

 

Here is his contact information:

 

http://www.maine.gov/legis/house/hsebios/davipt.htm

 

 

Here is the information of when the house bill was proposed:

 

http://www.mainelegislature.org/LawMakerWeb/summary.asp?ID=280046354

 

 

What is interesting is that it originates from Maine's Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee:

 

http://www.maine.gov/legis/house/jt_com/ifw.htm

 

Davis is the ranking minority member composed of 13 total members:

 

http://www.maine.gov/legis/house/jt_com/ifw.htm

 

I am going to call the committee clerk, Diane Steward, and ask for details on how the committee arrived at their opinion which was introduce by Paul Davis and motioned by Senator David Dutremble of York, the committee chair.

 

Some interesting reading if you snope around a bit, did you know David the committee chair is a master electrician, EMT, and Firefighter.  Paul seems to be a career politician with rental properties providing his living.  I would like to find out how they (the committee) came to the conclusion of how prohibiting use of rubber lures for fishing helps Maine's fisheries?  I will post my findings if any, but those Bass Resource members that live in Maine, may have more potential!

[WRB]

Excellent links posted.

Amazing how many poorly informed legistrators there are representing the public who voted then into office.

Plated carbon steel will not corrode in fresh water for example, which mean all fresh water hooks would fall into the banned category.

The best solution to reining in these politicians is to write them and let them know how you feel about a representative or congress person who doesn't support you and that you will contact everyone you know not to vote for them. Request they study the issue with facts, not emotionally....it's a lot ask of any politician.

I thought California had the crazy politicians, MA isn't far behind!

Tom

[South FLA]

!I heard it straight from the horse's mouth!

 

I just finished speaking with Mr. Paul Davis about the proposed legislation.  Basically, it was introduced to raise
awareness of problem associated with rubber like lures ending up on the bottom of bodies of water and/or killing fish.  He mentioned that
a trout was dissected by “Fish and Wildlife” and was found to have 17 pieces of "rubber" lures in its gut, he also mentioned that it cost the
State about $6-8 dollars to raise trout for release and that by prohibiting use of rubber lures he hopes that the money spent on the resource doesn't end up
wasted on fish that die from the consumption of plastics. Mr. Davis also told me about one small body of water in particular that was found to be littered
with “rubber lures.” He realizes that although a complete ban is not the "true intent,” the main purpose is to raise awareness of the problem
associated with the use of “rubber” lures littering bodies of water and potentially clogging an animal’s digestive system.  Ideally fines for littering or throwing soft
plastics overboard would be enforced and/or the use of biodegradable type rubber would become a mandate and the future of fishing in Maine.  In essence it is the parallel of the banning
of solid stainless steel hooks, like what was done in Florida.

 

[shanksmare]

Many years ago when I did a lot of trout fishing in MA I used to check the stomach contents of some of the fish I caught. I would try to determine what they were feeding on so I could create flies to match what they were eating. I never found any discarded rubber/plastic lures in their stomachs. I did however find something interesting in the stomachs of most of the trout I caught. Cigarette Filters! Some of the trout had their stomachs pretty much full of them.  Maybe they should ban smoking ... at least on waterways.