Maybe they will just phase them out?

Hopefully they will slowly phase lead out and just make it illegal to manufacture anymore. You'd still be able to use what you have on hand.

This is just like the old 3 wheelers and the law they made for them. They essentially made it illegal to manufacture anymore but if you already owned one it wasn't illegal to use it and I'm almost certain they will do this for lead sinkers as well.

Now who's to say that the homemade sinkers you have were manufactured post or pre ban? Might be good time to buy a few molds and put em back for a rainy day.

I know a guy that made some weights out of tin but I never asked him how they worked out. I'm not sure if the process is the same as lead and you can just melt down any sheet of tin but if you can, theres an old barn close to me that has about 40 sheets of old tin on it, lol

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Originally Posted by Team M&M

Now who's to say that the homemade sinkers you have were manufactured post or pre ban?

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Precisely why I doubt that those pushing for this would settle for regulations that grandfathered in existing tackle. They surely know that home pouring would go on as long as use was legal.

But I haven't read the proposal yet.

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Originally Posted by Team M&M

Hopefully they will slowly phase lead out and just make it illegal to manufacture anymore. You'd still be able to use what you have on hand.

This is just like the old 3 wheelers and the law they made for them. They essentially made it illegal to manufacture anymore but if you already owned one it wasn't illegal to use it and I'm almost certain they will do this for lead sinkers as well.

Now who's to say that the homemade sinkers you have were manufactured post or pre ban? Might be good time to buy a few molds and put em back for a rainy day.

I know a guy that made some weights out of tin but I never asked him how they worked out. I'm not sure if the process is the same as lead and you can just melt down any sheet of tin but if you can, theres an old barn close to me that has about 40 sheets of old tin on it, lol

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We're better off with no regulation. If there's a regulation, with or without a transition period, we will eventually lose the right to pour and use lead jigs. Anyone who wants to make a voluntary transition is free to do that now without a regulation.

Tin melts at a lower temperature, but it costs 7 times as much as lead and is much less dense (meaning you'd have to use bigger cavities to cast jigs of the desired weight). Those old "tin" roofs are probably steel with a tin coating.

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Originally Posted by split handle

But I haven't read the proposal yet.

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Technically, there isn't a proposal on the table yet. Until 9/15, EPA is inviting public comments in order to decide whether to issue a regulation or to tell the tree huggers to pound sand. Our best possible outcome would be for EPA to announce that is finds no compelling reason to regulate the insignificant volume of lead fishing tackle that enters the environment accidentally. (Remember, unlike hunters we intend to retrieve every piece of lead we cast out into the environment. Sure, breakoffs happen, but every time I pull the trigger on my 12 ga. I dump an ounce or more of lead into the environment. That's the equivalent of 16 jigs that are 1/16 oz.)

They didn't phase out shotgun shells. Remember they have nothing to lose,
and everything to gain.

It won't be a phase out if the EPA does it. We will have until whatever date to use it or lose it. There is sometimes an exchange program that happens depending on local and state government. It happened here for a little while on a small scale for lead shot.

IMHO, if the EPA does ban it, lead is gone for everything, period.

To be honest, I don't think it'll pass.

Do you think the tackle manufacturers are just going to sit back and let this happen?... I'm sure money is changing hands right now to keep this from happening.

I have to agree because of the way the EPA will do it.

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Originally Posted by GCD

To be honest, I don't think it'll pass.

Do you think the tackle manufacturers are just going to sit back and let this happen?... I'm sure money is changing hands right now to keep this from happening.

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Ditto. Those are the guys to loose the most 'cause even if the law passed there would be ALOT of lead still out there that could be gotten.

Several months ago the local (Northern Az) Walmart and Kmart had all the lead weights discounted and tagged for clearance. The new packaging on most was clearly labeled "Pb Free" or "Lead Free". Looks like the mfgr is already phasing them out, at least in these parts.

LRR

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Originally Posted by longroofracer

Several months ago the local (Northern Az) Walmart and Kmart had all the lead weights discounted and tagged for clearance. The new packaging on most was clearly labeled "Pb Free" or "Lead Free". Looks like the mfgr is already phasing them out, at least in these parts.

LRR

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I never really paid much attention before this discussion came up but I saw steel egg sinkers at academy and lead free split shots today. They were about a dollar more than the others.
I'm not sure if they always been there and maybe I'm just more aware of the issue now, or maybe they just started carrying them.