The Lake Where You Live

The other day, while preparing to put in the trash a few fugitive lead split shot, I dropped one on the kitchen floor. 

Bernie, our springer spaniel, was close by and has been known to eat almost anything that falls in front of him, and so I scrambled to recover the poison pill before he could find it.

Of course, lead is highly toxic. If Bernie would have eaten the split shot he likely would have been all right, being that he weighs about 60 pounds and his excretory system would have purged the object within a day or two. 

Loons that swallow lead fishing items are not as lucky. A split shot or jig would go to the gizzard along with the pebbles that help grind up the fish on which the loons feed. Therefore it would stay in the digestive system for a long time. 

Acids would dissolve some of the lead, which would enter the bloodstream. Since a loon weighs only about one-sixth as much as Bernie, it takes far less lead for the loon to receive a lethal dose.

I say all this while contemplating the low acceptance of non-toxic fishing gear. This year Northland Tackle discontinued its tin-bismuth Nature Jig lead alternatives. I found a season’s worth among a rack of assorted lead jigs at a local shop — the owner has been kind enough to stock them despite low demand.

Since then the only non-toxic jigs I’ve found are made of tungsten and cost about $3.50 each, versus about $1.40 for Nature Jigs and maybe 50 cents for lead. I’ve bought some anyway. I also picked up a jar of chartreuse paint so I can convert some green, orange and white Nature Jigs to my preferred color. When those are gone, my jig budget will have to go up. So be it.

I reason that I use only tungsten jigs for ice fishing, and they generally cost north of $3, so why not pay the same for jigs I use in the open-water season? Tungsten also has performance advantages, chiefly a greater weight relative to size, because it is denser than lead.

Still, I keep wondering when if ever the pendulum will swing toward non-toxic tackle and so make less costly lead alternatives more readily available. I also wonder what might ultimately make that happen. It’s a classic chicken-or-egg (supply-or-demand) conundrum. 

On the supply side, one or more enlightened tackle makers could produce an appealing and not-too-costly line of, say, jigs and split shot — and market them aggressively as essential to protecting loons, as well as eagles and ospreys. Anglers care about those species at least as much as the general public. More abundant product could drive sales.

On the demand side state governments, fishing clubs, environmental groups could launch an angler education program far more potent than the current “Get the Lead Out” initiatives, enticing anglers to ask for more non-toxics. Manufacturers and retailers then would have to respond.

Or maybe both things need to happen. In any case, putting more lead onto lake bottoms every year is not a healthy practice if we care about protecting some of our most treasured wildlife. 

Ted Rulseh is a writer, author and lake advocate who lives on Birch Lake in Oneida County. His new book, “Ripple Effects,” has been released by UW Press. You can learn about it by visiting https://thelakeguy.net.