I’ve written about Eagles and Loons before, but never mentioned the danger these two species have in and out of our lakes. Those dangers could be hooked or entangled in fishing line, but lead poisoning is also another hazard that we don’t really think about. When these birds are brought into a rehabilitation center in the Northwoods because of injuries or any reason, they are always tested for lead contamination and the majority of those eagles/loons are known to have some levels of lead in their system. If there is a higher level of lead, they can be injected with a chemical that binds to the lead and hopefully the bird can pass the toxin. This treatment has proven to be effective, but not in all cases and many have died of lead poisoning. Lead poisoning, causes the birds to weaken, lose their balance, stop eating and those birds will often die within 2 or 3 weeks after ingesting lead.  This is the reason I researched different options to change some of my lead tackle to other alternatives. For me, it was an easy decision but an expensive decision. Losing just one of these amazing birds is too much, so this is what I learned.

The alternatives to lead tackle are TIN, STEEL, TUNGSTEN (NICKEL) ALLOY, and DENSIFIED PLASTIC. Now, TIN, cost twice as much and is not as heavy for the same size as the lead tackle. STEEL is close to the same price of lead, but when matching the lead weight, the steel tackle is bigger. TUNGSTEN is half the size in weight and cost quite a bit more than the lead jigs/tackle. DENSIFIED PLASTIC? I haven’t considered or researched this, but I would think it has to be much lighter. The one thing that surprised me was the bigger outdoor stores like BASS PRO/CABELAS and DICK’S SPORTING GOODS and along with most other smaller outdoor stores and bait shops carry a very small amount of alterative jig heads and sinkers if any. When I have found alternative to lead tackle in these stores, they only had 10 to 20 small packages at the most, with the count of 4 in each container/package.

I don’t know about the rest of you guys and gals, but I have A LOT of lead weights and jig heads, so changing over is going to take some time. The one question is, how do you get rid of your lead tackle? I have been selling (ALMOST GIVING AWAY) some of mine at garage sales, because it wouldn’t be right to just throw the lead tackle in the garbage. As I mentioned above, I still have lead tackle, and I don’t use them as much as I did but have been replacing a few different types when I can find the right size and weight. Here is something to ponder on. We can’t predict the future, so what if more research is done, and it shows that these alternatives to lead tackle are also bad for the environment?