Can of worms

[DF]

   I hope this subject doesn't start any wars, it has been discussed before but I think it has been long enough that you guys might have some new thoughts. What I'm trying to tip-toe around is the subject of soft plastic vs bio plastic vs the environment.  The reason I even bring this up is an article I was reading that said soft plastic lures can be found in 'heaps and piles" on the bottom of lakes just waiting to be eaten by fish to the tune of 12,000 tons a year.  This seemed to me to be a bit unrealistic. I lose a few worms here and there and I know it adds up but I never throw used baits in the water.  I'm not saying it's not a problem but I think if we use good sense and educate people we will be ok.  I wish we had more realistic non agenda driven studies before they go scaring the poop out of us.

[Muskygary]

Where do they get their figures? I don't know of any fish dying from eating plastic. It's like the animal rights people that said eating lead killed ducks...yeah turns out the only ducks that died from eating lead were feedit by animal rights so they could take pictures. I don't care if you dump hundreds of plastic worms in the water, fish are not going to eat it!

[MO QWACK]

We all need to take care of God have us, I'm very environment friendly but... fact are facts but many groups falsify data to push private agendas. Steel shot cripples and kills far more ducks than lead. If a cripple flies off then people shoot and kill another one to replace it,thus most of the time two ducks die for the price of one.
  The peta types spout their anti hunting and fishing propaganda to stop the sport not to better the use of our natural resources. With that said sportsman are the first to manage the resources for the betterment for all. We don't bite the hand that feeds us and the hand that feeds us are our resources. Until the fact are facts in my opinion there isn't a issue to talk about.

[Justin9j]

I did fillet a bass to find a plastic frog in its gut. 
My frog too.   The bass look skinny too
Just stating the facts.  I do no longer throw my plastics over board.

Took out if a private pit. Needed thinning.  So don't yell for eating bass.   

[MO QWACK]

Bass need eaten that's a fact its a part of managing an Alfa predator. I agree don't throw anything in the water no matter what it is. Game warden got pissy with me one day because I had a bunch of beer cans in my ice chest. By the number in there he must of thought I was wasted. I tried to explain I don't drink and fish I pick all them up in the lake. I reckon someone was having a drinking barge and chunking them over board 

[WALLEYE WACKER]

I brought this up once before and it didn't go over too well. Good luck! there are companies that make bio degradable baits way not use? mike

[Brent]

Interesting that not one but 2 topics are in this post that people argue all the time. 1) keeping the lakes clean, 2) eating Bass.

Here in Illinois and Southern Wisconsin if you mention eating a Bass all hell breaks loose about how your destroying the fishery. Eat a Small Mouth and be prepared for the death threats and being an outcast of any fishing social medias. On the other hand LMB in other parts of the US are common table fair and SMB in Canada are also fairly common.

Keeping our waters clean is very important, the post is a nice reminder to make sure we try to make sure we leave nothing behind, while I think this is very important I also think that there are larger issues that if someone wants to make an impact should be addressed first.

[DF]

I think phthalate free plastic is a step in the right direction, and more companies are selling bio baits now, so we are making strides. Do you think a bio plastic will ever be available like plastisol is now for us to make our own baits? If so is it a heat and pour process or a mix, pour and let set thing? Seems to be very little info out there.

  Sorry if this subject is a buzz kill.

[toadfrogbaits]

I have been doing a little research into bio products . Done some experiments . Product looked nice . Short lived shelf life . I honestly don't have the funds to put a lot of money into it . I can tell you about some nice folks to deal with . http://www.gumtech.com/products/ProductInfo.php?product=Gelatin%20Cold%20Set%20QS-1    They sent me samples free . If you try using store bought packets of Knox it is high and getting harder to find in any kind of quantity .

[BigHawgBaits]

I for one am starting a program in my state through my business. I will send a letter out to all the bass clubs and sporting good stores I can think of. In this letter I will be letting people know if they send me there used plastics I will remelt them FREE of charge and mail them back. I will also offer a 25% discount from my store to anyone that participates in this program. I have seen to many people toss used plastics over board and would like to do my part to help keep our resources alive and well.

[andrewlamberson]

In my opinion the topic is a legitimate...but the numbers are obviously manipulated/misquoted by various authors.

There  may be 12,000 tons of plastic going into our waterways and oceans/year...but it seems very hard to believe that number is plastic baits!!! 24 Million lbs  of plastic baits is a heck of a lot of baits!!!

There have been various studies that have documented fish and waterfowl deaths due to the ingestion of plastic baits and it is something that we all should be good stewards of. I never throw any plastic baits (or parts) overboard and educated anyone that fishes with me that we don't want to take the chance of accidental injection. And YES I have seen Bass eat a plastic worm...it happens frequently when wacky worming smallmouth and the caught fish tosses the worm and the smallmouth chasing it smack it! I even had a seagull come down and grab a floating wacky worm (they were also eating the injured shad the smallmouth had chased to the surface). I'm sure diving ducks and loons have eaten plastic baits off the bottom.

I do reheat my used baits and rejects (I only use my own plastic baits and I only use Do-it plastic) and give the plastic to a local high school that has a tackle crafting club. I would not recommend reheating store bought plastic because some of those baits (especially anything made overseas) could have some really nasty "additives"!

I would be VERY interested if Do-it came out with a "biodegradable" material...even at a higher cost....IF it really would degrade in our cool water rivers. I would think the bait would have to be "water soluble" and break into micro particles before it would actually degrade in our waters. There is a significant industry in our waters to recover old wood from ship wrecks (especially on the Great Lakes) because the wood is rare and in VERY good condition due to the cold water and low oxygen levels. There are some guys doing the same thing on the Mississippi here in Winona for old growth oak.

I've done at lot of work on biodegradable plastics (like PLA) at work, and the bottom line for a plastic to degrade you need water(humidity), oxygen (a lot of it) and high temperatures. So I doubt we will see a truly "biodegradable" plastic bait.

If we try our best to be "responsible" I really don't think it's a significant problem.

Andy

[DF]

 BigHawgBaits, thats fantastic!! Most people want to do the right thing and a lot more will if they can save money doing so.  I hope more people follow your lead and I'm sure your not alone. I'm just getting started in this hobby and I would hate to see it taken away by inflated numbers and limited studies. We will never all agree 100% on this issue, but I think we can all agree not to throw used baits in the water.