cbj11lbs Posted February 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 I posted this topic to BRING EVERYONE TOGETHER to fight poor legislative efforts. Unfortunately for us TU users, this is a topic that affects our entire interests here. Even more unfortunate for us, it is a political issue; one that you would hope everyone here would agree to oppose rather than start a political debate. If you oppose the bill then please say so and take action against it, if you support the bill then why are you even here? I do not see any reason for this whole thread to get any more complicated than that. I do not wish to be flagged or penalized for starting a political thread as prohibited by the rules because other users choose to bastardize the topic with their personal political opinions. Lets try sharing information about this topic and any news we find regarding it, we need to stay informed. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garthsnooks Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 The fire went out days ago on this topic...what was said was said, most moved on. Everyone seems to agree that it's a big issue..some believe it's political, others , not so much. Most will fight this thing as far as it proceeds (whether in prayer,financially, and/or thru supporting opposition to legislation. BTW, I have seen dozens of threads with MUCH MORE fervor and passion (and accusation) than this thread, even by some of us on this thread. Sometimes we don't like, disagree, despise the things in others that we battle or do in ourselves. Just sayin... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolinamike Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 I'd like to see the fire kindled with the thread that gives the link to sign the petition and with conformations that everyone has signed the petition. The big issue is the ban on rubber in Maine, there has yet to be given any facts nor does it say that soft plastics is involved, there has only been one politician named and no one has yet to say the true reason for the ban. I feel like soft plastics is probably a part of this but I have no facts to confirm this, does anyone else? I'm reading alot about assumptions and personal opinions and passions, would not these passions and opinions do more good if they were actually addressed to the gentleman in Maine that actually started this rather then expressing them on a bait making forum? I would like to see copies of letters and E-mails that are sent to the people with the actual power to change things in the state of Maine. The state of North Carolina, several years ago, also enacted a ban. It was a ban on scented soft plastic baits for trout fishing this proposdal was also introduced by a politician but when the facts came out the folks that were behind it were actually fishermen ( fly fishermen to be exact) they are in the trout streams with their fly rods and hand tied flies catching a trout every now and again, along comes a kid with a spinning rod and a berkley trout worm and proceeds to catch 10 fish to their one at first they started saying it wasn't fair and when that didnt work they started saying that the trout eat the plastics too deep and the hooks will harm them. So until some actual facts are given about this subject I dont see where politics or passion is going to help, we need to focus our passions and politics at the leaders of the state of Maine, afterall, what good is going to do on TU except get the thread deleted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garthsnooks Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Again, I personally have been proactive outside of this thread. Hope others do the same. Esp. those that live in and close to Maine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbj11lbs Posted February 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 Hey Mike, Ive been looking for more information on the bill and cannot find anything new. Here are the "facts" they are using in their argument for the bill. http://www.georgesmithmaine.com/articles/georges-outdoor-news/february/2013/ifw-committee-debates-rubber-worms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolinamike Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 cbj11lbs, Thanks for the link, and its like I suspected when it comes to fishing and hunting laws there is usually more people involved then politicians, and 9 times out of 10 its a certain group of fishermen or a certain group of hunters. I noticed that the only actual damage to the fish in the article was the hook, yes they said they found plastic worms in the fish's stomach but not everything that a fish eats dissolves. Smallmouth and largemouth, for instance, either spit up or pass whole pieces of crawfish after absorbing the nutritional parts and there is nothing that says that bio-degradable products are that safe, just because they break down dosen't necesarily make them a safe product. How much Bio-degradable break down can actually be tolerated before it affects water qualities, at least you can remove plastic fishing worms, once a product breaks down what are you going to do? Remove the water? The ban on crawfish and hooks is probably the next thing to come 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J lure Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 Read this article from Bassmaster... http://www.bassmaster.com/news/soft-plastics-banned Obviously Maine wishes to take prudent steps to sustain its fishery resource base and the economic base that flows from recreational fishing. Given that there is no study of the impact of soft baits on fish and other aquatic life in the wild, legislation banning these types of popular baits is unwarranted. The legislation seeks to ban “rubber” baits with rubber being undefined. Realistically, there are no such baits on the market as soft baits are made from various substances, none of which are rubber. There are biodegradable soft baits available and this legislation would ban even the use of those baits and certainly does nothing to encourage further research into that area or to improve consumer demand for those types of baits. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bflp Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 The keep america fishing website is now saying the Maine government has directed a study be done on the effects of soft plastics on the environment, and report on it in January 2014. I don't want to see soft plastics banned, but I'm interested in what that study finds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbj11lbs Posted March 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 Thanks for the update bflp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
