Closer to a ban on traditional lead weights.

[Shaun Harrison]

[Kevin]

Blasting in lead shot from a gun cartridge is still perfectly fine though.

[Shaun Harrison]

I like to vary my angling to what could be called total extremes. A lot of the fish I have caught I would have struggled to reach casting with anything but lead and there is no way I could ever lower myself to taking my rig out on a toy boat.

A lead ban would affect my angling big time. Particularly my big river barbel fishing and a small percent of my carp angling not to mention the salt water fishing. I have tried so many different lead free options and nothing has come anywhere near the mark in terms of affordability and size versus weight. The density of lead has been unrivalled for holding and gripping without a strong current catching and bouncing it into snags.

[Reedling]

I only use lead free shot but use lead weights for sea fishing. On the radio this morning I heard a snippet that lead in shooting is being looked at or banned? Did not hear the full story just a few words. Maybe this is all linked in to a European ruling on the way.

[Northern Eel]

Do swans eat 3oz leads? this is news to me!

[Mark]

Do swans eat 3oz leads? this is news to me!

I don't think it just Swan related more an environmental issue?

[Shaun Harrison]

Blasting in lead shot from a gun cartridge is still perfectly fine though.

It was always our argument when we had to ditch thousands of pounds worth of stock when the first lead ban came around. From memory we were threatened with £1,000.00 fine for each lead product we were found to sell. no compensation anywhere just a total wipe out of stock/assets.

The clumsiest angler in the world wouldn't have dropped as much lead shot into water as a single box of 25 cartridges. I used to fish a beautiful quiet and tranquil pool until Sunday mornings when a Clay shoot used to turn up and fire from a wood behind and the following 3 hours would see a constant peppering of lead shot into the pool.

We sold thousands and thousands of shot gun cartridges most of which would hold 1 1/8 oz of lead shot, yet we weren't allowed to sell a 1 oz tub of shot because that was dangerous.

I think that was the first time I ever realised what a crazy world we live in and run by people not really doing a great deal of homework. If anglers lead shot was causing so much damage then the lead shot from shooters should have been considered much more dangerous simply by the sheer volume. But as always, anglers never unite, preferring to fight amongst themselves and convincing themselves it won't affect them.

The look of disbelief when anglers came in the shop and we told them they could no longer use between a size 8 shot and a 1 oz weight was a frustrating picture. The following weeks when anglers were complaining that the early substitutes were awful and damaging their lines were equally frustrating. We had lost thousands of pounds worth of stock and were then being moaned at for selling garbage. Garbage that we had to dig deep to pay for after writing off the lead stock.

Rant over.

[Shaun Harrison]

One of the biggest issues I have is the various tackle companies advocating you must dump your lead on the take whilst carp angling. Now excuse me but this only really came in after a certain tackle company (who were the first to sell 'top end expensive coated leads) started telling everyone they would never land a big carp with a lead still attached to their line.
Funny really how we had all managed to for many years before. To this day I try and retain my lead. I put a film up on my Shaun Harrison Angler facebook page yesterday of me landing a 56 lb common carp (on modern gear I'm afraid) and you can see as clear as anything that my lead is still attached as are several others on the same film.
I never needed to drop my lead to land that fish or several other 40 lb plus fish I landed that same week. Had any of the fish become snagged then the leads would have ejected for safety of the fish but certainly not ejected in open water as advocated by too many.

[Aquaerial]

Blasting in lead shot from a gun cartridge is still perfectly fine though.

Oh really? I thought shooting lead over wetlands had been banned for years and steel or bismuth had to be used. What do you think you will achieve Kevin by dividing Country Sports with loose talk of this nature and with such venom? Please reflect..
Thank you,

[Northern Eel]

All my leads over 1oz are those fox rubberised coated ones, do those have lead inside? sorry to be ignorant but ive never really thought about it.
(all my smaller shot is obviously lead free, but I also use aresley bombs at about 3/4 oz sometimes)