Jack Holland brought this matter to my attention. On January 17, state Representative Paul Davis introduced H.P. 37/L.D.42, legislation that would prohibit the use of all “rubber” lures. The legislation seeks to ban “rubber” baits but does not define the term. Even so, the intent of the legislation is clear – to ban the soft baits that Maine anglers use every day.
To add your voice to the growing list of people opposing this legislation, point your browser to http://keepamericafishing.salsalabs.com and fill out their form with your name, address, and email address and click send. Easy. I did it.
Keep America Fishing is recommending that rather than simply passing knee-jerk legislation to regulate something that may not even be a problem, that a real study be conducted to determine if there really is a problem with soft, so-called “rubber” bait.
Jack Holland sent me this update on the Proposed Soft Baits Legislation.
KeepAmericaFishing™ needs you to send another message today to the Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife asking them to oppose the bill to ban soft baits! At the very least the Committee needs to establish a study process to determine the real facts regarding the impact of soft baits on fish.
The Committee will have a work session regarding the ban on soft baits on Tuesday, February 19th. At the end of the work session the bill could be recommended for passage, recommended to not pass, pass with modification or a study committee could be formed to further investigate the need for the bill.
Please send a personalized message today to the Committee urging them to oppose this bill.