WD-40

[FishFearMe]

Does WD-40 cover your scent and also attract the steelhead? I was wondering why WD-40 is used so much on the river? Is it mainly to cover up your scent? I have also heard from guys on the river that it is illegal to use is that true?

[Fast Action]

Yes it is very illegal. I know I know. Allot of people use it strugeon fishing. I have done it too, however I do not anymore. I work with a guy who is in the Coast Guard. His job is a port inspector and polution control. I cannot remember what the formula was, a little bit effects a llot of water. More than I thought. So, if you can use it on your concions go ahead. If you get caught...........Well, if you think snagging is a crime....Oh boy! It is a heavy one.

[ 12-13-2003, 10:09 AM: Message edited by: Fast Action ]

[Fishalot]

I know that it does cover your scent some, it also works to disperse the scent. This is be cause the WD 40 displaces water or moisture so you get the scent of whe bait spread out more.


Fishalot

[tphoneman]

What is a good alternative to cleaning manscent from lures when on the river? I have used WD and then added my smelly jelly. I don't want to be a polluter so I will ditch the WD.

[DownTime]

Try lemon scent Joy dishwashing liquid soap.It will remove old scent from lures and mask the human scent from your hands. [img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img]

JB

[Jbug]

i think smelly jelly has a scent coverup available now. i saw some at fishermans not too long ago. it comes in a clear liquid. i assume its not toxic since its made by smelly jelly. i'd also say that rubbing alcohol would work pretty good for removing scents, probably windex too. anything that will dissolve oils should work. just make sure to wipe off the excess with a clean rag before throwing the lure into the water.
jbug

[ 12-13-2003, 10:40 AM: Message edited by: Jbug ]

[Silver Hilton]

To clean scent from lures, use any dish detergent in small quantities. Lemon Joy is popular. I prefer to do this at home in the sink. You can also just use your dishwasher, though she may get surly if you haven't cleaned the bait chunks from the lures previously. :grin:

[Pasco_steelhdr]

I shredded Ivory soap into a dispenser bottle then filled it with bottled water. I wash my hands with that before handling bait or lures. If done often enough that should keep the offensive human amino acids on your hands from getting onto your bait.

My shrimp cures include fresh minced garlic. Lures get a drop of garlic scent in addition to whatever else I dab on them. Am told studies have been done that show garlic doesnt attract steelhead but it doesnt repel them either. All it is supposed to do is effectively cover human scent. Havnt personally read the studies but it seems to work for me.

[o-mykiss]

well, personally, I just use smelly jelly. WD-40 probably isn't good to put into streams, but in systems like the Columbia, barges and boats contribute enough petroleum products to where it probably wouldn't matter. Then again, if everyone is doing it, it may make a difference.

[sparkleboy]

I know first hand WD40 enhances your lure to a steelhead. I tested it many times this summer, trying to prove myself wrong, but I always ended up proving that it works.
The legal issue was discussed sometime ago on this board, regarding springers. Someone said that if the lure or bait is applied with the scent OUT of the water, then it is legal to use. It doesn't say anywhere in the regulations it's illegal, but that doesn't mean it isn't.
I do use it occasionally, and never apply it near the water.

[slabhunter]

WD basicly deodorizes your gear. It will also soften your mono. IMO a better way to go is the "scent-a-way" soap used for hunting. The thing to look for is it environmentally safe and biodegadable. Limit your kill. Thank you.

[Mr. BrownTrout]

I don't know if anyone else had ever had problems with WD40 effecting the paint on your hotshots. I know it did for a friend of mine, had to throw the hotshots away, he tried to repaint them, but could not compare to Luhr Jensen's paint scheme.

[N7754H]

I believe that WD-40 is made mostly of fish oil at least it was in the early days of production.

[Silver Hilton]

If everybody used WD-40, and squirted every bait with WD-40, and fished every day, how much WD-40 would be in the river?

Let's see, let's assume 20,000 fishermen on the Columbia, and that on average, they squirt a bait with WD-40 every half an hour over an eight hour fishing day. So that would be 320,000 squirts. I think a squirt of WD is liable to be about half a teaspoon, which is about 2.5 milliliters. That would be about 800,000 ml, or 800 liters, or about 211 gallons, or about 28 cubic feet of WD-40 into the Columbia. The Columbia tends to flow at around 100,000 cfs. So, over that eight hour fishing day, that 28 cubic feet of wd-40 will be diluted into about 2,880,000,000 cubic feet of water. Or about one part in 100 million.

I doubt that's enough to cause a problem.

[Gobbaworms]

Did you REALLY intend to say the dumping of 211 gallons petroleum distillates into the river a day is ok?

[Mark Mc]

Silver, I liked where your post was going, then you did a U-turn on me.

The fact that every squirt adds up, is precicely the problem! We're never going to get a handle on all the pollution going into the air, water, and soil until each person takes the attitude that their little "contribution" does make a difference.

Sure, the big-source major polluters are a big problem, but that doesn't let us little guys off the hook, IMHO.

Thanks...... Mark Mc

SH,
The same could be said about PCB's and MTBE. I'd rather not see it put in the water.

[Freighter Bait]

OK, the WD is gone!! The wife just gave up her Lemon Joy because she hates the smell of the stuff. :grin:

[Chromaflage]

Originally posted by Keta:
SH,
The same could be said about PCB's and MTBE. I'd rather not see it put in the water.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Keta, the difference in relative toxicity between these substances and WD-40, both to humans and fish, is huge. I'm not advocating putting thousands of gallons of petroleum into the river at all. It's just not comparing apples to apples. Further, the ability for these substances to dissolve in water and create an opprtunity for fish exposure is significantly different as well.

The issue with WD-40 is primarily that it creates an oil sheen on the water. The way the clean water act reads, with respect to petroleum in navagable waterways, is summarily that "any" oil sheen on the water is a violation. But I have never heard of any fisherman being cited for using WD.

My .02

ORS

[ 12-14-2003, 03:40 PM: Message edited by: OregonRedside ]

[Silver Hilton]

Originally posted by Gobbaworms:
Thanks for clarifying AND for giving us something to think about...boat-pools.
Sounds like having a full boat of fishermen is more efficient and better for the environment. Maybe we can even get boat-pool lanes at the busier launches. :grin:

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Well, I certainly try to do my part there, but no-one wants to fish with me because I keep making them do math.

Nothing should be dumped into the rivers and lakes. WD-40 is lighter than water and forms a slick on the surface. PCB and MTBE are two bad substances and I was just using them an example. I could have used un-treated domestic wastewater or two-stroke oil. It all adds up.

[Chromaflage]

Ah....I agree on both accounts. :smile:

[The Bloodletter]

Mr. BrownTrout,
With Regards to your quuestion about WD40 and its effects on lure paint: WD40 is a solvent so it can remove the paint on plugs w/ repeated use. I would stick to Smelly Jelly or similar scent products.
If you are wanting to keep your lures / bait free of human scent, I would suggest keeping a box of cheap latex gloves in the boat or a coffee can full of borax and water. Some of the "old timers" I know down on the lower Umpqua get downright rediculous about having their hands rinsed in Borax/water before and after they handle their lures. Maybe superstition or a weird quirk but these guys consistently cathch more steelhead than anyone else I know.

[fishncliff]

I asked a gamie last year about WD. He said it is not forbidden in any written fish or game laws, but the fresh water act states it is illegal to apply a petroleum product directly to a body of water. he unofficially, said to spray your bait away from the water. Werks for me.

[blacktail519]

Come on,
I use WD and will always use it. If you think your making an impact on the water by not using it , so be it. I say your crazy. Have you ever seen what dumps into the willamette river after alot rainfall. I rest my case. I say spray away!!!! I'll Sleep just fine at night. [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img]

[roadsend]

How many times a year does Portland's sewer system overflow into the river during storms?
Any wd-40 in the overflow? Anything else?

[LT]

Roadsend, anytime we have substantial rainfall (like right now) or a sewer line breaks, raw untreated sewage dumps into the river. It is not just a Portland problem either. It is an Oregon City problem, Salem, Corvallis, Eugene, ect. The Willamette gets pounded with pollutants during the rainy months.

[straightweave]

"THE SOLUTION TO POLLUTION IS DILLUTION".

You may laugh at this, but this was a public service tag line trying to justify the dumping of pullutants into the great lakes after WWII.

Most of you, by reading the age spread from last week, probably don't know much about the devastation that occurred to the worlds largest source of fresh water back in the 60's. A river burned. A lake "died".

We've come a little further than that, haven't we?

I know we are not talking about auto industry and steele industry sludge and schwag here, but every little bit helps. Let's try to keep our rivers clean for the next generation. my $.02

The true "solution to pollution" is for everyone to do their best to minimize what they put into the water. There will be times that it can’t be helped but if everyone strives for 0 pollution the total will be reduced.
Substances that float, like oil and WD-40, will concentrate in eddies and will be picked up on birds feathers. Over time little bits of pollution will concentrate and cause problems.
The amount of pollution caused by spraying your bait with WD-40 is relatively minor but it is still pollution.

[Silver Hilton]

Keta, you, you, you tree hugging ******!

Having launched this firestorm, I have to confess, I don't use WD-40 anymore. I keep a can in the boat, and sometimes someone will give their bait a squirt. But I now wash my lures in dish detergent to deal with scent issues, rather than try to cover up the scent with WD. The results have been quite good.

SH,
I do have a green streak, especially when it comes to bodies of water. I don't use herbicides (except for the spot spraying of Canadian Thistle when I was really sick with the cancer and couldn't dig them out) or insecticides on my property. We raise as close to organic lamb as you can find anywhere.

I have oil spill and HAZMAT training (HAZMAT spill and rescue) as well as a USDA Wildlife Deterrent Certification (I can keep eagles and sealions out of the spill area).

I was involved in a spill of approximately 20,000 gallons of "bunker c" fuel oil into the bay wher I worked. I got second degree burns on both of my arms trying to stop the flow of oil out of the pump by jamming rages into the broken volute. Although I was not at fault for the spill (Coast Guard said I helped to prevent a worse spill) I still felt bad for all of the birds that were killed. I was also involved in the clean up of a sulfuric acid spill that sent over 20 people to the hospital and dumped acid out of a 16" pipe for 5 minutes.

Most of my working life I have been employed in environmentally unfriendly industries, the worse being pulp and paper, but I try to do my best to reduce polution.

When something is dumped into the water it doesn't just "go away".

WD-40 is very minor but I still don't like to see it in the water.

[Chromaflage]

Keta - HAZMAT training? As in 40-hour HAZWOPER? Just curious - where did you get take the training. I've taught that course for several consulting companies for whom I worked. I still do a fair amount of HAZWOEPR and ERt training.

ORS

Ketchikan Pulp Co.

[Silver Hilton]

Originally posted by Gobbaworms:
Did you REALLY intend to say the dumping of 211 gallons petroleum distillates into the river a day is ok?

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">No, I believe that what I said was that I doubted it was enough to cause a problem. My statement was an opinion of impact, based on a reasonable estimate. I'll go a step further, however, and assert that this amount is functionally equivalent to there being no WD-40 in the river water at all. Let me illustrate, so that you can understand how meaningless this amount is.

Consider a pea. A common, everyday, ordinary pea. About 1/4 inch in diameter. If we have 100 million peas, we have a line 25 million inches long, or about 400 miles long. According to my estimate, the ratio of wd-40 to Columbia River water is the same as the ratio of that pea to the distance from Seattle to Medford. If I drop that pea somewhere on I-5, think you can find it? It's functionally equivalent to there being no pea at all.

Now, let's compare wd-40 usage to something else, MTBE and gasoline. MTBE, I think we all know, is really nasty. It is added to gasoline at a ratio of 1 ounce to twenty gallons. The EPA estimates that about 30% of gas passes through marine motors unburned, into the water supply. The new standards for fuel efficiency hope to reduce that, but for now, 30% appears to be the average.

Using the same fishermen that we used before, lets assume 20,000 fishermen, averaging 3 per boat, and that each boat uses an average of 6 gallons of gas per trip. That means that we have about 12,000 gallons of unburned gas going into the river from the boats each fishing day. It's also putting 600 ounces of MTBE into the water.

Doing the same math we did earlier, this represents about 1 part per 2 million, gasoline to river water. The impact of the gasoline powered fishing boats on river water is about 50 times the impact of the wd-40. If we think that the pollution impact of boat traffic is acceptable, what, then, is a reasonable conclusion about the impact of wd-40?

I agree that it's up to everyone to help manage the problem of pollution. But it's also up to everyone to use their head about where the problem really is. Worrying about wd-40 on a hook is silly, when the river is filled with boats running gas engines. I am not going to waste time worrying about silly things, when there are big problems to be worried about. MTBE is a big problem. Two stroke engines, and internal combustion engines in general are a big problem. I don't think a squirt of WD-40 is.

[1pump]

I have to agree with SH. Tons of CO, CO2, hydrocarbons, and other noxious gases getting dumped into the rivers and we're squealing about WD40? Not to mention urine from everybody's pee buckets (guilty) and nitrogen from dams and farming. And storm runoff from PDX's streets. And phosphates. And..........

Everybody has a responsibility to keep our rivers clean, but every one of us pollutes to some extent, whether we're aware of it or not.
We're never going to be a "zero emissions" civilization, but we should take care of the big problems, and WD40 ain't a big problem.

[Gobbaworms]

Thanks for clarifying AND for giving us something to think about...boat-pools.
Sounds like having a full boat of fishermen is more efficient and better for the environment. Maybe we can even get boat-pool lanes at the busier launches. :grin:

[1pump]

I had to do HAZWOPER training a couple years ago. All I really remember is watching some really amazing videos of refinery fires and the like.

Keta, OUCH! Bunker oil is miserable stuff, either it's too cold or too hot. It's bunker season right now at work but so far I've managed to avoid it. Sulfuric can be fun, too, especially if it contacts water.

[Thumper]

Now I'm getting really worried abut fish poop. SH, do your thing and tell us how much of that is in the Columbia each day.

Scary world.... :shocked:

[SHOUGALNITE]

Wouldn't want to pollute the rivers.

[dampainter]

fishfearme.....yes it is illegal to use under pollution control laws....it is a pollutant, illegal to put any pollutants in the waterways. if someone saw you using it and wanted to enforce it, it could be a huge find. but when have you ever heard of anyone getting a fine for using wd-40 on the waterways? what about other scents, they are a foreign substance too, that is how I thought the law read was that you cannot introduce foreign substances into the waterways?....I think it is on the same level as spilt milk.

[ 12-15-2003, 06:09 AM: Message edited by: dampainter ]

[Jennie@ifish]

What about lead, though?

Huh? What about that? :smile:

and corkies, and line, and potato chip bags? Huh?

...and the oil your engine drips?

And what about going to the bathroom over the side of the boat?

My point: Where do we draw the line?

:smile:

Jen

Lead in the metallic form isn't too much of a problem unless eaten by birds (mostly split shot type sinkers).
Corkies will break down eventually.
Line is a major problem for wildlife.
Potato chip bags are garbage and should be put in the proper place.
Oil leaks should be repaired or kept to a minim and 4 stroke motors should be bought when repoweing your boats.
A small amount of human waste isn’t a problem but when it gets crowded it has the potential to cause health problems.

We need to stop the big polluters too but if everyone tried to minimize the impact that THEY do it will help to clean up the lakes and streams.
It realy ****es me off to see fishing tackle trash littering the banks of our lakes and streams.

The "line" should be, try to never polute and NEVER LITTER.

[freespool]

Can anyone tell me what the ingredients are for WD40? Sure it leaves an oil slick on the water,but so does Mike's Lunker Lotion. Many fish scents will leave a sheen on the water. Until we know what's in that stuff,we're only speculating.


free

[Chromaflage]

Mostly lighter petroleum distillates. Here is the Material Safety Data Sheet for WD-40: WD-40 MSDS

ORS

[Fishin Magician]

More petroleum comes out of boat motor exhaust than WD40 ever could........

Use a 4 stroke engine and this will be greatly reduced.

[blacktail519]

ROADSEND,
It overflows alot more then you think obviosly.
Figure the thousands of gallons of raw sewage versus 12 ounces of my d-40 for the season. Besides, i dont know about you, but i would think it would be alot healthier to swim in thousands of gallons of water with a few squirts of wd-40 in it, then thousands of gallons of water with thousands of gallons of raw sewage in it. Understanding the formula buddy. Anything else????? [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img]

The sewage is water soluble and biodegradable the WD-40 isn't. It's best to put neither in the water on purpose.

[Boatdog]

I didn't believe this until I tried it...

You know how a paper towel will stay oily indefinately when motor oil is applied to it?

Well, someone once told me WD-40 evaporated, and therefore was an inferior lubricant, and to "try this".

So, I sprayed a paper towel with it and left it on my workbench, and 'voila', the paper towel dried out completely in a couple days and you couldn't tell it was ever contaminated.

Point being, I wonder if this evaporation happens in the field?

[Fishin Magician]

Originally posted by Keta:
Use a 4 stroke engine and this will be greatly reduced.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Granted you are correct, I still feel that the amount of WD used by anglers is an unmeasurable amount of in relation to millions of other contaminants. Its like saying that the chemicals we use on egg curing is going to harm the environment. I also feel that this isnt a subject worth wasting a lot of time on. I would rather spend time trying to prevent the dairy farmer who keeps dumping manure in the wilson. hundreds of gallons at a time. I am talking about enough to turn the river brown for 1/2 an hour..... What do you think about that situation.........

FM,
That's a bunch of &lt;petunias&gt;......well, you know what I mean.
Yes that is far worse than putting WD-40 in the Columbia and it needs to stop. A dairy farm in Poe Valley had a little bit of run off enter Lost River a few years ago and got fined big bucks. What this farmer is doing is intentionally dumping it in the river and he should be jailed.

I wouldn't turn in someone for dumping WD-40 in to a river but I still feel we, as users of the waters of our state, should try our best to keep them clean.

[Rakkasan]

How did it get it's name? Just a strory I was told.


WD-40 "Water Displacement" solution perfected on the "40"th time?

Some good opinions and input

[Rakkasan]

Smelled good huh John I would think eventually it would get into the river eventually anyway

[Gobbaworms]

I wouldn't turn in someone for dumping WD-40 in to a river but I still feel we, as users of the waters of our state, should try our best to keep them clean.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Yes we should. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]
I think we spent so much time on this silly topic out of boredom. Here's my last round before I pollute my neighbors airspace with my cigar. :grin:
"A couple of squirts of wd-40, what's the big deal". Well most likely nothing, but with so many cost efficient and readily attainable alternatives, (borrowing SH's math)why squirt 105.5 gallons of kerosene or a 100 gallons of octane boost into the river everyday. wd-40 is up to 50% aliphatic petroleum distillates, which is stuff like kerosene and the main ingredient in fuel system cleaners and boosters.
It's not a debate on what pollutes more or where we should draw the line. So far no one has disagreed with the fact the product itself is not good for the environment. I've only seen arguements based on the levels of concentration. All I am saying (and I believe Keta is too) is that we all agree its potentially pollutive regardless of how much and alternatives are cheap and plentiful so we choose not to use it.
Think about it another way: would you steal a pen from work? No big deal right? How about a sticky note pad, stapler, computer, copy machine? Its all theft but some of us draw lines and some just say no. Does that make you good or bad? Not for me to decide. It would be nice though if we were all rowing this boat in the same direction. Maybe we'll actually get somewhere.
Thank you and good night.

[crfsteelheader]

To be honest I have used WD-40 while fishing for sturgeon, but never for anything else. Although occasionally I will use it when I get home to keep the rust off of any of my tackle. Aside from that, I normally cure my eggs with a borax based cure of my own recipe and after adding eggs to my offering I wash my hands, this natural soap should be plenty sufficient for masking your own natural odors. Not to mention it is really cheap.

Keta you would look your biological Mom in the face and "argue" with her to prove it. [img]graemlins/hearton.gif[/img] :grin:

I would not! :grin:

[ 12-15-2003, 09:36 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

Tuna! :tongue:

[Carver_OR]

Please put the WD-40 inside your HoldZit Tool Saver.

thanks,
Pat