With the Minnesota Fishing opening just around the corner, many anglers will be hooked on fishing this weekend.

Your lures may be tempting to the fish, but also imposes a threat to the birds as meteorologist Shannon Murphy explains in "Your Green Life."

"This weekend what I will be doing is, I will be fishing for walleye, and what I will be doing is using a jig like this one here, kind of fancy."

Whether it is your old lucky lure or new tackle that you hope will catch the big one, it isn't just the fish that should be afraid this weekend.

A lot of fishing tackle is created with the toxic metal lead, which ends up in our eco system with each broken line, poisoning our wildlife.

"Many water birds such as loons, cormorants, and water fowls like ducks and geese often use small pieces of gravel and grit to aide in their digestion process."

Some of our smaller fishing tackle pieces that are made of lead are mistaken for gravel and often picked up by these water birds and then the lead gets into their system and then into the food chain."

Although research in Minnesota has been limited, one study of loons conducted by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency concluded that lead poisoning accounted for 12 percent of the dead adult loons.

Currently, there is no ban in Minnesota on the use of lead in fishing tackle, but if you want to make the change yourself, there are alternatives at almost any general marine store.

"There are a lot of products that have converted; manufacturers are making them non-lead. People don't realize it so they're already using it, they just don't realize they're using it."

The state of Minnesota participates in the "Get the Lead Out" campaign to educate people on the dangers of lead and to collect any unwanted tackle.

Seven thousand pounds of lead have been collected over the last seven years in Minnesota alone, and with at least thirty more exchanges planned for this summer, that amount is expected to rise.

So before you cast this weekend, consider the effect it may have on the environment.

In Duluth, meteorologist Shannon Murphy, the Northlands NewsCenter.

Check with your county's household hazardous waste facility to dispose of any unwanted lead tackle.