The present invention relates generally to hard-bodied artificial fishing lures and specifically to lures with retractable hooks which make them xe2x80x9cweedlessxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9csnagless.xe2x80x9d
Artificial fishing lures are generally designed to mimic the look and action of some species of bait fish. Manufacturers have been building lures of various types for many years. The bodies have been manufactured from various substances including balsa and other woods, red cedar, plastic, and metal. The shapes are generally designed to imitate bait fish of some bait species. The lures come in almost infinite colors and surface finishes.
Almost since the invention of the first lure of this type (xe2x80x9ccrank baitxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9ctop waterxe2x80x9d lures, or xe2x80x9clipless crank batexe2x80x9d) manufacturers have used hooks with multiple barbs to xe2x80x9chookxe2x80x9d a fish when a strike occurs. Most lures use treble hooks with three distinct barbs, and are suspending from belly or bottom side of the lures.
The dangling hooks on most lures, while effective in securing a catch once a strike occurs, are problematic in other contexts. The dangling hooks are easily entangled in brush, rocks, moss and surface/sub-surface debris, often resulting in loss of an expensive lure.
Manufacturers have tried to make their lures more xe2x80x9cweedlessxe2x80x9d by adding various hook guarding mechanisms. However, hook guards are difficult to install on lures employing multiple, dangling treble hooks. In recent years some manufacturers have attempted to make their lures more weedless by insuring a xe2x80x9cnose downxe2x80x9d attitude for the lures as they are drawn through the water, and this approach does provide some amount of protection from snags. In top-water applications, on the other hand, some work has been done using soft bodies which protect the hook until the body is compressed in the fishes mouth.
Other approaches to achieving xe2x80x9cweedlessxe2x80x9d luresxe2x80x94those with hidden, or retracted hooksxe2x80x94have their own problems or shortcomings. Most, if not all, such designs, cannot be produced as a single piece casting or two piece casting using current molding and machining technology. Many require intricately designed and machined parts to function, and involved complicated assemblies with many moving pieces.
Designs with retracted, strike-deployed hoods include that of Zeman (U.S. Pat. No. 3,646,699) which employs a single hook that is activated to the hooking position by use of a spring. Braden, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,084 and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,524, teaches a mechanism with more than fifty distinct parts. Assembly of those mechanisms into an assembled body would prove costly, tedious, and the end product unreliable. Durability is a problem associated with, or arising direction from some of the just-described designs. The known designs employ springs, cams, levers, and other actuating devices that are soon destroyed by rust, corrosion and breakage.
Another problem with retracted hook designs for xe2x80x9cweedlessxe2x80x9d lures is that of pre-mature hook deployment. Previous designs employ complicated and delicate mechanisms to hold the hook in the retracted position. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,634 Baud employs a cam that sets into a detent in the hook body. The force of a cast will dislodge the cam and cause early deployment in normal use. Hameen and Antiua in U.S. Pat. No. 3,816,953 employ a complicated spring and lever mechanism. In somewhat contradictory fashion, another problem is that of keeping a hook deployed, once extended. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,770, McDiarmand employs a complicated spring mechanism to deploy the hook, but a spring strong enough to hold the hook in place may cause the hook to fail to deploy upon a strike.
Yet another limitation of existing, xe2x80x9cweedlessxe2x80x9d designs relates to the shape of the end product. To provide room for complicated moving parts the lure bodies are often fattened, elongated, and bulged and the end product has no real resemblance to bait.
Finally, there is the problem with retracted hook lures of depending on non-standard parts. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,770, McDiarmand employs a hook that is not standard industry design, as does Bates in U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,781 Bates.
In summary, the existing approaches to making lures xe2x80x9cweedlessxe2x80x9d are only somewhat effective, and true xe2x80x9cweedlessxe2x80x9d construction has not yet been attained.
Lures equipped with treble hooks, whether intended to be xe2x80x9cweedlessxe2x80x9d or not, present several additional drawbacks and problems. A first problem has to do with safety. Once a fish takes the lure into its mouth and becomes ensnared in the hooks, a fisherman is faced with the extraction of the hooks once the fish is landed or netted. To extract the hooks a fisherman must restrain the fish while pulling the hook(s) from the fishes mouth. Because most lures contain multiple treble hooks, any thrashing or movement of the fish during the extraction can result in the xe2x80x9cfreexe2x80x9d hooks (hooks not caught in the fishes mouth) becoming embedded in the fisherman. Another problem relates to fish being often able to dislodge the treble hooks. This is particularly true of species which are known to leap and thrash their heads back and forth. This is less of a problem when single barb hooks are used, because of their ability to provide a solid hook-up and retention of the fish due to the larger size of the hook and barb.
An advantage of a lure with a single hidden hook relates to storage. Most hard bodied baits have to be stored in separate compartments to prevent tangling. When combined with other treble-hooked lures, hooks become entangles and time is wasted in the untangling process. If the lures are stored in separate compartments, additional storage space and equipment is needed. Lures with a hidden hook could be stored with multiple lures to a compartment with no difficulties.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved, artificial fishing lure.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved artificial fishing lure which more effectively than existing design, resists entanglement with weeds and the like during use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved artificial fishing lure of retracted hook design which is more reliable than existing entanglement-resistant (xe2x80x9cweedlessxe2x80x9d) lure design.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved artificial fishing lure of retracted hook design which is less mechanically complex than existing entanglement-resistant (xe2x80x9cweedlessxe2x80x9d) lure design.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved artificial fishing lure of retracted hook design which is more escape-resistant than existing entanglement-resistant (xe2x80x9cweedlessxe2x80x9d) lure design.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved artificial fishing lure of retracted hook design which is less hazardous to users than existing entanglement-resistant (xe2x80x9cweedlessxe2x80x9d) lure design.
In satisfaction of these and related objects, the present invention provides an improved hard bodied lure with a single retractable hook, adaptable to multiple configurations, which can be readily manufactured using current molding and machining technology and standard industry parts, and which provides true weedless/snagless operation/use Since most game fish have an affinity for underwater structures such as brush and rocks, being able to fish the lure around and through this type of structure is extremely advantageous.
As will be clear from a review of the Detailed Description, the present design is simple, effective, and addresses each of the problems enumerated above in the Background. The present design guards the hook while the lure is being fished, and provides for deployment only when the fish strikes. This is accomplished via a cavity in the body of the lure. The cavity is large enough to house the hooking point of the single attached hook. The hook retention mechanism keeps the hook from deploying until the fisherman desires the hook to deploy and creates a source of biasing force to deploy the hook upon demand.
The present design addresses safety concerns described above by using a single barb hook, and in like manner addresses the dislodging problem of treble hooks. The simplicity of the mechanism allows for outer contours which meet whatever shapes are desirable for optimum fish attraction. The bodies of lures of the present design may be readily produced with molding technology employed by the industry today as a single piece or two piece casting, or as a single or two piece machined unit of wood, metal, or plastic using current machining and lathe technologies such as CNC machines. The present design is, mechanically speaking, very simple, and not prone to mechanical failure nor to rust or other deterioration. This same simplicity is beneficial from a cost of manufacturing standpoint. Other benefits of embodiments of the present invention will be apparent from an understanding of the specification and associated drawings.