The present invention relates to fishing, and more particularly, to devices used to hold fishing poles or rods that free up a fisherman""s hands for accomplishing other tasks.
While fishing with a fishing pole, it is frequently necessary for a fisherman to use both hands for threading a line and attaching lures, hooks, leaders and other fishing tackle to the line. Other tasks requiring the use of both hands include baiting, cleaning fouled hooks and removing fish that have been caught. Freeing both hands from the fishing pole normally means that the fisherman must let go of the fishing pole, running the risk of losing it overboard or fouling the reel or line. When fishing from the shore, fishermen often lean the pole against a chair or pier railing, and the pole often falls down. On a vessel, fishermen often lean the pole over the gunwales, only to have it fall down as the vessel pitches from side to side. Besides the inconvenience of picking up a fishing pole, the fishing pole can be damaged when it falls. Furthermore, the fishing pole""s line can become tangled when the fishing pole falls over, especially when several adjacent fishing poles fall together into a pile.
On frequent occasions fishermen prefer to relax and fish xe2x80x9chands free.xe2x80x9d Some lakes allow fishing with a two pole license, Fishermen would therefore like to be able to take their hands off of the handle of the fishing pole and let the pole rest in an upwardly inclined orientation so they can attend to other tasks, like eating a snack or opening a canned beverage. In the absence of auxiliary equipment for holding the fishing pole, this requires that the pole be leaned against a railing or an object, or laid on the ground or vessel floor. Sometimes a fisherman will awkwardly try to hold the pole between his or her legs.
A number of fishing pole holders have been designed to alleviate the foregoing problems. Many have been patented in the United States beginning in the nineteenth century. One type of fishing pole holder that is used near the shoreline consists of a cup or other fishing pole handle receptacle attached to a spike which is driven into the dirt, mud or sand at an inclined angle. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,779 of Cosic granted Jun. 26, 1984. These spike-mounted fishing pole holders are often hard to drive into rocky soil, are not easily moved and are unsuitable for use on a pier or on a vessel. Many fishing pole holders in the form of free-standing frames have been developed for use on piers and shorelines, but they are bulky and immobile. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,295 of Hochberger granted Jul. 9, 1996. Numerous fishing pole holders have been developed in the form of brackets which attach to chairs, vessel gunwales and railings. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,620 of Reed et al. granted Jul. 5, 1994, U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,050 of Rosenau granted Apr. 12, 1977, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,438 of Arrow granted Jul. 28, 1987. They are often unduly complex and immobile. They also rust and are difficult to adjust. In many cases, they require permanent attachment with screws and the like.
Body-mounted fishing pole holders have been developed in an attempt to overcome the foregoing drawbacks. A body-mounted fishing pole holder is particularly attractive to fishermen who like to walk along the bank of a lake or stream so they can cast into a deep spot. Such fishermen often end up casting from rocks or steeply inclined bank areas that make it very difficult to bait their fishing pole and remove fish once caught because the pole cannot be easily stood on its end or laid down. Body-mounted fishing pole holders that have heretofore been developed have not experienced widespread adoption and use because they have not been designed to afford maximum comfort and convenience, they have been too expensive to manufacture and sell at low cost and/or they have lacked the required durability for the harsh conditions encountered by fishermen. Many of these devices have consisted of complicated harnesses. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,354 of Butts granted Aug. 22, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 3,282,482 of Scharsu granted Nov. 1, 1966, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,312 of Maddox granted May 28, 1996. Others have consisted of handle receptacles mounted to a waist belt, which devices unduly restrict motion, are ill suited for sitting, do not adequately stabilize the fishing pole and place the tip of the pole too far away from the fisherman""s hands. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,174,319 of Hipwood granted Mar. 7, 1916, U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,573 of Fruscella et al. granted Apr. 1, 1975, U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,466 of Webber granted Feb. 11, 1986 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,932 of Gross granted Feb. 7, 1995.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,336 of Bishop granted Apr. 30, 1996 discloses a fishing pole holder having a hip plate made of thin, flexible plastic and a cylindrical tube attached to the hip plate. The hip plate is worn on a fisherman""s belt and the handle of the fishing pole is inserted into the tube. This holder places the tip of the fishing pole too far away from the fisherman""s hands. It is not comfortable to wear, and it does not allow the fisherman to easily sit with the pole mounted therein. Due to its molded plastic construction, a significant investment in tooling would be required to manufacture the patented fishing pole holder of Bishop.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,883 of Krouth et al. granted Sep. 28, 1999 discloses a fishing pole holder comprising a concave, convex frame attached to the fisherman""s lower leg. The frame has a boss with a polygonal pilot hole. A pole holding assembly including a swivel mechanism has a polygonal pin which is inserted into the pilot hole to allow for angular adjustment. The patented fishing pole holder of Krouth et al. is too complex and expensive to manufacture, and not readily adapted to support various pole sizes, particularly larger poles. In addition, all of the load of the fishing pole is transferred to a small region adjacent the boss which can lead to uncomfortable chafing against the fisherman""s lower leg. The pole holding assembly of Krouth et al. projects too far outward from the fisherman""s leg and can snag on branches and boat hardware.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,746 of Richardson granted Dec. 21, 1999 discloses a body-mounted, strap-on fishing pole holder including a stabilized vertical frame upon which is secured a rotatable rod receiving element which is adjustable to any desired vertical angle. Stabilization is achieved by the use of rigid U-shaped members that are attached at vertically spaced locations on the vertical frame and surround the waist and thigh of the fisherman. Belts are connected to the ends of the U-shaped members for encircling the corresponding body portion. The patented fishing pole holder of Richardson is overly complex and subject to mechanical failures. It also places the tip of the fishing pole too far away from the fisherman""s hands.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,976 of Fahringer, Sr. granted Oct. 21, 2000 discloses a fishing pole holder consisting of straps and snaps that connect the upper portion of the pole to the fisherman""s wrist and the lower handle portion of the fishing pole to the fisherman""s ankle. This design is not suited for sitting, and it is tedious to connect and disconnect the pole from the wrist and ankle each time the fisherman wants to bait, cast and unhook fish. The fishing pole holder of Fahringer, Sr. is not adapted to allow hands free fishing once the line has been cast.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,761,497 of Smith granted Jun. 3, 1930 discloses a fishing pole holder held to the fisherman""s thigh with a pair of adjustable straps. The holder comprises a flat metal plate with a lower socket device in which the butt-end of the pole is seated and an upper spring clasp device including a pair of resilient branched arms. A pair of semi-circular jaws are pivotally connected to the arms. The jaws may be closed about the fishing pole by pressing the rod against the pivot joint between the jaws. The patented fishing pole holder of Smith is overly complex from a mechanical standpoint, subject to rusting and breakage, and ill suited for holding a variety of fishing poles, particularly larger ones. The Smith holder does not conveniently place the tip of the pole in the best location and its metal plate would be very uncomfortable pressing against the fisherman""s thigh.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,872 of Ellington granted Feb. 29, 2000 discloses a plastic fishing pole holder with an upper end that clips over the waistband of a swimsuit, a lower end held by a strap to the fisherman""s thigh, and an intermediate flared and slotted tubular rod holder. This device would be expensive to mold, uncomfortable to wear, and would not support the weight of larger fishing poles. In addition, the patented fishing pole holder of Ellington does not conveniently position the upper free portion of the fishing pole.
It can be safely said that there has been a long felt need for an improved, versatile body-mounted fishing pole holder that is convenient, comfortable, inexpensive, lightweight and durable.
It is therefore object of the present invention to provide an improved body-mounted fishing pole holder that allows for more convenient stowage and retrieval of a fishing pole.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved body-mounted fishing pole holder that will place the tip of the pole in a more convenient location for baiting and fish removal.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved body-mounted fishing pole holder that is adapted for either standing or sitting.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved body-mounted fishing pole holder that is inexpensive to manufacture yet very durable.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved body-mounted fishing pole holder that is easy to don and remove and comfortable to wear.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved body-mounted fishing pole holder that is lightweight.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an improved body-mounted fishing pole holder that can also provide convenient storage for accessories such as a knife and fisherman""s pliers.
In accordance with the present invention a fishing pole holder comprises a holster sized to overlie an outer lower leg portion of a fisherman. The holster has a receptacle sized and configured for removably receiving a lower handle portion of a fishing pole. The receptacle provides the sole support for the fishing pole without requiring any auxiliary holder connected to any other part of the fishing pole or the use of a hand or an arm of the fisherman. Straps removably secure the holster to the lower leg portion of the fisherman. The holster is configured for inclining the lower handle portion of the fishing pole in a forward direction away from the outer lower leg portion of the fisherman so that an upper free portion of the fishing pole extends in a generally upright orientation. The upper free portion of the pole is therefore inclined in the forward direction away from the fisherman""s torso to position the tip of the pole for convenient two-handed baiting of a hook attached to a fishing line of the fishing pole and two-handed removal of a fish from the hook.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a fishing pole holder includes a holster sewn from durable waterproof synthetic woven fabric to provide a primary pocket. The holster is held to the outer side of a fisherman""s lower leg by upper and lower fabric straps stitched to the holster and wrapped around the lower leg. The straps are releasably secured with adjustable mating VELCRO(copyright) barb and loop fabric sections. A plastic tube is supported in the primary pocket of the holster. The tube is dimensioned to slidingly receive and removably the handle of a fishing pole and provide its sole support. The tube is forwardly inclined relative to the fisherman""s lower leg so that the upper free portion of the fishing pole extends in a forward direction away from the torso of the fisherman. A neoprene spacer block is secured to an upper end of the holster on its rear side for also inclining the tube laterally so that the upper free portion of the fishing pole also extends in a sideways direction away from the torso of the fisherman. The tip of the fishing pole is therefore positioned in front, and to the right, of the fisherman for convenient baiting of the hook and removal of fish that have been caught. The fishing pole holder is versatile in that it can be comfortably used in either a standing or sitting position. The holster is fabricated with a secondary pocket that forms a fishing knife sheath and a strap loop that holds a pair of fisherman""s pliers.
The present invention also provides a method of fishing which involves the steps of removably securing a holster around the fisherman""s lower leg, the holster having a forwardly inclined receptacle for removably receiving and supporting the lower handle portion of a fishing pole. The upper free portion of the fishing pole is inclined forwardly away from the fisherman""s torso. By inserting the pole into the receptacle, the fisherman can easily accomplish two-handed baiting of the hook and removal of fish therefrom between casting and reeling in catches.