The present invention relates to releasable fishing line clips and more particularly concerns an improved snag-free outrigger or downrigger clip of a compact arrangement, having increased efficiency, decreased line friction and improved latching.
In various types of trolling, the fishing line is held at a position to one side of, or below, a cruising boat by means of an outrigger or downrigger. The line is releasably held at the outwardly or downwardly displaced position by being passed through a clip secured to a support, such as an outrigger pole or a weighted downwardly extending line. The clip is arranged so that when a fish strikes the bait or lure, the line tension increases sufficiently to free the line from the clip.
Because the clip is displaced from the cruising boat, the fishing line passing through the clip makes a sharp bend, generally being led over a releasable member, such as a wire or bail, that is pivoted to the clip and pulled outwardly by a sudden tension increase so as to allow the line to run freely out on the clip. Many releasable clips presently available create excessive friction between the fishing line and the wire or bail over which it runs so that the line frequently is seriously damaged or frayed.
An arrangement that attempts to decrease this friction is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,148, to Naone et al which shows a circular sheave with fixed axial protuberances. These protuberances are frictionally received and clamped between a pair of legs that are adjusted to maintain the sheave in position. The clamping force needed to hold the sheave in position exerts a rotation restraining frictional force on the sheave which thus may experience difficulties in turning and the concomitant loss of a friction-free characteristic. Further, with the arrangement of Naone et al, the increased tension on a line to release the line from the clip will pull the sheave completely free of its supporting legs as the line is released. Thus, the sheave is lost each time there is a strike, and a new sheave must be employed for reuse of the clip. Obviously, economic considerations will prevent this disposable and expendable sheave from being manufactured with optimum characteristics of efficiency, durability, and frictionless rotation.
The clip of our prior application, identified above, includes an all-plastic latch member which overlies both the body and the pivoted arm and may be subject to wear and inadvertent release or displacement. Tension of the trolling line varies as the lure skips in and out of the water, so that under some circumstances a very small diameter or compressible line, such as a Dacron line, may slip over the end of the roller of the clip of our prior application and become jammed between the end surface of the roller and the roller mounting arm. The clip described in the present application minimizes or avoids such problems and provides an improved, more efficient, and compact design having significant advantages over the invention of our earlier application.