Abstract:
A fishing lure enhancement including multiple flexible primary legs projecting from a central hub, each primary leg formed of two or more flexible secondary legs. Primary legs are adapted to protect the lure from entanglement with weeds and other obstructions as well as providing pulsed motion during intermittent retrieval. Secondary legs are adapted to flare during pulsed retrieval and provide individual secondary motion.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to fishing lures and, in particular, to fishing lure enhancements providing primary and secondary radial projections for enhanced lure motion and protection from weeds.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     It is known to use multifilament skirts in association with fishing lures to enhance attractiveness to game fish and to protect the lure, with varying degrees of success, from unwanted entanglement or engagement with weeds or submerged obstructions such as limbs and rocks. Such devices typically comprise soft, silicone-based, elastomeric filaments and typically are attached behind a lure head such that the filaments extend rearward from the attachment point. The filaments are often produced in colors anticipated to attract game fish and may include or incorporate strands or flecks of reflective material.  
         [0003]     Often such multifilament skirts are combined with single hooks for use with live bait such as worms, crayfish or minnows, or with treble hooks often provided with artificial lures. In use, such filaments typically trail behind the head of a lure as the lure is pulled through a body of water such as a lake or river, the primary advantages of such filaments being enhancement of lure motion and color.  
         [0004]     Many of such filaments are too flexible and soft to effectively deflect weeds or protect the hook from snagging on underwater obstructions. Those that do effectively protect the hook typically comprise a stiff plastic extension or a bundle of stiff plastic fibers positioned ahead of the hook point to deflect weeds away from the hook point as it is pulled through the water and to deflect the hook itself from snagging underwater obstructions. The effectiveness of such structures at protecting the lure, however, also tends to reduce the ability of the hook to engage the mouthparts of a striking fish. Other multifilament devices essentially surround the lure in a basket or cone of rearward projecting filaments. While presumably effective, the attractive motion of such a device is typically limited to undulation of the filaments as the device is drawn through the water.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     A fishing lure enhancement device including a central hub and a plurality of flexible primary legs or projections extending radially outward from the hub in a common plane. Each of the primary legs comprises two or more flexible secondary legs. The primary legs are adapted to exhibit first order movements and the secondary legs are adapted to exhibit second order movements. These movements are in response to forces exerted upon the legs during movement of the device through a body of water. The hub includes an aperture extending the center of the hub. The aperture is dimensioned and configured to allow passage of a fishing line through the hub when securing the device near a lure.  
         [0006]     The device may be fabricated from a rubber-like material, important qualities being flexibility and resilience. The primary legs should exhibit sufficient resilience to remain partially extended when the device and associated lure are allowed to rest on the bed of a lake, river or other body of water. In addition, the legs should exhibit sufficient flexibility to bend partially rearward when the device is retrieved through a body of water, yet spring forward when retrieval is paused. The device is thereby particularly designed to exhibit a pulsing motion when retrieval is performed with frequent short pauses, the action of the device generally simulating that of a jellyfish. During pulsed or intermittent retrieval, the primary legs provide pulsed forward and rearward motion. Secondary legs are adapted to flare during pulsed retrieval and provide individual secondary movement.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]      FIG. 1  is a plan view of a device in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0008]      FIG. 2  is a plan view of an alternative embodiment of the device of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0009]      FIG. 3  is a rear perspective view of the device of  FIG. 1  showing the device engaged with a fishing hook and fishing line.  
         [0010]      FIG. 4  is a front perspective view illustrating a rearward disposition of the legs as may occur when the device is retrieved through a body of water.  
         [0011]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the device associated with a fishing lure such as a spinner bait.  
         [0012]      FIG. 6  is a side view of the device associated with a fishing lure such as a rooster tail by placement behind the lure and engagement with a fishing hook.  
         [0013]      FIG. 7  is a side view of the device associated with a fishing lure such as a jig.  
         [0014]      FIG. 8  is a side view of the device associated with a fishing lure by placement ahead of a crank bait and engagement with a fishing hook.  
         [0015]      FIG. 9  is a front perspective view of the device of  FIG. 1  illustrating independent disposition of the legs when the device is paused during retrieval through a body of water.  
         [0016]      FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating a portion of a fishing lure enhancement device, including three primary legs and twelve associated secondary legs.  
         [0017]      FIG. 11  is a diagrammatical side view of the device illustrating relative positioning of the legs during pulsed retrieval.  
         [0018]      FIG. 12  is plan view of an alternative embodiment including a further, tertiary set of shortened legs projecting between primary legs.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0019]     Referring more particularly to the figures,  FIG. 1  is a plan view of a fishing lure enhancement device  100  in accordance with the present invention. The device  100  includes a central hub area  102  and eight flexible major projections such as primary legs  110  extending radially outward from the hub  102  in a common plane. Each of the primary legs  110  is formed from four flexible minor projections such as secondary legs  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 . The hub  102  includes an aperture  120  extending through the center of the hub  102 . The aperture  120  is dimensioned and configured to allow passage of a fishing line  10  through the hub  102  when securing the device near a lure (see  FIGS. 3-9 ).  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  is a plan view of an alternative embodiment  200  of a fishing lure enhancement device. As illustrated, the alternative embodiment  200  includes six primary legs  210  projecting radially from a center hub  202 . Each of the primary legs  210  includes two secondary legs  212  and  214 . An aperture  220  extends through the center of the hub  202 . It should be appreciated that other embodiments utilizing various numbers of primary and secondary legs are contemplated by the present invention.  
         [0021]      FIG. 3  is a rear perspective view of the device  100  of  FIG. 1  in which the device is shown engaged with a fishing hook  12  and fishing line  10 .  FIG. 4  is a front perspective view of the device  100  illustrating the rearward disposition of the legs  110  as may occur when the device  100  is retrieved through a body of water. As illustrated, the secondary legs  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118  within a given primary leg  110  tend to remain in close proximity to one another. The gaps  130  between the primary legs  110 , while closing somewhat, are retained, thereby presenting a ready passage therethrough for the associated hook  12  during a strike by a fish.  
         [0022]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the device  100  threaded through a fishing line  10  and placed in front of a fishing lure such as a spinner bait  14 .  FIG. 6  is a side view of the device  100  associated with a fishing lure such as a rooster tail  15  by placement behind the lure and engagement with a fishing hook  12 . The device  100  may be arranged so that the tips of the hook  12  project slightly through gaps between the primary legs  110  or secondary legs  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 .  FIG. 7  is a side view of the device  100  threaded through a fishing line  10  and placed in front of a fishing lure such as a simple jig  16 .  
         [0023]      FIG. 8  is a side view of the device  100  associated with a fishing lure by placement on the line  10  ahead of a primary lure such as a crank bait  17  to simulate a predator chasing the device  100 . The device  100  is engaged with a fishing hook  12  to create a secondary lure  101 . This presentation entices surrounding fish as it simulates normal feeding behavior. When striking, a fish may miss the secondary lure  101  and, having its aggression aroused, direct a second strike towards the primary lure  17 .  
         [0024]     The device  100  may be fabricated from a rubber-like material, advantageous qualities being flexibility and resilience. The primary legs  110  should exhibit sufficient resilience to remain partially extended when the device  100  and associated hook  12  and/or lure are allowed to rest on the bottom of a body of water. In addition, the legs  110  should exhibit sufficient flexibility to bend partially rearward when the device  100  is retrieved through a body of water, yet spring forward when retrieval is paused. The device  100  is thereby particularly adapted to exhibit a pulsing motion when retrieval is performed with frequent short pauses, the action of the device generally simulating that of a jellyfish.  
         [0025]      FIG. 9  is a front perspective view of the device  100  illustrating partial, independent disposition of the primary legs  110  and secondary legs  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118  when the device  100  is paused during retrieval through a body of water. The primary legs  110  are adapted to exhibit first order movements and the secondary legs  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118  are adapted to exhibit second order movements. These movements are in response to forces exerted upon the legs during movement of the device  100  through a body of water. First order movements of the primary legs  110  create the overall pulsing motion, while second order movements of the secondary legs  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118  create more subtle and varied movements adapted to further entice game fish. As forward retrieval of the device  100  is paused, the secondary legs tend to separate, as shown in  FIG. 9 , causing the device  100  to mutate from an eight legged to thirty-two legged presentation.  
         [0026]      FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating a portion of a fishing lure enhancement device including three primary legs  110   a ,  110   b  and  110   c  projecting from a hub. As illustrated, this embodiment includes four secondary legs  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118  associated with each primary leg. Primary legs  110   a ,  110   b  and  110   c  are defined and divided from one another by gaps  130   a  and  130   b . Primary leg  110   b  is further separated from primary legs  110   a  and  110   c  by slits  132   a  and  132   b  such that primary leg  110   b  may bend about axis  142 , shown in phantom lines. Secondary legs  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118  may bend more freely about individual axes due to the reduced axis widths. In this embodiment, a tertiary system is formed through intermediate legs  144   a  and  144   b  which may bend about axes  142   a  and  142   b  respectively.  
         [0027]      FIG. 11  is a diagrammatical side view of the device  100  illustrating relative forward and rearward positioning of the primary legs during pulsed retrieval. It should be appreciated that forward and rearward movement of the secondary legs substantially follows that of the primary legs with slight deviations as indicated in  FIG. 9 . In  FIG. 11 , arrow  134  indicates forward motion of the device  100 , as occurs during retrieval after casting, as well as indicating relative strength of forward motion or pulse generated during retrieval. Smaller arrow  136  indicates rearward motion or recoil immediately following a forward pulse. Exemplary positions of the legs during various phases of a pulse cycle are indicated by lines labeled A through E. Starting with position A, as may occur under slight forward motion, the legs bend rearward to position B as forward motion is accelerated. Position C shows the legs bent rearward during maximum forward velocity. As forward motion slows, the legs recoil forward to positions B then A, and then continue forward to positions D and then E. If forward motion is halted the legs will typically assume a disposition generally intermediate to positions D and A. The cycle described above may be repeated through multiple cycles during retrieval of the device  100 , thereby creating substantial, pulsed, forward and rearward movement of the legs.  
         [0028]      FIG. 12  is plan view of an alternative embodiment  300  including shortened tertiary legs  340  disposed between primary legs  310 . The device  300  includes a central hub area  302  and eight flexible primary legs or projections  310   a  through  310   h  extending radially outward from the hub  302  in a common plane. Shortened, tertiary legs  340   a  through  340   h  extend radially outward from the hub  302 , each tertiary leg being disposed between adjacent primary legs. Each of the primary legs  310  and tertiary legs  340  is formed from two flexible secondary legs. For example, primary leg  310   a  comprises secondary legs  312  and  314  and tertiary leg  340   a  comprises secondary legs  342  and  344 . The hub  302  includes an aperture  320  extending through the center of the hub  302 . The aperture  320  is dimensioned and configured to allow passage of a fishing line  10  through the hub  302  when securing the device near a lure (see  FIGS. 3-9 ).  
         [0029]     The primary  310  legs provide forward and rearward action similar to that described for  FIG. 11 . Due to the reduced length and surface area of the tertiary legs  340 , however, the forces acting upon the tertiary legs  340  are reduced from those that act upon the primary legs  310  and the arc of travel for the tertiary legs  340  is concomitantly reduced. As the device  300  is drawn through the water, therefore, not only do the secondary legs  312 ,  314 ,  342 ,  344  deviate slightly from the plane of the primary legs  310  and tertiary legs  340  (as do secondary legs in devices  100  and  200 ), but further, the tertiary legs  340  deviate substantially from the plane of the primary legs  310 . This action causes the device  300  to morph during pulsed retrieval from a relatively coplanar disposition of legs or projections to a “three-dimensional” display of primary  310 , secondary  312 ,  314  and tertiary  340  legs each moving in independent forward and rearward arcs of travel.  
         [0030]     It is to be understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable equivalents thereof.