Crab hand line

A crab hand line device has a triangular configuration and is opened and closed in the general manner of a safety pin. An elongate rod is bent in three locations to form a short leg, a medium length leg, and a long leg of the triangular configuration. A first end of the rod is bent into a return bend that is normal to the plane of the device. A second bend in the rod is a gradual ninety degree bend, and the third bend is a gradual one hundred fifty degree bend so that a thirty-sixty-ninety degree triangle is formed. The free end of the long leg is pointed to that a bait item is easily impaled onto it, and the pointed free end is releasably engaged with the return bend after the bait has been impaled to ensure that the bait cannot fall off of the third leg. The device is weighted so that it will not float, and the streamlined contour of the triangular configuration ensures that it will not snag on plant material as it is raised to the surface when a crab is feeding on the bait.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates, generally, to devices for catching crabs. More 
particularly, it relates to an improved crab hand line of the type used by 
sports crabbers. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Nets and traps are the tools most often used by commercial crabbers to 
catch crabs. Typical crab traps are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,134,226 to 
Petrella, 4,416,082 to Strobel, and 4,177,601 to Morton. However, there is 
a large body of sport crabbers; the sports crabber is not interested in 
harvesting vast quantities of crabs over a short time period, but would 
prefer to catch a small number of crabs in a leisurely fashion. Thus, 
sports crabbers do not use the well known tools of commercial crabbers. 
Crabs are voracious eaters and will seldom let go of food once they have 
begun feeding. Accordingly, sport crabbers have learned that a piece of 
bait can be tied to a line, known as a crab hand line, and lowered into a 
place where crabs are thought to be present. If a crab begins feeding on 
the bait, the sports crabber slowly raises the bait by pulling in the line 
without jerking it so as to avoid startling the crab, and captures the 
crab by scooping it up in a net once the crab is within about six inches 
of the surface of the water. 
The known crab hand lines have a number of drawbacks. Unless the bait 
itself is heavy, the hand line will float on the surface and will be 
ineffective because crabs do not feed on the surface; however, if a heavy 
bait is used and a fish, crab, or other animal eats a large piece of it 
before the sports crabber begins pulling in the line, the bait will float 
to the surface and lose its effectiveness. Thus, there is a need for a 
crab hand line that does not float to the surface even when a 
light-in-weight bait is used. 
The known hand lines also become snagged on crabgrass and other underwater 
plant material as the bait is pulled in. Thus, there is a need for a crab 
hand line that does not become snagged as it is pulled through crabgrass 
and the like. 
Baiting the known crab hand lines is also problematic. A line tied around a 
chicken leg, for example, does not hold the leg very well. Thus, there is 
a need for an improved crab hand line that is easy to bait, yet which will 
hold the bait securely for as long as the crab hand line is in use. There 
is also a need for a bait holder that enables facile removal of leftover 
parts of the bait. 
The prior art, when considered as a whole at the time the present invention 
was made, neither taught nor suggested to those of ordinary skill in the 
art of sports crabbing how an improved crab hand line could be built. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The longstanding but heretofore unfulfilled need for an improved crab hand 
line is now fulfilled. Three bends are formed in an elongate stainless 
steel rod to form a triangular-shaped bait holder that is locked into a 
closed, bait holding position in a manner reminiscent of a safety pin. In 
a preferred embodiment, the bait holder has the general appearance of a 
thirty-sixty-ninety degree triangle. 
The first bend is formed in a first end of the elongate rod. It is a return 
bend that forms a catch means; the bend is formed normal to the plane of 
the bait holder. The second bend is a ninety degree bend, and the third 
bend is about one hundred fifty degrees so that the second end of the rod 
is engaged by the catch. Thus, the bait holder has three primary parts: 
the first part is the short leg of the triangle within which is formed the 
catch means, the second part is the base of the triangle, and the third 
part is the hypotenuse thereof having a free end that is positioned in 
engaged relation to the catch means when the bait is in place. The 
resiliency of the rod and its triangular shape enables the user to squeeze 
the hypotenuse or longest leg to disengage it from the catch in much the 
same manner as a safety pin is squeezed to disengage the pin means thereof 
from the catch means thereof. The bait is impaled on the longest leg when 
its free end is disengaged from the catch means and the free end is then 
engaged to the catch means in safety pin fashion. A weight is secured to 
the base leg of the triangular device, and a line is tied to the device at 
the third bend thereof, i.e., where the base leg and the longest leg meet. 
The novel shape of the device enables it to slide freely through plant 
material. Just as importantly, it is easy to bait and easy to retrieve 
unused bait therefrom, but fish or crabs cannot remove the bait therefrom 
except by eating it. Moreover, the weight ensures that it will remain in 
its effective position for as long as it is in use. 
Thus it is clear that the primary object of this invention is to provide an 
improved crab hand line that overcomes the shortcomings of earlier crab 
hand lines. 
A more specific object is to provide a crab hand line that is easy to bait, 
easy to remove bait therefrom, which will not float, and which does not 
easily become snagged when passing through plant material. 
These and other important objects, features, and advantages of the 
invention will become apparent as this description proceeds. 
The invention accordingly comprises the combination of elements, 
arrangement of parts, and features of construction that will be set forth 
in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will 
be indicated in the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the Figs., it will there be seen that an exemplary 
embodiment of the invention is denoted as a whole by the reference numeral 
10. Crab hand line assembly 10 is made from an elongate rod of a suitable 
material such as stainless steel that is bent into a generally triangular 
configuration having a first leg, a second leg, and a third leg. More 
particularly, device 10 includes a short leg 12, a leg 14 of intermediate 
length, and a long leg 16. The first end of the rod is bent into a return 
bend to form a catch means 18; as shown in FIG. 2, the plane of the return 
bend is normal to the plane of the device 10 as a whole. A second bend, in 
spaced relation to said first bend, is a rounded ninety degree bend in the 
plane of the device and is denoted 20, and a third rounded bend, denoted 
22, is in the plane of the device and is about one hundred fifty degrees 
so that the included angle 24 between second or base leg 14 and long leg 
16 is about thirty degrees. Thus, the included angle between long leg 16 
and short leg 12 is about sixty degrees. 
A one ounce or other appropriate weight 26 is fixedly secured to base leg 
14 by a suitable attachment means 28, and a line such as a mason cord 30 
is secured to an eyelet member 32 that is mounted on the exterior side of 
the third bend as shown. In another embodiment of the invention, the 
eyelet is not employed; in that embodiment, line 30 is tied directly to 
device 10 at the location of the eyelet. 
The second end of the rod, i.e., the free end of the long leg 16 is pointed 
as at 34; this facilitates impaling a bait by driving long leg 16 through 
it. The bait is impaled when the free end is detached from the catch 
means, and the bait is secured by reattaching the free end of the long leg 
to the catch means. The opening and closing of the catch means is 
accomplished in the same way as the opening and closing of a safety pin, 
i.e., base leg 14 and long leg 16 are squeezed to separate the free end of 
the long leg from the catch, and said free end is displaced in a direction 
away from the catch and normal to the plane of device 10 to free it; the 
procedure is reversed to secure the free end of said leg into the catch 
means. In this manner, the objective of providing an easily baitable 
device is achieved, as is the object of providing a means for easily 
removing a bait item. 
The pointed end of the rod may be capped by a cork or other suitable, 
easily removable capping means 36 for the purpose of safety. The length of 
line 30 is whatever length the sports crabber prefers; a typical length is 
twenty feet. 
FIG. 1 depicts device 10 in the position it is in as it is being drawn 
toward the surface of the water when a crab is feeding on bait 38 impaled 
on long leg 16; note that the swept back contour of the device where the 
third bend 22 is formed enables the device to pass through plant material 
without snagging. This same effect could be achieved if the triangular 
shape of device 10 were that of an equilateral triangle, but the 
thirty-sixty-ninety degree shape is preferred because it lessens the 
distance between base leg 14 and long leg 16 and thus facilitates 
squeezing of the device when bait is being loaded or unloaded thereonto. 
The Figs. show device 10 in approximately actual size, but the size thereof 
may be changed as desired. 
This invention is clearly new and useful. Moreover, it was not obvious to 
those of ordinary skill in this art at the time it was made in view of the 
prior art as a whole. 
It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made 
apparent from the foregoing description, are efficiently attained, and 
since certain changes may be made in the above construction without 
departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matters 
contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying 
drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 
It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover 
all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein 
described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a 
matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween. 
Now that the invention has been described,