Fish hook lure and method of making same

The invention comprises a hook provided with a shank carrying an eye for attaching a line thereto and further carrying a bend, with a pointed end for hooking a fish with the fish hook having substantially a constant diameter and an outer surface for reflective light of a first wavelength with the improvement including a first layer of decorative material having a first pigment located on a first region of the fish hook, with the first layer of decorative material conforming to the outer surface of the fish hook without adding bulk to the hook, the first layer of decorative material reflects light of a wavelength different from the reflected fight of the outer surface of the point of the hook to provide the hook with greater visual attractiveness than the point of the hook and a method of making a fish-hook lure from a fish hook having an outer surface of substantially uniform dimension including the steps of spraying a layer of a first decorative material having a first pigment along a first portion of the fish hook and spraying a second layer of a second decorative material having a second pigment different from the first decorative material over a second portion of the hook so that the fish-hook lure has at least two layers of different and contrasting layers of pigment adjacent to one another to provide a hook of enhanced visual perception.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to lures and, more specifically, to a 
fish-hook lure free of external body-enlarging materials other than layers 
of different light-reflecting materials which allows a fish hook to 
function as a lure, yet allows the fish hook to retain its characteristic 
hook shape. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The concept of lures including flies and jigs is well known in the fishing 
art. The present invention provides an improvement to the fish hooks used 
with such lures by providing selected regions of different 
light-reflecting materials on a portion of the hook so that the hook 
functions as a lure yet retains its characteristic appearance of a fish 
hook. 
A particular advantage of the present fish hook lure is that, even though 
it makes the hook more visible, it also makes the hook attractive to fish. 
In addition, the coating on the hook inhibits and prevents rusting of the 
hook. It has also been found that the texture of the paint on the hook eye 
holds the knots more securely than a bare hook eye, thus lessening the 
chances of the line pulling free of the hook. A user advantage is that the 
hook is more visually perceptible to the user making it easier to attach 
to a line or locate it if the hook should be accidentally dropped. 
Additionally, but not distracting from the basic function of the fish 
hook, it permits an angler to use live baits in conjunction with the hook 
to provide a visual fish-attracting hook to compliment a visual 
attractiveness of the live bait.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,511,117 shows a wet-or-dry fly with an enlarged plastic 
body of translucent material on the shank of the hook. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,861,383 shows slidable beads located on the shank of the 
hook to enable one to disgorge the hook from a fish. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,775,055 shows a method of covering a shank with a flock of 
different colors by applying adhesives to the shank of the hook and then 
inserting the hook into a flocking chamber. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,641 shows a sleeve on the shank of a fish hook which 
can be slid down to withdraw the hook from a fish. 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,998 shows a fish hook having a coating of Teflon or the 
like in order for the hook to have less resistance in penetrating the 
mouth of the fish. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,195 shows a colored sleeve extending along the shank 
and over a portion of a swivel. 
U.S. Design Pat. No. 324,407 shows a fishing jig with a head extending over 
the eye of the hook. 
U.S. Design Pat. No. 326,891 shows a fishing jig with a body member 
extending over a portion of the shank with the body member having eyes to 
appear as an insect or the like. 
U.S. Pat. No. 895,493 shows a fish hook with an open eye for attaching a 
line thereto. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,601,292 shows a further embodiment of a fishing hook which 
can be attached to a line without attaching a knot thereto. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,347 shows a sinker comprised of a manually movable 
material which is attached to a fishing line proximate a hook. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,142 shows a self-destruct fishing hook having an 
exposed area of steel which corrodes rapidly so that the hook self 
destructs if the line should break and the hook remains in the fish. 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,622 shows a novel fish hook having a sleeve proximate 
the area of reduced diameter with the sleeve being of a flexible material 
and secured to the shank for setting of the fish hook. 
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Briefly, the invention comprises a hook provided with a shank carrying an 
eye for attaching a line thereto and further carrying a bend, with a 
pointed end for hooking a fish with the fish hook having substantially a 
constant diameter and an outer surface for reflecting light of a first 
wavelength with the improvement including a first layer of decorative 
material having a first pigment located on a first region of the fish 
hook, with the first layer of decorative material conforming to outer 
surface of the fish hook without adding bulk to the hook. The first layer 
of decorative material reflects light of a wavelength different from the 
reflected light of the outer surface of the point of the hook to provide 
the hook with greater visual attractiveness than the point of the hook. 
The method of making a fish-hook lure from a fish hook having an outer 
surface of substantially uniform dimension includes the steps of spraying 
a layer of a first decorative material having a first pigment along a 
first portion of the fish hook and then spraying a second layer of a 
second decorative material having a second pigment different from the 
pigment of the first decorative material over a second portion of the hook 
so that the fish-hook lure has at least two layers of different and 
contrasting layers of pigment adjacent to one another to provide a hook of 
enhanced visual perception. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a side view of the fish-hook lure 
10 of the present invention. Typically, fish hook lure 10 comprises a 
one-piece fish hook made of metal such as steel or bronze having multiple 
layers of different light-reflecting materials thereon. Fish hook lure 10 
is characterized by being free of shank-enhancing members which would 
provide bulk to the shank of the hook. 
FIG. 2 shows a front view of the fish-hook lure of FIG. 1. Fish hook lure 
10 comprises a shank portion 20 free of any hackles or body portions which 
are normally added to the shank of a hook to form the hook into a jig or 
the like. Fish-hook lure 10 substantially retains its fish hook shape and 
has an eye 16 with an opening 17 for attaching a fishing line thereto. 
Located on the opposite end of shank 20 is a bend or curved portion 20a 
which connects shank 20 to barb 12 having a point 13. The fish hook has 
substantially a constant diameter and an outer surface which reflects 
light of a first wavelength with the layer of decorative material applied 
to the outer surface of the shank for the purpose of enhancing the visual 
appearance of the shank of the hook by reflecting light of different 
wavelengths, yet not substantially increasing the bulk of the shank. 
FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view taken along lines 3--3 of FIG. 1. 
Cylindrical shank 20 is shown in cross section with multiple layers of 
decorative material located thereon. For illustrative purposes, the layers 
of material are shown in an enlarged condition. Encapsulating shank 20 and 
preferably the entire fish-hook lure 10 is a layer of material such as a 
primer or transparent, rust-inhibiting epoxy resin paint 21. The purpose 
of the primer is to prevent exposed portions of the hook from rusting and 
also to form a base for receiving layers of decorative material. Extending 
completely around a first portion of shank 20 and primer layer 21 is a 
first base layer of material 22 which can be transparent or reflect light 
of a first wavelength. Extending over and partially obscuring the first 
base layer of material 22 is a first layer of a decorative material 23 
which reflects light of a second wavelength which is reflectively 
different from the first layer of reflective material to thereby provide a 
visual contrast between regions 22 and 23. Extending over and partially 
obscuring the second layer of decorative material 23 is a third layer of 
decorative material 24. Similarly, the layer of decorative material 24 
reflects light of a wavelength which is different from the wavelength of 
the third layer of decorative material 23 to provide a visual contrast 
between regions 23 and 24 on shank 20. 
Referring to FIG. 1, the effect and position of the multiple layers of 
decorative material can be appreciated. Each of the decorative layers 22, 
23 and 24 extend longitudinally and axially from hook eye 16 through shank 
20 and partially onto bend 20a of hook 10. The result is a front view 
which has a first unitary decorative appearance (FIG. 2) and a side view 
with a multiple, banded decorative appearance. 
Referring to FIGS. 4 through 6, the method of applying the layers of 
decorative material to the fish hook of the present invention will be 
described in further detail. 
FIG. 4 shows a metal fish-hook shank 20 with a nozzle 30 air brushing or 
spraying a first layer of primer material in a 360-degree circle around 
shank 20 and hook 10. The movement of nozzle 30 provides a uniform 
protective layer of primer coating 21 encapsulating shank 20, as shown in 
FIG. 5. After the first coating of transparent material or primer 21 is 
applied to the hook, a second layer of translucent or decorative material 
22 is applied in a similar manner completely around shank 20. FIG. 1 shows 
decorative layer 22 extends from bend 20a and over eye 16. 
FIG. 5 illustrates the next step in the process of spraying a third layer 
of decorative material 23 along the front side of shank 20. As can be seen 
in the drawing, the decorative material 23 extends around the centerline 
C.sub.L and is deposited on the shank up to the line C.sub.1 which is 
substantially parallel to centerline C.sub.L. Thereafter, the decorative 
material feathers out since it does not readily wrap around the back side 
of cylindrical shank 20. By maintaining the nozzle in a fixed position on 
one side of the shank and controlling the nozzle spacing from the hook as 
well as the width of the nozzle, one can cover a longitudinal region of 
hook 10 with a layer of decorative material 23. By spraying the layers of 
decorative material thereon, one forms feathered regions at the edge of 
the decorative layers which provide a contrasting appearance. In addition, 
the thickness of the decorative layers on the hook is kept to only a few 
mils, thereby not creating bulk on the shank of the hook. 
Referring to FIG. 6, a further layer of decorative material 24 is being 
sprayed onto the front portion of shank 20 with the further layer 24 
extending only partially around shank 20 to a line C.sub.2 which is 
parallel to centerline C.sub.L, thereby leaving a region between lines 
C.sub.1 and C.sub.2 which is covered by decorative layer 22. That is, by 
bringing spray nozzle 30 closer to the shank 20, one can control how far 
the layer of decorative material 24 wraps around the shank 20. 
In the steps shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the nozzle may be moved axially up or 
down during the application stage, but the nozzle is not permitted to move 
circumferentially around shank 20. 
FIGS. 1 and 3 show the present embodiment of the hook with an elongated 
front band of decorative material 24 which extends from eye 16 to bend 
20a. Visible from both sides of hook 10 is the layer of decorative 
material 23 and located on the backside is base decorative layer 21. The 
decorative materials can be epoxy paints or other suitable 
light-reflecting materials. 
While various layers of decorative materials can be used, typical layers of 
adjacent decorative materials should contain contrasting pigments such as 
red, orange, pink, chartreuse, green or yellow pigments. In order to 
provide even higher contrast, decorative layers containing fluorescent 
materials are preferred. 
The layers of decorative material have a thickness of only a few mils so 
that, even after application of the multiple layers of different 
decorative materials, the fish hook visually still appears as a fish hook. 
That is, spraying material onto the hook allows each layer to have a 
thickness of less than 5 mils yet have the visual appearance of a normal 
hook. 
In the preferred embodiment I have found that two part epoxy resin paints 
are suitable for both the primer and the outer decorative layers since 
they adhere tenaciously to the hook and when dry have a thickness of less 
than 5 mils. Although epoxy resin paints are preferred other paints having 
suitable adhesion and pigment colorant could be used.