Fishing rod mounted line-detaining device

The device is adapted for mounting on a fishing rod and includes a guided slide bar having a head portion provided with a notch for releasably gripping a fishing line and releasing the line as the line becomes subjected to tension sufficient to set the hook in the mouth of a fish.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
There are various known hook-setting devices which may be mounted on a 
fishing rod. In view of the present invention, it may be generally viewed 
that such prior devices are unnecessarily complicated and provide 
hook-setting reactions which are unnecessarily vigorous, such as the 
tripping of a line-jerking mechanism. This invention is based on the 
experience that only light and sudden line tension is required to set the 
hook in the fish's mouth. 
It is an important object of this invention to provide a hook-setting 
accessory for a fishing rod that is very successful in function and much 
less expensive than the prior art devices. 
Another object is to provide a device that is so small, inexpensive and 
easy to install as to be a nearly disposable item carried in any quantity 
desired in the fisherman's coat pocket or equipment box. 
It is a further object to provide a hook-setting device which readily 
releases the fishing line once the hook is set. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention, in brief, achieves the above objects in a device comprising 
a support body attachable to a fishing rod, and a line-gripping slide 
member in slidable entrapped guide relation with the body. The body is 
contoured along its underside to approximately fit a longitudinal portion 
of a fishing rod. Upwardly from the undersurface within the body, a 
guideway extends elongately in the lengthwise direction of the body and 
the fishing rod. The member comprises, preferably, a flat elongate strip 
or bar portion terminating at its rear end in a slotted line-receiving 
head portion and at its front end in a detent portion consisting of any 
enlargement of, or structure in transverse relation to, the bar portion 
capable of engaging a front area of the body as a stop terminating 
rearward movement of the member relative to the body. The head portion has 
a notch open at the top of which the sides taper downwardly at a small 
angle to an apex enabling the sides to grip in a frictional pinching 
manner a fishing line extending linearly therethrough after having been 
manually pressed thereinto. 
As one feature, the notch is located outwardly, usually upwardly, from the 
axis of the bar portion to cause a bending force on the bar portion when 
the line fastened therin is subjected to a pull from the front direction 
of the rod. If the bar portion is sufficiently flexible, the head portion, 
on engaging the rear end surface of the body during operation, will tilt 
forward to allow tension exerted by a fish, presumably now hooked, to pull 
the line out of the notch to thus permit unrestricted line pay-out 
operation of the fishing rod reel.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
FIG. 1 illustrates a fishing rod 5, a reel 6 attached to the handle portion 
7 of the rod, a line 8 extending outwardly of the reel 6 toward the front 
or distal end of the rod 5, and the line-detaining device 10 of this 
invention. The device 10 comprises a body 11 and a line-gripping slide 
member 12. The body 11 is of simple block configuration, elongated in the 
direction of the length of the fishing rod 5 and having a front end 
surface 15, a rear end surface 16, an upper surface 17, and an upper 
surface 18 on the side opposite the upper surface. The body 11 has a 
straight elongate guideway 20 extending in its lengthwise direction from 
one end surface of the body to the other. 
The slide member 12 comprises a generally straight strip or bar portion 21 
terminating at its front end in a down-turned portion or detent 22, and at 
its rear end in a head portion 23. The bar portion 21 extends through the 
guideway 20. As FIG. 2 shows, the transverse cross sections of both the 
bar portion 21 and the guideway 20 are rectangular and elongate with the 
bar portion filling the guideway sufficiently both horizontally and 
vertically to permit very little horizontal or vertical angling movements 
of the member 12 relative to the body 10 or rotative movement of the bar 
portion about its longitudinal axis within the guideway. 
The bar portion 21 is substantially longer than the body 11, approximately 
twice as long as shown, to allow the fish to take the hook an commence its 
movement and gain momentum away from the hook position. 
FIG. 3 illustrates the position of the line-gripping member 12 at its most 
rearward position corresponding to a situation wherein the bated hook (not 
shown) is in the water at rest. As the fish strikes and puts tension on 
the line 8, the member 12 is drawn forwardly to cause an area of the head 
portion 23 to engage an area of the rear end surface 16 of body 11 
surrounding the guideway 20. As this happens, the section of the 
bar-portion adjacent to the head portion 23 may bend resiliently as shown 
to allow the head portion 23 to tilt forward if the line 8 has been so 
firmly inserted into a notch 25 of the head portion 23 as to be difficult 
to pull through the notch. The tilting of the head permits a more direct 
pull on the line in the diverging direction of the notch sides to dislodge 
the line. Thus, in normal operation of the device 10, the line 8 will jerk 
free of the notch as the fish continues its course and draws line from the 
reel 6. Release of the line is essential in order that the line may not on 
many occasions be broken, or the rod separated from an unwary fisherman. 
To illustrate a preferred construction of the notch, FIG. 6 shows the rear 
end of a line-gripping member 12a having a generally dihedral of V-shaped 
notch 25a in a head portion 23a. Elements of member 12a corresponding to 
elements of member 12 are identified by the same number except for the 
addition of a. The opposite sides 28, 29 of the notch are relatively wide 
apart at the top of the crest surface 31. To maximize pinching action of 
the line 8, however, the sides 28, 29 are of convex contour as they 
converge toward a plane generally bisecting the notch, extending in the 
longitudinal direction of the bar portion 21a, and containing the apex 32 
of the notch. A notch constructed in this manner is capable of tight 
frictional gripping action on commercially available fishing lines over a 
large range of commonly used line deniers. As shown in both embodiments, 
the head portion of the line-gripping member extends laterally toward and 
through the plane of the upper surface of the body to terminate laterally 
in a crest surface. 
As shown most clearly in FIGS. 5 and 7, the body 11 is constructed with an 
undersurface 18 which is arcuate and has an arcuate length of greater than 
180.degree. about its center of revolution at the center of the rod 5. 
When the body 11 is made of a resiliently flexible material such as 
compositions essentially of rubber, polyethylene, or polyvinylchloride, 
the device 10 may be thrust onto the rod from a lateral direction to 
radially entrap the rod. If desired, the undersurface 18 of the body may 
be coated with a tacky coating 35 which will cause the device 10 to 
establish an adhesive bond with the rod. As a very simple expedient, the 
body may be constructed of wood or other non-resilient material with an 
undersurface of less arcuate length than 180 degrees and tapered to the 
rod. 
According to one method of manufacturing the device 10, the body 11 my be 
constructed as two pieces, i.e., a body element 38 and cover strip 39 as 
shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. Accordingly, the body element 38 is grooved 
longitudinally inwardly from the top surface 17 to form the guideway 20 at 
the deepest portion of the groove. The groove has an upper wider 
longitudinally extending recess at surfaces 41, 42 extending laterally 
outwardly from both sides of the top of the guideway 20. 
The strip 39 may be constructed as shown with its side edges 44, 45 in 
concavo-convex relation with the corresponding side surface of the recess 
defined by surfaces 41, 42. The strip is merely pressed into the operative 
position shown and if constructed to an accurate tight fit, is 
frictionally retained in the recess against longitudinal movement. With 
the body constructed in this manner, the prefabricated slide member can be 
placed in the guideway before placing the strip 39 in operative position. 
Another method of manufacture is to prepare the body 11 as a single piece, 
insert a piece of straight stock providing the slide member 12 equipped 
with a head portion formed thereon, and bend the front end of the stock 
piece to provide a front detent. The head portion can also be formed and 
notched from a portion of the straight stock piece. The notched head 
portions of the line-gripping members shown are exemplary of line-gripping 
means in general that may releaseably grip a fishing line so that the line 
may be automatically withdrawn from a notch or a resilient means, such as 
spring clamps, during a fish strike or be manually plucked from the 
gripping means.