Fish lure

A novel fish lure is provided herein. The lure is shaped in the form of a tail-less minnow having a main body of generally hydrodynamic shape including a head portion and a tail tip portion, the main body having, in side elevational view, a gently rounded upper back surface and an arcuately rounded belly surface and having, in top plan view, side faces which diverge from the head portion to a maximum body thickness and then converge to the tail tip portion; a projecting flat plate-like nose extending from the head in the form of a smooth extension of the gently rounded upper back surface and extending downwardly less than the height of the body from the upper surface to the lower surface, the nose having a shape, in top plan view of diverging side faces, which terminate in a transverse, connecting bevelled edge, to provide two downwardly sloping nose surfaces, the nose being provided with a plurality of spaced apart holes therethrough, disposed along the central longitudinal central axis thereof for securing a fish line drawn through a selected such hole; a depending tail fin along the central longitudinal axis of the body, the tail fin being provided with a fish-line-guiding channel extending along an arcuate path longitudinally through it and through the body. A fish line is adapted to be threaded through one of the holes. One hole imparts the most erratic action. A second hole imparts lessened erratic action, and the third hole imparts extremely vibrant but tight movement from the center. In all cases, the action of the plug is side-to-side at the same time as the plug oscillates on its longitudinal axis. The fish lure is one to which can be imparted erratic action in which the action is a simultaneous side-to-side and oscillation on its longitudinal axis. The lure may be patterned to represent a minnow more closely.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
(i) Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to fish lures. 
(ii) Description of the Prior Art 
The art is replete with artificial fish bait developed for one purpose or 
another. Canadian Pat. No. 436,322 dated Aug. 13, 1946 in the name of D. 
Rosegard attempted to provide improvements in the manner and means of 
applying the hooks to the plug so as to prevent their fouling one another. 
This was said to be provided by a fish lure in which the plug body was 
formed with channels leading from the forward end portion of the body and 
opening, in spaced relationship, to the underside thereof, with a cord 
having a loop and two end portions freely passing through the channels to 
the underside of the plug body, with fish hooks attached to the cord ends, 
and a fish line slidably connected with the loop. 
Canadian Pat. No. 481,461 issued Mar. 4, 1952 to W. Jordan proposed to 
provide a fish lure and hook assembly wherein the strain upon the hook was 
evenly distributed through the hook-strand instead of occurring directly 
on to the lure. This was said to be achieved by a fish lure and hook 
assembly including an open-ended passageway extending through the lure, a 
hook strand extending through the passageway, a hook secured to the strand 
also being secured near the head end opening of the passageway, a 
swivelling-eye accessory freely slidably on the strand, and a friction 
stop in the form of an apertured bead. 
Canadian Pat. No. 531,671 issued Oct. 16, 1956 to G. P. Heiner proposed to 
provide a fishing lure for trout, bass or other game fish so designed that 
it will ride properly in the water and will have the correct amount of 
action to attract the fish and which has a structure to cause greater 
wobble in the action of the lure. This was said to be achieved in a 
fishing lure comprising a solid body having greater length than width and 
having a particularly recited triangular shape having a curved bottom, a 
downwardly extending tail with openings in the sides thereof, a double 
shanked hook pivoted in the openings and attaching means at a particularly 
recited location adapted for connection to a fish line or fishing hook. 
Canadian Pat. No. 537,831 issued Mar. 5, 1957 to J. S. Allman et al 
proposed to provide an artificial fishing lure which was to be a close 
representation of a real live bait, a herring for example. This was said 
to be provided by producing a filler core from deformable interconnected 
laminations and completely enveloping the filler core within an outside 
wrapper, which is natural scale-equipped fish and which is cut from real 
fish skin. 
Canadian Pat. No. 562,247 issued Aug. 26, 1958 to G. C. Wentwood proposed 
to provide a fish lure which would, by the relative motion of its parts 
and its movement in the water, closely simulate the action of the natural 
prey of fish and wherein the motion of the lure in the water and the 
character of its motion as well as the relative motion of the parts of the 
lure could be easily controlled by the angler. This was said to be 
achieved in a fishing lure comprising a body having longitudinally and 
horizontally disposed front, middle and tail sections, means disposed 
between and pivotally connecting the sections at their lower portions for 
vertically swinging movement, a hook carried beneath and by at least one 
of the sections, and a line operatively connected to and spaced from at 
least two of the sections at the bottom portions thereof and spaced 
laterally from the pivotal connections of the sections. 
Canadian Pat. No. 644,777 issued July 17, 1962 to J. R. Zemen proposed to 
provide a trigger mechanism for fish lures whereby, upon engagement from a 
fish, a retracted hook would be released for swift advance to an open 
position wherein the hook would operate most effectively to catch the 
fish. This was said to be provided by a fish lure having an elongated 
based with line-attaching means near its forward end, a shank having one 
end in pivotal connection with the base and formed at its opposite end 
with a hook having reversely facing point, a particular trigger mechanism 
for the shank, and a spring-engaging catch anchored to the base. 
Canadian Pat. No. 670,046 issued Sept. 10, 1963 to D. R. Greer proposed to 
provide an artificial fish lure bearing a novel and realistic overlapping 
scale simulation of natural size, the objects, advantages and 
distinguishing features. This is said to be provided by a fish lure 
provided with a plurality of scale elements including transverse leaves 
mounted substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal mounting element by 
means providing a hole in the transverse leaves, each of the transverse 
leaves having a portion bent rearwardly to create an overlapping relation 
with an adjacent leaf and contoured to provide a transverse plurality of 
simulated individual scales and means for spacing and confining the 
transverse leaves. 
Canadian Pat. No. 786,533 issued June 4, 1968 to R. O. Blanks proposed to 
provide a hollow minnow lure which could work on top water and under 
water, and which would simulate the action of a lazy minnow, a wounded 
minnow and will also work from the top water down two feet under and may 
serve as a floater or a popper. This was said to be provided in a minnow 
lure, whose body was forwardly tapered, a nose, a tail, a longitudinally 
extending opening, wires associated with the body, and a guide lip 
angularly secured to a forward portion of the body. 
Canadian Pat. No. 853,419 issued Oct. 13, 1970 to L. R. Bellah et al 
proposed to provide a buoyant traveling device useful as a bobber or as a 
lure. This was said to be provided by a buoyant traveling device having a 
pair of line attachment portions, an upwardly facing planing surface when 
resting on the water and a weight directly beneath the line attachment 
portion. 
Canadian Pat. No. 950,671 issued July 9, 1974 to C. P. Metzger proposed to 
provide a lure having the general appearance of a herring strip but which 
did not require the use of fresh bait to attract fish. This was said to be 
provided in a lure which was shapes to roll as it is trolled through the 
water and to move otherwise about in a manner most likely to attract the 
attention of the salmon or other game fish and to deceive the fish into 
thinking it is a live but injured herring darting about in the frantic 
effort to escape. The rate at which the lure rolls or rotates during 
trolling can be adjusted by altering the position of the leader where it 
extends forwardly of the lure and relative to adjacent parts of the head 
of the lure. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,490,101 issued Apr. 15, 1924 to R. F. Dichman proposed to 
provide an artificial fish bait equipped with a plurality of hooks 
extending in various directions from different sides, all connected by a 
single wire, the wire constituting attaching means for the line, and 
constructed with a spoon head so located as to cause the bait to twirl or 
zig-zag through the water. The body member had an upstanding head and a 
down-turned tail. The head had a spoon-shaped recess on its lower face and 
lines secured to the base of the lower face of the head and to the extreme 
front end thereof with the bait having hooks carried thereby. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,499,975 patented July 1, 1924 by J. E. Ford proposed to 
provide an artificial fish bait, having a pair of holes therethrough so 
that when fishing in still water the fishing line is passed through the 
other hole, thereby controlling the action of such bait to have it imitate 
a live minnow in both characters of water. The artificial bait of buoyant 
material had a weight in its bottom intermediate the ends thereof, with 
flexible fins and tail pieces carried by the body. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,777,004 patented Sept. 30, 1930 by L. S. Lemere et al 
proposed to provide a fishing bait or lure of flexible construction, made 
to simulate a living organism and capable of being bent into different 
positions and of retaining the positions to which it is bent, thereby to 
secured different movements in the water. The fish lure was a relatively 
flat body member of flexible material, with a flexible non-resilient 
material strip embedded in, and extending lengthwise of the body member, 
hooks secured to the lines through the body member. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,840,273 patented Jan. 5, 1932 by J. S. Lang proposed to 
provide a class of lures which when drawn through the water have an 
oscillatory, rolling or diving motion or a combination of these motions 
imparted to them by the action of the water upon them. This was said to be 
provided by a traction member extending beneath the body of the lure, and 
light reflectors borne by the traction member. 
U.S. Pat. No. Re. 18390 reissued Mar. 22, 1932 by J. T. Welch proposed to 
provide an artificial minnow with certain improvements by which a more 
attractive and serviceable surface finish is produced at a considerable 
saving in labor and expense. This was said to be provided by a fish bait 
having a body of transparent material with surface decoration formed in 
part by the material of the body. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,851,823 patented Oct. 11, 1932 by A. V. McKenzie proposed 
to provide a metal biat which would float and which had a surface finished 
to cause the bait to be highly attractive. This was said to be provided 
by an artificial belt comprising a hollow elongated metal body formed in 
halves, the body having two coatings, the inner coating having a silver 
appearance, and the outer coating having an iridescent appearance. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,110,382 patented Mar. 8, 1938 by J. H. Martin proposed to 
provide a flexible securing means for attaching a hook or plurality of 
hooks to a fish lure. This was said to be provided by a fish lure provided 
with a draft link and having a line attached at one end to the link and a 
hook attached to the free end of the line, and a supporting eye secured to 
the lure for suspending the free portion of the line. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,256,173 patented Sept. 16, 1941 by O. Schechterle proposed 
to provide means for attaching hooks to artificial minnow plugs. This was 
said to be achieved by a screw eye, a socket member, a boss releasably 
engaged in the socket member and including a line guiding eye, and a 
trolling line attached to the screw eye. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,283,960 patented May 26, 1942 by W. J. Wade proposed to 
provide a trolling plug that would have a combined darting and wobbling or 
oscillating movement when it was drawn through the water to simulate the 
movement of a stunned or wounded fish. This was said to be achieved by a 
body member of special circular cross-sectional shape and a rigid plate of 
special shape and position. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,389,883 patented Nov. 27, 1945 by R. B. Worden proposed to 
provide a fish lure of a type wherein the line and shaft of a hook may be 
concealed within the body of the lure but which was readily releasable as 
the result of a strike. This was said to be provided by a body provided 
with a reeveway for the line, the body in its under portion being provided 
with a cavity with which the reeveway communicates and with a slot 
extending lengthwise of the body and in communication with the cavity, 
receiving the shank of the hook so that the shank is hidden within the 
body. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,545,185 patented Mar. 13, 1951 by C. A. Winslow proposed to 
provide a trolling gear which included a parafish having means for 
adjusting its depth when in use and additional means for regulating the 
direction of travel. This was said to be provided in a trolling device 
including a thin, flat body member, pivotally arranged laterally 
projecting fin members, fastening means, a tow line, a bridle for 
connecting the tow line to the body member, flexible straps, and clamping 
means for the straps. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,572,616 patented Oct. 23, 1951 by W. A. Hensen proposed to 
provide a fish lure in which hooks are suspended from the lure by the 
fishing line. This was said to be provided by a buoyant body having a pair 
of openings and a spring clip positioned on the upper surface of the body 
and spaced rearwardly from the opening through the forward end of the 
body, and fishing line having fish hooks thereon positioned between the 
opening through the rear portion of the body and opening through the 
forward end of the body. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,595,191 patented Apr. 29, 1952 by C. E. Erickson proposed 
to provide an artificial lure which obtains its attracting action in the 
water without the necessity of resorting to an unnatural bait fish form. 
This was said to be obtained by a simulated bait fish having two 
transverse bores through its sides at locations spaced apart lengthwise 
thereof, a rigging line passed continuously through the bores, and 
separate hooks slidably secured to the rigging line at the respective ends 
of the straight bore. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,994,982 patented Aug. 8, 1961 by S. A. Murawski proposed to 
provide an artificial fishing lure which is so constructed as to attract 
fish thereto due to the fact that the lure will have every appearance of a 
live minnow or the like and in which the hook is concealed from fish 
approaching the lure. This was said to be achieved in a hollow body member 
of soft pliable plastic material, fins of thin flexible structure, a head 
member and a tail member, a downwardly and rearwardly inclined channel, a 
hook member disposed within the channel, an abutment in the base of the 
channel, the hook being releasable upon compressive force upon the tail 
member of the lure. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,218,750 patented Nov. 23, 1965 by Irving I. Levin proposed 
to provide a fishing lure resembling a fish, and having the physical 
connection between the body of the fish and tail piece so formed that such 
body connection and the tail piece will constitute an elastic system which 
will create a restoring force to operate upon the mass of the tail piece 
to establish the basic combination of a spring and mass of a vibrating 
system. This was said to be provided by a body formed of soft rubber-like 
material to resemble an actual small fish of minnow size, having fins, an 
oscillatable tail, a resilient curved bib, and the bib was freely flexible 
with respect to the tail in response to reaction pressure from water 
through which the lure is being drawn. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,370,375 patented Feb. 27, 1968 by G. J. Offeonello proposed 
to provide a fish lure which will travel when pulled through the water in 
a relatively buoyant mode and will maintain an axis with the bottom 
surface pointing downwardly and the top surface pointing upwardly with 
high resistance towards rotation. This was said to be provided in a 
fishing lure having a weighted elongated body, means mounted on the front 
end of the lure for attaching a fish line, attaching means at the rear, 
longitudinally disposed guides in each face, a centrally disposed raised 
projection mounted on the rear end of the lure, and a water-flow 
protuberance across the frontal end of the channel. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,474 patented July 16, 1968 to R. M. de Weese proposed 
to provide a multipurpose lure. This was said to be provided by a body to 
which a cover jacket of springy material having a desired color surface 
design or artwork was attached. The cover jacket could be removed to allow 
substitution of a different cover jacket. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,466 patented July 23, 1968 by H. A. Le Master proposed 
to provide a plastic molded fishing lure having predetermined buoyancy 
characteristics. This was said to be provided by a hollow fishing lure 
having a cavity therein to provide a predetermined buoyancy in water. A 
semi-cylindrical weight is adjustably retained in the body to adjust the 
attitude and buoyancy in water from fresh to various degrees of salt 
density. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,065 patented Feb. 10, 1970 proposed to provide a 
fishing lure in which areas of flashing reflected light is created which 
have real or apparent movement on a uniformly colored background as the 
lure moves through the water. This was said to be achieved in a fishing 
lure having the form of a small fish, the skin of which is of a uniform 
reflective color and which comprises a specified transparent synthetic 
resin material layer. By the specific structure, a traveling visual 
pattern of contiguous hexagons with bright centers is presented while the 
lure is moved. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,847 patented May 18, 1976 by J. W. Bayes proposed to 
provide a deep line weight which is in the shape of a fish so that as it 
descends downwardly through a school of fish, the weight simulating 
another school of fish causes some of the school of fish to turn and 
follow it and grab other lures that are adjacent thereto on the commercial 
setup. This was said to be provided by a weight that is cast into the 
shape of a fish, the weight being secured to fish lines by special means. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
(i) Aims of the Invention 
In spite of all these patents, there is still a need for, and it is a main 
object of the present invention to provide, a fish lure to which can be 
imparted erratic action in which the action is a simultaneous side-to-side 
and oscillation on its longitudinal axis. 
(ii) Statement of Invention 
This invention now provides an improvement in a fish lure shaped in the 
form of a minnow in which a nose which is an extension of the head thereof 
is provided with a plurality of holes in the front portion thereof, 
through which the line is adapted to be threaded, in which in one hole 
imparts the most erratic action, in which a second hole imparts lessened 
erratic action and in which a third hole imparts extremely vibrant but 
tight movement from the center so that the action of the plug is 
side-by-side at the same time as the plug oscillates on its longitudinal 
axis. 
The fish lure of this invention has the general shape of a tailless minnow 
having a main body of generally hydrodynamic shape including a head 
portion and a tail tip portion, the main body having, in side elevational 
view, a gently rounded upper back surface and an arcuately rounded belly 
surface and having, in top plan view, side faces which diverge from the 
head portion to a maximum body thickness and then converge to the tail tip 
portion; a projecting flat plate-like nose extending from the head in the 
form of a smooth extension of the gently rounded upper back surface and 
extending downwardly less than the height of the body from the upper 
surface to the lower surface, the nose having a shape, in top plan view of 
diverging side faces, which terminate in a transverse, connecting bevelled 
edge, to provide two downwardly sloping nose surfaces, the nose being 
provided with a plurality of spaced apart holes therethrough, disposed 
along the central longitudinal central axis thereof for securing a fish 
line drawn through a selected such hole; a depending tail fin along the 
central longitudinal axis of the body, the tail fin being provided with a 
fish-line guiding channel extending along an arcuate path longitudinally 
through it and through the body; whereby, in use, a side-to-side section 
is imparted to the fish lure along with an oscillation of the lure along 
its longitudinal axis. 
(iii) Other Features of the Invention 
By one feature thereof, the lure includes a hollow core provided with a 
buoyancy controlling material therein. 
By another feature, the lure includes a ring associated with the line guide 
channel to allow a fish hook to swing free. 
By a further feature, the side faces are flattened. 
By yet another feature, the flattened side faces may be patterned. 
By a further feature, the flattened side faces are embossed by means of hot 
foil stamping to create a herringbone effect on the lower portion thereof, 
and a fish scale pattern on the upper portion thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
As seen in the drawings, and particularly in FIGS. 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7, the 
fish lure 10 includes a main body portion 11 of hydrodynamic shape having 
a gently rounded upper back surface 12, an arcuately rounded belly surface 
13 and side faces 14, 15 which diverge from the head portion 16 to a 
maximum thickness at 17 and then converge to a common tail tip 18. 
The head portion 16 is provided with a projecting nose 19 having diverging 
side faces 20, 21 and terminating in a downwardly bevelled leading edge 
22. The upper face 23 is flattened but extends as an extension of upper 
back surface 12, and the lower face 24 is also flat but is generally 
parallel to upper face 23 and is also provided with a central plane 
portion 25. 
Depending from the belly surface 13 near the tail tip 18 thereof is a fin 
26, provided with a longitudinally extending channel 27. 
The essence of the invention is characterized by a plurality of fish line 
holes 28, 29 and 30. Holes 28 and 29 extend through the nose 19, while 
hole 30 extends through the main body 11 near the head portion 16. 
Also considered to be a subsidiary characteristic of this invention is the 
rear line guide channel 27. The line guide channel is associated with a 
split ring (not shown) to allow a hook (not shown) to swing free, since 
the hook must not be fixed to the lure 10. 
It is also desirable to have the body 11 made hollow, and to have it 
contain a mass of buoyancy material 31 (which may be lighter or heavier 
than the lure 10) to control buoyancy. The side faces 14, 15 are flattened 
to facilitate embossing or other patterning. Preferably, the embossing is 
by means of hot foil embossing to impart a herringbone pattern to the 
lower portion, and a fish scale pattern to the upper portion. 
The lure 10 may be made out of any suitable material, e.g., a synthetic 
plastic, i.e., polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinylchloride, etc. 
OPERATION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
In use, fish line is threaded through one or more of holes 28, 29 and 30, 
and then guided along guide channel 27. When threaded through hole 28, a 
most erratic action is imparted to the lure. When threaded through hole 
29, a lessened erratic action is imparted. When threaded through hole 30, 
extremely vibrant but tight movement from the center is provided. In all 
cases, however, the basic action of the plug is from side-to-side while at 
the same time oscillation of the plug along its longitudinal axis. 
SUMMARY 
From the foregoing description, one skilled in the art can easily ascertain 
the essential characteristics of this invention, and without departing 
from the spirit and scope thereof, can make various changes and 
modifications of the invention to adapt it to various usages and 
conditions. Consequently, such changes and modifications are properly, 
equitably, and "intended" to be, within the full range of equivalence of 
the following claims.