Fishing lure and spinner

A fishing lure for surface use comprising two fishhooks, two spinners, a generally V-shaped carrier bracket having vertical offsets to place the shanks of the fishhooks below the rotational axes of the spinners, and sinkers in association with each of the fishhooks. The spinners may be formed of a blank made from a sheet of metal having lugs at opposite ends thereof bent in parallel planes on opposite sides thereof; an opening through the blank spaced approximately equidistant from the lugs; a pair of conical protrusions extending outwardly from the plane of the blank, each such protrusion being on a side opposite from the lug adjacent thereto; and oppositely bent impeller blades. Also provided is an improved fishing lure which comprises the above spinner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to fishing lures. In one aspect, this invention 
relates to an improved fishing lure. In another aspect, this invention 
relates to an improved spinner for use on a fishing lure. 
Sport fishing may well be the most popular of all outdoor sports, having 
devotees from all walks of life and all ages. In sport fishing, man has 
endeavored to provide himself with equipment and particularly lures, which 
give him enjoyment in catching fish without removing the sport from the 
catch. 
Over the years there has been a variety of forms, shapes, colors and so 
forth, of fishing lures. Some lures have been designed to attract bass, 
others to attract trout, and some have been designed to attract the 
fisherman at the bait shop with little or not consideration given to 
attracting the fish. 
Surface-type fishing lures, which are generally, though not necessarily, 
constructed and designed for attracting and catching large mouth bass, 
usually comprise a single fishhook and a means for attracting the fish's 
attention, such as a spinner. Such spinner generally has a triangular 
shape with apertured mounting tabs or lugs at the forward and trailing 
ends, and oppositely bent impeller blades. These lugs may be bent both in 
the same direction, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 967,660, 1,395,533, 
1,627,637 and 3,093,923; or oppositely bent, with a slot provided between 
the lugs for the mounting wire to pass through, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. 
No. 849,036. Instead of apertured mounting lugs, the spinner disclosed in 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,261,433 has a plurality of alternating projections and 
recesses which provide a passage therebetween for a mounting wire. 
The spinner disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat Nos. 967,660, 
1,395,533, 1,627,637 and 3,093,923 cannot rotate freely upon a mounting 
wire because the weight of the spinner is concentrated to one side. The 
spinner disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 849,036 is better balanced, but weeds 
can get caught in the elongated slot and foul the spinner. The spinner 
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,261,433 is better balanced and does not have 
a weed-catching slot, however, if the mounting wire is bent, however 
slightly, the spinner cannot rotate freely. 
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved 
spinner. 
Another object is to provide an improved fishing lure. 
Other objects, aspects and advantages of the present invention will be 
apparent to those skilled in the art from the following disclosure, the 
appended claims, and the attached drawing. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention there is provided an improved 
spinner for use on a fishing lure which comprises a blank made from a 
sheet of metal having lugs at opposite ends thereof bent in parallel 
planes and at substantially right angles to the plane of the blank and on 
opposite sides thereof, the lugs having holes therethrough for revolvably 
supporting the spinner upon a supporting wire; a substantially circular 
opening through the blank spaced approximately equidistant from the lugs; 
a pair of conical protrusions extending outwardly from the plane of the 
blank, each of the protrusions having its base portion at the opening and 
its vertex adjacent to the lug, each of the protrusions being on opposite 
sides of the blank from the lug adjacent thereto; and having laterally 
directed curved and oppositely bent impeller blades extending outwardly 
form a line connecting the wire-mounting holes. 
Also provided in accordance with the present invention is an improved 
fishing lure which may comprise the above spinner. This lure comprises two 
fishhooks, two spinners, a generally U-shaped carrier bracket having 
vertical offsets to place the shanks of the fishhooks below the rotational 
axes of the spinners, and sinkers in association with each of the 
fishhooks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
Referring now to the drawing and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the spinner 
of this invention, designated generally by the numeral 10, comprises a 
blank 12 made from a sheet of metal having a lug 14 at its forward end and 
a lug 16 at its rear end. The lugs 14 and 16 are bent in opposite 
directions and at substantially right angles to the plane 18 of the blank 
12. The lugs 14 and 16 have holes 20 and 22, respectively, therethrough 
for supporting the spinner 10 upon a supporting wire, as seen in FIGS. 3 
and 5. An opening 24 is provided in the blank 12 along the imaginary line 
extending between the holes 20 and 22 in the lugs 14 and 16, and 
approximately equidistant from the lugs 14 and 16. The blank 12 has 
conical protrusions 26 and 28 extending outwardly from the plane 18 of the 
blank 12. The conical protrusion 26 has its base portion 30 at the opening 
24 and its vertex 32 adjacent to the lug 14, and the protrusion 26 extends 
outwardly from the blank 12 on the side opposite the side to which the lug 
14 is bent. Similarly, the conical protrusion 28 has its base portion 34 
at the opening 24 and its vertex 36 adjacent to the lug 16, and the 
protrusion 28 extends outwardly from the blank 12 on the side opposite the 
side to which the lug 16 is bent. The spinner 10 also has blades 38 and 
40, the blade 38 being bent in a direction opposite to that of the blade 
40. The blades 38 and 40 are illustrated as being curved upwardly and 
downwardly at an angle oblique to the centerline of the spinner 10 and to 
approximately the same amount of curvature. It will be appreciated by 
those skilled in the art that the angle and amount of curvature may be 
varied, and that the angle and amount of curvature in the blades 38 and 40 
may be the same or different. It will also be appreciated that the spinner 
10 may have a variety of shapes and sizes; that although the spinner 10 is 
illustrated as being approximately triangular in shape, the present 
invention is not limited thereto. 
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the novel fishing lure of this invention, 
designated generally by the reference numeral 42, comprises two fishhooks 
44, each such fishhook having a barbed hook 46 and a shank 48 which 
terminates in a connecting eye 50, illustrated in FIG. 4, two spinners 52, 
a generally U-shaped carrier bracket 54 for the fishhooks 44 and the 
spinners 52, and two sinkers 36. 
The carrier bracket 54 may be made of wire and comprises a first arm 58, a 
second arm 60 and a third arm 62. The first arm 58 has end portions 64 and 
66 and a means for attaching a line, shown here as a line-attaching eye 68 
at the approximate midpoint of the first arm 58. Since the second arm 60 
and the third arm 62 are essentially identical, only the second arm 60 
will now be described in detail. The second arm 60 has a forward end 
portion 70, a forward portion 72, a middle portion 74 and a rear portion 
76. The forward end portion 70 is attached to, and preferably integral 
with, the end portion 64 of the first arm 58. The second arm 60 and the 
third arm 62 are attached approximately perpendicular to the end portions 
64 and 66 respectively, of the first arm 58; and the forward portions 72 
of the second arm 60 and the third arm 62 are coplanar with each other and 
with the first arm 58. The middle portions 74 are inclined downwardly from 
the forward portions 72, and are preferably perpendicular thereto, to 
provide vertical offsets to place the rear portions 76 in a plane below 
and approximately parallel to the aforementioned plane of the forward 
portions 72 and the first arm 58. The forward portions 72, middle portions 
74 and rear portions 76 of each of the arms 60 and 62 are coplanar, and 
preferably, these planes of the two arms are approximately parallel and 
also perpendicular to the aforementioned plane of the forward portions 72 
and the first arm 58. 
The spinners 52 are preferably the same as the spinners 10 shown in FIGS. 1 
and 2, although the invention is not limited thereto. 
A bearing member 78 is positioned on the rear end of the forward portions 
72 to permit free operation of the spinners 52. The lugs 80 of the 
spinners 52 cooperate with the bearing members 78 in an obvious manner. 
The bend 82 in the carrier bracket 54 between the forward portion 72 and 
the middle portion 74 provides a stopping surface against which the 
bearing member 78 rests. The bearing member 78 may be a bead having a hole 
therethrough, or a rivet, as shown. 
The fishhook 44 is connected to the carrier bracket 54 as shown in FIG. 4. 
The terminal ends of the second arm 60 and the third arm 62 are formed 
into a hook 84 and the connecting eye 50 of the fishhook 44 is passed over 
the hook 84. An elongated, perferably elliptical sinker 56 is molded 
around the hook 84, the eye 50, and a portion of each of the shank 48 and 
the rear portions 76, so as to form rigid connections between the fishhook 
44 and the carrier bracket 54. The sinker 56 also forms a core 86 upon 
which the body of the bait is secured, this body being formed, for 
example, a plurality of longitudinal ribbons, as indicated at 88 in FIG. 
3. 
FIG. 5 illustrates another fishing lure, designated generally by the 
numeral 90, which comprises the spinner 10 of the present invention. In 
addition to the spinner 10, this lure 90 comprises a fish hook 92, a 
carrying wire 94, and a metal sinker 96 surrounding the eye of the fish 
hook 92 and one terminal end of the wire 94, as shown, for example, in 
FIG. 4. The carrying wire 94 has a first horizontal arm 98, a second arm 
100 at an angle to the first arm 98 and a third arm 102 coplanar with the 
first arm 98 and the second arm 100, the first and second arms being 
integrally connected to each other. The junctional connection between the 
first arm 98 and the second arm 100 is provided with a line-attaching loop 
104. The spinner 10 is mounted upon the third arm 102 which serves as a 
shaft therefor, and a thrust bearing member 106 is provided at the free 
terminal end 108 of the third arm 102 to hold the spinner 10 on the arm 
102. 
The spinner of this invention is well balanced, thus providing maximum 
rotation in relation to the distance traveled, thereby providing a maximum 
lift to the associated lure. The central opening in the spinner provides a 
proper bubble trail on the surface behind the spinner as the lure is 
pulled through the water, and also adds an attention-attracting squeek. 
The spinner of this invention also has great transverse strength. The 
oppositely directed protrusions cooperate to provide a transverse strength 
which is not seen in the spinners of the prior art. 
The fishing lure of this invention is a top water running lure which is 
relatively weed and snag resistant due to the self-righting action of the 
lure. It has been found that if the lure, upon casting, lands in an upside 
down position, the lure will right itself after being pulled through the 
water a short distance, generally in a distance equal to or less than two 
times the length of the lure. 
Reasonable modifications and embodiments of the invention are possible 
within the scope of this disclosure without departing from the scope and 
spirit thereof.