Fishing lure scent strip

A fishing lure scent strip formed of a waterproof tape impregnated with a material having a scent for attracting fish is disclosed as well as uses for the same. An improved scented fishing lure comprising a fishing lure, spoon, spinner, sinker or hook with one or more pieces of the inventive fishing lure scent strip attached thereto is also disclosed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a fishing lure scent strip that appeals to the 
sensory system of fish and fish lures including the fishing lure scent 
strip.. 
Over the years, the field of fishing has advanced from the use of live bait 
to the use of artificial lures. Recently, a great deal of attention has 
been focussed on the development of scents and scent delivery systems to 
address the highly developed sensory system in fish. 
A recent In-Fisherman subscriber survey conducted by Added Value Inc. 
revealed that 70% of respondents used scent enhanced baits or attractants 
in the 12 months prior to the survey. Moreover, scent enhanced baits were 
used by 79% of those who fish for bass most often. Among the brands used 
most often by respondents were Berkeley.TM., Fish Formula.TM., Dr. 
Juice.TM. and Ultimate Baitmate.TM.. 
To date, a number of different types of scented lures have been disclosed 
including lures formed from fish food which provides a scent to attract 
fish (U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,703 to Riley), lures formed of materials that 
have been intermixed with scents such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,319 to Kasper 
et. al. (a lure with a fish oil intermixed with the plastic formulation 
from which the lure made) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,305 to Bridges (a slowly 
dissolving lure made of a polymer with an fish scent attractant 
impregnated therein) and lures having inner receptacles containing scented 
substances or fluids such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,579 to Hollinger (a lure 
comprising a pouch for receiving bait or scented substances), U.S. Pat. 
No. 5,321,906 to Bommarito (a fishing scent delivery system comprising a 
bladder which releases a fishing scent material in the vicinity of a 
fishing lure) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,781 to Paoletta, Jr. (a lure having 
a reservoir from which a scented fluid is dispensed). Other types of scent 
bearing lures include those in which scent impregnated materials not 
integral to the lure structure are included such as U.S. Pat. No. 
4,962,609 to Walker (a lure comprising an absorbent fibrous material 
impregnated with fish attractant), U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,297 to Kennedy, Jr. 
(a fishing lure with a cellular, porous scent receiving material inserted 
into a cylinder within the lure) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,811 to Freeman (a 
fishing lure having a fish attractant dispenser such as a scented pipe 
cleaner inserted into an inner casing). 
Unfortunately, lures made of materials with scents impregnated therein have 
limited lifetimes. Over time, the intensity of the scent diminishes. 
Similarly, lures comprising reservoirs or compartments containing scented 
fluids or other scented materials suffer from the same fate, unless the 
reservoirs or containers are replenished. Finally, it may be desirable to 
impart a scent to lures which have other desirable characteristics 
including color, shape and noise-making ability but are lacking in scent. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure scent 
strip. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a reusable 
fishing lure to which a scent has been applied via application of a 
scented waterproof tape which overcomes the abovementioned inadequacies in 
the prior art. For the purposes of the present application, the term 
`waterproof tape` shall denote a tape with an adhesive waterproof back. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention provides a novel fishing lure scent strip and a method of 
making the same. 
The invention further provides a fishing lure with one or more pieces of a 
waterproof substrate carrying a scent producing substance for attracting 
fish, adhered to the body of the lure. 
The invention further provides a method for retrofitting a used fish lure 
by applying to the lure a tape impregnated with a material having a fish 
attracting scent. 
The invention also provides a method for retrofitting a used fish lure by 
applying a jacket over the used fish lure. The jacket, a fishing lure 
scent strip, is formed of waterproof tape impregnated with a material 
having a scent for attracting fish thereto and contoured to the body of 
the lure. Holes are provided in the jacket for any hooks or other 
protuberances emerging from the lure. 
The invention further pertains to a fishing lure scent strip formed of a 
waterproof tape impregnated with a material having a scent for attracting 
fish thereto, the scent optionally sealed into the tape for later release 
into water. 
Finally, the invention pertains to a lure enhancement kit comprising one or 
more pieces of the inventive fishing lure scent strip.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The fish attracting scent may comprise an amount of a fish product such as 
fish meal, fish flavoring or fish oil, a fisherman's soap such as that 
described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,666,669 to Noordam, Jr or U.S. Pat. No. 
3,822,211 to Morton, both of which are incorporated herein by reference, a 
fish bait mixture as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,703, incorporated 
herein by reference, combinations of the above or any other product having 
scent that is known or believed to attract fish such as Dr. Juice.TM., 
Berkelely.TM., Fish Formula.TM., Ultimate Baitmate.TM., WD-40.TM.and 
mixtures thereof. 
The fishing lure scent strip of the present invention includes a waterproof 
substrate preferably a waterproof tape to which a scent producing 
substance may be applied. Preferably, the tape will hold the scent for at 
least 1/2 hour or longer. Suitable waterproof tapes useful in the practice 
of the present invention include absorbent cloth based tapes and absorbent 
polymer based tapes, for example, 13 mil or less polyurethane open cell 
foam tapes with adhesive backings, such as Medifix.TM., manufactured by 
Medifix.TM. Adhesive Products, Limited, Bedfordshire, England, although 
any other waterproof tape, especially absorbent tape may be used as well. 
It is also important that the tape be very thin and/or lightweight so as 
not to substantially affect the balance of the lure to which the tape is 
attached. Preferably, the tape will have minimal effect on the balance 
and/or hydrodynamics of the lure. 
The tape should be formed of a material which may be easily shaped and cut 
to enable the manufacture of different shapes and sizes such as dots, 
strips and any other suitable shapes. The tape may also be formed as a 
sheet of kiss-cut. The kiss-cut sheet consists of adhesive tape pre-cut 
into one or more desired shapes on a substrate. The pre-cut shapes may be 
peeled off the substrate. 
Also, the tape must be able to adhere to plastics and metals such as those 
from which fish lures are built. 
In the practice of the invention, the fish attracting scent is applied to 
the tape so that the scented material is absorbed or otherwise impregnated 
into the tape. The scented material may be applied to the tape by spraying 
the tape with the material, painting the material onto the tape, pressing 
the material into the tape, soaking the material into the tape or any 
other suitable means. In particular, the material having the fish 
attracting scent may be embedded in a slow release polymer applied to the 
tape so that the scented material is released over a desired period of 
time. The thus formed fishing lure scent strip is then applied to a 
fishing lure as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. 
In FIG. 1, the fish lure, shown generally at 5 has a dot shaped fishing 
lure scent strip 10 placed thereon to simulate an eye. Lure 5 further has 
an additional stripe of fishing lure scent strip 11 placed thereon to 
simulate the lateral marking of a fish. Hooks 12 are shown attached to 
lure 5. In FIG. 2, a fish lure shown generally at 15 has a dot shape 
fishing lure scent strip 20 placed thereon to simulate an eye and two 
stripes of fishing lure scent strip 22 to simulate lateral markings. Of 
course, the lure also has hooks 24. FIGS. 1 and 2 are meant to be 
illustrative only. It will be recognized that other patterns of fishing 
lure scent strip may be applied to the lure as well. The dots and stripes 
may be fluorescent, brightly colored, metallic colored, for example, to 
resemble shiny aluminum or metallic flakes or otherwise colored so as to 
simulate a fish or attract a fish. 
The inventive fishing lure scent strip may be shaped to fit a hook, sinker 
spinner or a spoon. In use, the fishing lure scent strip may be wrapped 
around the hook or sinker or placed on the concave backside of a spinner 
or spoon. 
In another embodiment, the present invention is directed to a method of 
preparing a scented fish lure from a fish lure having a body by applying 
fishing lure scent strip in the form of a waterproof tape impregnated with 
a material having a scent for attracting fish to the body of the lure. 
In yet another embodiment, the present invention is directed to a method 
for retrofitting a used fish lure by applying to the lure an inventive 
fishing lure scent strip. 
In yet another embodiment, the present invention is directed to a fishing 
lure scent strip including a waterproof tape impregnated with a material 
having a fish attracting scent for use with a fish lure. Such a fishing 
lure scent strip may be provided in bulk or as individual strips or dots 
to be applied to a lure, hook, sinker, spinner or spoon. Such a strip may 
also be provided as cut outs on kiss-cut (adhesive tape pre-cut into one 
or more desired shapes on a substrate). The fishing lure scent strip may 
be suitably colored or fluorescent so as to better simulate a fish or 
provide further attraction to the fish. 
The inventive fishing lure scent strips may be stored under vacuum or under 
an inert gas until use or may further have the scent sealed therein by 
application of a water soluble sealant material over the scent. The 
sealant material dissolves on introducing the tape into water thereby 
allowing for release of the scent. The scent may also be sealed in the 
adhesive tape via the use of an additional removable layer of a substrate 
resting above the scent containing material. In such an embodiment, as 
depicted in FIG. 3, the fishing lure scent strip shown generally at 30 
comprises an adhesive layer 32 , an absorbent layer 34 and a release layer 
36. Absorbent layer 34, resting atop adhesive layer 32 is impregnated with 
a fish scent and release layer 36 is placed thereon to seal in the fish 
scent prior to use. In use, release layer 36 is peeled off of absorbent 
layer 34 after fishing lure scent strip 30 has been applied to the lure 
and the lure placed on the fishing line. In this manner, not only is 
diffusion of the scent from the tape minimized but additionally, 
contamination of the lure with human scents is minimized. While any 
suitable release material may be used for the release layer it is 
preferable to use substrates including oriented polypropylene (OPP) films, 
siliconised OPP and polyester, silicon coated paper. Release layers having 
a slight tack may be used as well. 
The fishing lure scent strips of the present application may also have an 
optional release coated layer adjacent to the waterproof adhesive. In one 
preferred embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the tape, used in the 
present invention and shown generally at 40 is a 13 mil or less 
polyurethane open cell foam tape with adhesive backing (such as 
Medifix.TM., Tape 40 has a release coated layer 42 adjacent to adhesive 
layer 44. Release coated layer 42 is removed from adhesive layer 44 prior 
to applying tape 40 to a lure. The fish scent is applied to tape surface 
46 to form the inventive fishing lure scent strip. 
While any suitable release coated material may be used for the release 
coated layer and optional release coated layers discussed above, it is 
preferable to use substrates including oriented polypropylene (OPP) films, 
siliconised OPP and polyester and silicon coated paper. 
In yet another embodiment, the invention is directed to a lure enhancement 
kit adapted for use with a fish lure, the kit comprising an absorbent 
waterproof tape and one or more fish scents. Optionally, the kit may be 
comprised of several pieces of tape, each piece already impregnated with a 
scent. In this manner, the fisherman may choose from a wide array of 
fishing lure scent strips depending upon the particular fish being sought 
and ambient conditions. The kit may also contain a variety of shapes of 
tape ranging from different size strips to different diameter dots of 
tape. The tape may be provided in various shapes and sizes in kiss-cut 
form. Optionally, the kit may further contain a fish lure, hook, sinker, 
spoon or spinner.. 
The invention also provides a method for retrofitting a used fish lure by 
applying a molded jacket over the used fish lure. The jacket may be formed 
of any suitable material such as plastic and is patterned after a lure. 
The jacket further comprises waterproof tape impregnated with a material 
having a scent for attracting fish thereto and contoured to the body of 
the lure. Holes are provide in the jacket for any hooks or other 
protuberances emerging from the lure. The jacket is secured to itself to 
provide a worn lure with a new pattern. The jacket may be colored so as to 
resemble a fish, or otherwise attract a fish thereto. The use of 
fluorescent materials is also contemplated to attract the fish to the lure 
as are the use of metallic looking materials including materials which 
resemble shiny aluminum, or which resemble metallic flakes. 
The above Examples and disclosure are intended to be illustrative and not 
exhaustive. These examples and description will suggest many variations 
and alternatives to one of ordinary skill in this art. All these 
alternatives and variations are intended to be included within the scope 
of the attached claims. Those familiar with the art may recognize other 
equivalents to the specific embodiments described herein which equivalents 
are also intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto.