Fishing lure and mold therefore

A soft plastic fishing lure configured for mimicking the movement patterns of animals that rely upon undulatory locomotion movement to propel themselves through water, the lure including a body forming an anterior portion and a tail forming a posterior portion, the tail including a plurality of spaced-apart, opposing laterally extending portions and a plurality of spaced-apart, opposing slots. A U-shaped transition section couples the body with the tail and is arranges to orient the tail so that it extends substantially anteriorly along at least half of a length of the body when the lure is relaxed.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a fishing lure and, more particularly, a plastic fishing lure configured for imparting a desired locomotion movement pattern to the lure when the lure is retrieved through water as a desired rate.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

A fishing lure is a type of artificial fishing bait that is designed to attract a fish. Fishing lures use color, vibration and movement to entice fish. Soft plastic fishing lures refer to plastic-based baits termed so because of their soft, flexible rubber texture. Such lures are typically manufactured by injecting a plastic composed of polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into a mold consisting of two metal blocks, each block including depressions for receiving the plastic. The blocks are fitted together with the depressions overlapping one another to form a void having a desired shape. Molten plastic is then injected into the mold void. Once the plastic cools, the blocks are separated revealing a plastic fishing lures exhibiting the desired shape of the void.

Soft plastic fishing lures are designed to imitate the appearance and movement fish or other food sources when retrieved through water. One class of food sources soft plastic baits attempt to mimic is anguilliform aquatic animals, which exhibit undulatory locomotion. This type of motion is characterized by wave-like movement patterns that act to propel an animal forward through water. Although this is typically the type of gait utilized by limbless animals, some creatures with limbs, such as salamanders, choose to forgo use of their legs in certain environments and exhibit undulatory locomotion. In the anguilliform group, there is little increase in the amplitude of the flexion wave as it passes along the body.

Another class of food sources soft plastic baits attempt to mimic is sub-carangiform aquatic animals. This group has a more marked increase in wave amplitude along the body with the vast majority of the work being done by the rear half of the fish. In general, the fish body is stiffer, making for higher speed but reduced maneuverability. Trout, minnows, carps, cods and salmon use sub-carangiform locomotion.

Another class of food sources soft plastic baits attempt to mimic is carangiform aquatic animals. The carangiform group is stiffer and faster-moving than the previous groups. The vast majority of movement is concentrated in the very rear of the body and tail. Carangiform swimmers generally have rapidly oscillating tails. Mackerels, herrings and jacks use carangiform locomotion.

Yet another class of food sources soft plastic baits attempt to mimic is thunniform aquatic animals. The thunniform group contains high-speed long-distance swimmers, and is a unique trait of the tunas. Here, virtually all the sideways movement is in the tail and the region connecting the main body to the tail (the peduncle). Thunniform locomotion is found in some mammals.

Although soft plastic fishing lures are available that attempt to mimic the various types of locomotion movement patterns described, in order for these baits to exhibit such movement patterns, the lures must be retrieved through water at a relatively fast speed. Often, the fast speeds do not correspond to the actual speeds presented by the natural foods sources the lures are attempting to mimic. For this reason, there are needed soft plastic fishing lures that exhibit the natural locomotion movement patterns of fish food sources when retrieved through water at speeds that mimic the speed of the food sources being mimicked.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to soft plastic fishing lures that exhibit desired locomotion movement patterns when the fishing lures are retrieved through water at desired speeds. Depending on the length and configuration of the lures, the lures may be arranged to mimic anguilliform, sub-carangiform, carangiform or thunniform aquatic animals.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a soft plastic fishing lure including an anterior end portion configured for securing to a fishing line, a posterior end portion configured to trail the anterior end portion when the anterior end portion is pulled through water, an elongate body having a ventral side and a dorsal side, the body including the anterior end portion, and an elongate tail having a ventral side and a dorsal side, the tail including the posterior end portion. When the fishing lure is in a relaxed state, the tail may extend substantially anteriorly along the dorsal side of the body. By relaxed state, it is meant that the plastic material of the lure exhibits no elastic deformation, for example, when the fishing lure is located within the mold void of the mold in which the fishing lure was formed. In a relaxed state, the fishing lure size, shape, alignment and dimensions are identical to that of the lure at the time it was formed within a mold.

In one embodiment, a substantially U-shaped transition section couples the body with the tail. In this embodiment, the tail extends anteriorly from the transition section. Depending on the desired movement pattern of the tail, the tail may extend along the dorsal side of the body a distance sufficient to position the posterior end portion of the tail adjacent to the anterior end portion of the body. In other instances, the tail may extend along at least half of a length of the dorsal side of the body, at least 75% of a length of the dorsal side of the body or at least 95% of a length of the dorsal side of the body.

In another embodiment, the tail includes an elongate medial portion extending to and between the transition section and the posterior end portion. A plurality of spaced-apart, opposing laterally extending portions extend laterally from the medial portion, each of the opposing laterally extending portions including a left lateral portion extending laterally from a left face of the medial portion and a right lateral portion extending laterally from a right face of the medial portion. Interspersed between adjacent opposing laterally extending portions are spaced-apart, opposing slots. Each of the opposing slots includes a left lateral portion extending and opening laterally from the left face of the medial portion and a right lateral portion extending and opening laterally from the right face of the medial portion. The opposing laterally extending portions and the opposing slots impart an undulatory locomotion movement pattern to the tail when the fishing lure is retrieved through water.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a plastic fishing lure including an anterior end, a posterior end and a length extending to and between the anterior end and the posterior end, the length being no less than about 14 cm. The lure further includes a body having a dorsal side, a ventral side and a body length of no less than about 3 cm and a tail having a tail length of no less than about 6 cm. When the fishing lure is in a relaxed state, the tail extends substantially anteriorly along about 50% to about 100% of the body length.

In one embodiment, the tail includes an elongate medial portion having a right face and a left face and a plurality of spaced-apart, opposing laterally extending portions. Each of the opposing laterally extending portions include a left lateral portion extending laterally from the left face of the medial portion and a right lateral portion extending laterally from the right face of the medial portion. When the body is retrieved through water, the tail trails behind the body and exhibits undulatory locomotion movement as a result of water flowing across the opposing laterally extending portions.

In another embodiment, the tail includes an elongate medial portion having a right face and a left face and a plurality of spaced-apart, opposing slots. Each of the opposing slots includes a left lateral portion extending and opening laterally from the left face of the medial portion and a right lateral portion extending and opening laterally from the right face of the medial portion. When the body is retrieved through water, the tail trails behind the body and exhibits undulatory locomotion movement as a result of water flowing across the opposing laterally extending slots.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a plastic fishing lure including a body forming an anterior portion of the fishing lure and a tail forming a posterior portion of the fishing lure. The tail includes an elongate medial portion having a first face and an opposing second face, and a plurality of spaced-apart, opposing laterally extending portions. Each of the opposing laterally extending portions includes a first lateral portion extending laterally from the first face of the medial portion and a second lateral portion extending laterally from the second face of the medial portion. The tail further includes a plurality of spaced-apart, opposing slots, each of the opposing slots including a first lateral portion extending and opening laterally from the first face of the medial portion and a second lateral portion extending and opening laterally from the second face of the medial portion. A substantially U-shaped transition section couples the body with the tail.

In one embodiment, when the fishing lure is in the relaxed state, the tail extends substantially anteriorly along at least half of a length of the body. In another embodiment, the anterior portion is adjacent to the posterior portion. In yet another embodiment, the body includes a dorsoventral axis that extends dorsally through the tail and an anteroposetrior axis that does not extend through the tail.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a plastic fishing lure including a head, a tail, and a body extending to and between the head and tail, the body including a medial portion having a first face and an opposing second face, a plurality of spaced-apart, opposing laterally extending portions extending laterally from the medial portion and opposing slots separating adjacent ones of the laterally extending portions from one another. When the fishing lure is in a relaxed state, the fishing lure includes a first anteroposterior axis and a second anteroposterior axis, the first anteroposterior axis intersecting the second anteroposterior axis in the body at an angle. The angle may range between 45° and 175° and 90° and 170°.

In one embodiment the angle is intersected by a dorsoventral axis of the fishing lure. In another embodiment, the first anteroposterior axis extends through the head and the second anteroposterior axis extends through the tail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed generally to a soft plastic fishing lure that is configured for mimicking the movement pattern and speed of animals upon which a target fish feeds.FIGS. 1 through 3illustrate a lure configured for mimicking anguilliform animals. Such animals use an undulatory locomotion movement to propel themselves through water including, for example, snakes, leeches, lampreys and eels.FIGS. 7 and 8illustrate a lure that may be configured to mimic sub-carangiform, carangiform or thunniform animals. Such animals include minnows. As explained in more detail below, the desired movement patterns are achieved by including opposed and alternating slots and extending portions along the tail and/or body of the lures, while the ability of the tail and/or body to exhibit such movement patterns at desired speeds is achieved by including a transition section in the body or tail of the lure that effectively divides the lure into anterior and posterior sections which are off-set from one another along their respective anteroposterior axes.

More particularly, as illustrated inFIGS. 1 through 5, the present invention includes a soft plastic fishing lure10having an anterior end portion12corresponding to a head of a mimicked animal, a posterior end portion14corresponding to a caudal portion of the animal, a length L1extending to and between respective end surfaces11,13of portions12and14, an elongate body16extending posteriorly from end surface11and a tail18extending anteriorly from end surface13. A transition section20extends to and between body16and tail18thereby coupling the body with the tail. Lure10is intended to mimic anguilliform aquatic species.

Transition section20presents as a relatively thin piece of plastic material including opposing faces21,23coupled to one another by an inside surface22and an opposing outside surface24. Inside surface22extends from a dorsal side of body16and is shorter than outside surface24, and outside surface24extends from a ventral side of body16. As illustrated inFIGS. 1, 2 and 5, when lure10is suspended from anterior end12, inside surface22is essentially straight and extends parallel to a longitudinal axis of body16, while outside surface24and opposing faces21,23form a 90° twist that transitions opposing faces21,23from a left-right lateral facing orientation to a dorsoventral orientation moving posteriorly from body16.

Referring toFIGS. 3 and 4, body16includes a dorsal side26, a ventral side28and length L2that extends from end surface11to a plane that is arranged tangentially to inside surface22and perpendicular to an anteroposterior axis of body16, when the lure is in the relaxed state. A dorsoventral axis extends perpendicularly to the anteroposterior axis of body16through a center of length L2. Body16is characterized by three sections including a cylindrically-shaped ribbed section30, a bulbous section32and a slotted section34. Ribbed section30includes ribs that are angled away from the direction of travel of lure10through water and configured to enable a fish to more easily hold onto the lure when the lure is bitten by the fish. Slotted section34has a generally cylindrical shape with four opposing, spaced-apart, laterally-extending, open slots that angle posteriorly moving from ventral side28to dorsal side26of body16. The slots are defined by a flat, elongate medial portion having exposed, opposing right-to-left lateral faces and a thickness substantially similar to that of transition section20and spaced apart, opposing protrusions extending laterally to the opposing right-to-left opposing faces. The slots are provided to facilitate left-to-right lateral movement of tail18and transition section20relative to body16along the exposed right-to-left lateral faces the slotted section30in support of the desired undulatory locomotion movement pattern of the lure when retrieved in water.

Tail18includes a length L3that extends from end surface13to the plane that is arranged tangentially to inside surface22and perpendicular to the anteroposterior axis of body16, when the lure is in the relaxed state. As illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 4, when lure10is in the relaxed state tail18extends proximally from transition section20along and adjacent to dorsal side26of body16such that posterior end portion14of tail18lies next to anterior end portion12of body16. In the relaxed state, lure10forms an elongated tear-drop shape with transition section20forming a bottom of the tear drop and body16and tail18forming the sides and upper portions of the tear drop.

Referring toFIGS. 1 through 3, so that tail18exhibits the desired undulatory locomotion movement pattern, tail18includes spaced-apart, opposing laterally extending sections40separated from one another by a thin, elongate medial portion44that extends from and is aligned with a posterior portion of transition section20to posterior end portion14. Medial portion44and sections40define rectangular, opposing exposed right-to left lateral faces46,48which separate section40from one another. When in the relaxed state, elongate medial portion44of tail18is intersected by the dorsoventral axis of body16and extends along a plane defined by the dorsoventral axis and anteroposterior axis of body16. Tail16, section40, faces46,48and medial portion44taper to a point ending at posterior surface13.

Referring toFIG. 6, there is depicted a mold50for forming lure10. Mold50includes a left half52and a right half54, each including an impression56of either the left of the right halves of lure10. Those portions of impression56that correlate to portions of lure10share the numerical designations of lure10, as provided inFIGS. 1 through 5. When it is desired to make lure10, left half52and right half54are aligned and pressed together. A molten plastic is then injected through a port defined by entryways58formed in left half52and a right half54of mold50. The molten plastic fills impression56and is cooled. Once the plastic is cooled, left half52and a right half54are separated revealing lure10located in either left half52and a right half54and in the relaxed state.

In use, a hook is anchored within anterior end portion12of body16. The hook is tethered to a fishing line operatively coupled to a fishing rod and reel. Lure10is cast and then retrieved through a body of water. When retrieved through the body of water, lure10exhibits the orientation illustrated inFIGS. 1, 2 and 5, that is, inside surface22is essentially straight and extends parallel to a longitudinal axis of body16, while outside surface24and opposing faces21,23form a 90° twist that transitions opposing faces21,23from a left-right lateral facing orientation to a dorsoventral orientation moving posteriorly from body16. Tail18then exhibits the desired undulatory locomotion movement pattern, which may include a right-to-left lateral movement or a dorsoventral movement along tail18, transition section20and/or slotted section34. Because this movement mimics one of several food sources for fish, fish are enticed to strike lure10.

Referring toFIGS. 7 and 8, there is depicted a soft plastic fishing lure100which may be configured to mimic sub-carangiform, carangiform or thunniform animals. Lure100includes a head110, a tail112and a body114extending to and between the head and the tail. Tail112may have a forked, lunate, truncate, pointed, rounded, heterocercal or emarginated shape. So that fishing lure100exhibits the desired locomotion movement pattern when retrieved through water, body110includes a medial portion116having a first face118and an opposing second face120and a plurality of spaced-apart, opposing laterally extending portions. Each of the opposing laterally extending portions includes a first lateral portion122extending laterally from first face118of medial portion116and a second lateral portion124extending laterally from second face120of the medial portion. Each lateral portion122,124has a thickness extending laterally that is at least two to three times the thickness of medial portion116. Opposing slots separate adjacent laterally extending portions, each of the opposing slots including a first lateral portion126extending and opening laterally from first face118of medial portion116and a second lateral portion128extending and opening laterally from second face120of the medial portion.

So that fishing lure100exhibits the desired locomotion movement pattern when retrieved through water at a desired speed, body114includes a curved or angled portion130located at the dorsoventral axis of the lure. As illustrated inFIG. 7, angled portion130divides lure100into anterior and posterior sections132,134, respectively, which are off-set from one another along their respective anteroposterior axes133,135. Axes133,135intersect within body110at an angle A of about 170° when the lure is in a relaxed state. While the location of the intersection with body110is described as being at the dorsoventral axis of the lure, it is understood that the location may vary depending on the type of locomotion pattern that is desired.

Depending on the length of body110, location of angle A and the desired locomotion pattern and retrieval speed, angle A may range between 45° and 175° and between 90° to 170°. By off-setting anterior and posterior sections132,134along their respective anteroposterior axes at an angle of about 170°, it was found unexpectedly that lure100may exhibit sub-carangiform, carangiform or thunniform locomotion by retrieving the lure at speeds that are less than if the anterior and posterior sections were not off-set, but rather aligned to form a single anteroposterior axis.

As will be apparent to one skilled in the art, various modifications can be made within the scope of the aforesaid description. Such modifications being within the ability of one skilled in the art form a part of the present invention and are embraced by the claims below. For example, is contemplated that the dorsal and ventral sides of the body of lure may be reversed depending on the orientation of the lure as it is retrieved through water.