Fish capturing device

A fish capturing device or lure is disclosed which permits capturing a fish without damaging the mouth of the fish. A plurality of grooves are formed in the body of a lure 1 in the longitudinal direction thereof, and an expanding member 2 is contained in each of said grooves. An end of the expanding member 2 is fixed to a guide 3 and the other end thereof is slidably fitted to said guide 3. A tension spring for imparting tension to the line is arranged between said fixed end and said sliding end. When a fish bites the lure and tries to escape, the expanding member expands in the mouth cavity of fish under the effect of the force caused by the pull of the fish, and fiber rings or returns provided on the expanding member catch the inner wall of the mouth cavity and teeth of the fish, thus permitting capturing the fish.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a fish capturing device or a lure for 
catching fish particularly suitable for use in lure fishing. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
Lure fishing, which comprises fishing with the use of a false bait, known 
as a lure, made from various materials such as metal and plastics, not a 
real bait, is now commanding general popularity as a sport. Available 
lures for lure fishing include diverse and various ones such as a plug, a 
spoon and a soft bait. Anglers are enjoying to fight with fishes by using 
several lures each in its proper way in response to the type of fish to be 
caught. 
The structure of the conventional lures is described below. FIG. 14 is a 
side view illustrating a plug; FIG. 15 is a perspective view illustrating 
a spoon; and FIG. 16 is a perspective view illustrating a soft bait. In 
FIG. 14, 20 is a body; 21 is a lip; 22 is a body hook; 23 is a hook; and 
24 is an eyelet, and a plug is composed of these components. The spoon and 
the soft bait shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 are also each composed of a body 
and a hook like a plug. 
Each of the above-mentioned plug, spoon and soft bait is used by connecting 
a line to the eyelet thereof. The line is paid out from a reel attached to 
a rod. The lure connected to the line is cast into a fishing point in a 
river, for example, by rod casting. Then, the lure is made to simulate the 
fleeing motion of a small fish or a frog while reeling the line onto the 
reel to evoke the bait-taking action of the fish. When a fish bites at the 
lure, the hook of the lure catches the mouth of the fish, thus enabling 
the angler to catch the fish. 
When using any of the lures mentioned above, however, the angler casts it 
into a fishing point in a river, for example, by rod casting. If there are 
threes and plants near the place, it is difficult to cast the lure into 
the prescribed fishing point because the hook of the lure may be trapped 
by a tree or a plant. When pulling up the lure, furthermore, there is 
another problem in that the hook may be caught by a duckweed, thus making 
it difficult to take back the lure. This practice is even dangerous sine 
the hook may catch a nearby person and cause him injury. 
It is the usual practice in game fishing to fish for fishes such as black 
bass and then to release them. The fish thus caught is injured by the 
hook, and when released with such injury, bacteria may enter through such 
wound and shorten the life of the fish. Fishes once released then avoid 
biting a lure for fear of the hook. In a fishing pond, in particular, this 
may spoil anglers' interest in fishing. 
In view of these circumstances as mentioned above, the object of the 
present invention is to solve the problems described above by providing a 
novel fish capturing device which permits fishing without damaging the 
fish mouth. 
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
The means taken in the present invention to achieve the above-mentioned 
object is a fish capturing device for catching a fish, and is 
characterized in that an expanding member which expands in the fish mouth 
when the fish bites the fish capturing device is attached to the body of 
this fish capturing device. 
When a fish bites the lure, the expanding member expands in the mouth 
cavity of the fish, and fiber rings or returns catch the inner wall of the 
mouth or teeth, thus permitting fish catching.

DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below. 
FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating the lure as an embodiment of the present 
invention; FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1 cut along the line A--A; 
and FIGS. 3 and 4 are side views illustrating expanding members of other 
configurations for capturing a fish. 
In FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of a grooves are formed on the body 1 of the 
lure in the longitudinal direction of the body. An expanding member 2 
which expands in the mouth cavity of the fish is contained in each of 
these grooves. The configuration of the expanding member is described with 
reference to FIG. 3. One end of the expanding member 2 is fixed to a guide 
3, and the other end thereof is slidably fitted to the guide 3. A tension 
spring for imparting a tension to the lien is arranged between the fixed 
and sliding ends. The expanding member is made of a material excellent in 
elasticity (e.g., a synthetic resin material for a piano wire) as shown in 
FIG. 3, and has the sliding end which, when sliding along the guide, 
largely expands as shown in the drawing. 
The expanding member may be formed with an improved opening mechanism of 
the folding umbrella as shown in FIG. 4. A tension spring is arranged 
between the expanding member and the guide also in this case. In the case 
of the expanding member as shown in FIG. 4, the elasticity of the 
expanding member itself, acting in the direction as indicated by the arrow 
in FIG. 4 when a fish bites this hook, strongly presses the expanding 
member against the inner wall of the mouth cavity of the fish, and the 
mouth of the fish is unable to come off the hook. 
Fiber rings or returns, which catch the inner wall of the mouth cavity and 
teeth of the fish as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, are formed on the surface of 
the expanding member. A plurality of returns in the form of fish scales 
may be formed on the surface of the expanding member. The fiber rings have 
a configuration like one side of a Magic Fastener (registered trademark), 
and is attached to the surface of the expanding member. With the expanding 
member as shown in FIG. 3, a strong pull of the fish may cause the 
expanding member to turn around and the fish may thus escape. In such a 
case, an expanding member having the mechanism as shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 
7 may be used. This expanding member is formed by connecting a number of 
small connecting members as shown in FIG. 5. To avoid reversal, a stopper 
is provided at one end of each connecting member, and reversal is 
prevented under the effect of this stopper as shown in FIG. 6. The 
connecting member is formed so as to give a triangular, square or 
semi-circular cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. 7 to prevent falling 
of the connecting member in the vertical direction relative to the plane 
of the drawing in FIG. 6. 
This lure is used in connection with a line in the same manner as with a 
conventional lure. By casting it into a fishing point in a river by rod 
and causing the bait taking action of the fish while drawing in the line, 
the fish snaps at the lure. When the fish bites the lure and tries to 
escape, a tension acts on the line, so that the expanding member expands 
in the mouth cavity of the fish in opposition to the force of the tension 
spring. The fiber rings (10) or the returns (11) provided on the expanding 
member trap the inner wall the mouth or the teeth of the fish, thus 
permitting capturing the fish. A stronger pull of the fish leads to a 
larger expansion of the expanding member in the mouth cavity of the fish, 
and the tension spring prevents loosening of the line. As a result, this 
fish capturing device is unable to come off the mouth of the fish. 
FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate examples each incorporating an expanding 
mechanism in a soft bait (12) or the body of a lure, which performs the 
same functions as above. As shown in FIG. 11, the expanding member may be 
provided with a known detent mechanism comprising a ball (15) and spring 
(14) or an engagement pawl (13) and a spring (14), to maintain the 
expanded state of the expanding member. 
FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate fish capturing devices taking the place of the 
hook attached to the conventional lure. In these embodiments, a plurality 
of the expanding members having a mechanism shown in FIG. 4 described 
above are fitted to a single body so as to permit expansion of the 
expanding member just as a folding umbrella. In this case, the expanding 
member 2 is formed using an elastic material such as plastics or a piano 
wire, and the surface of this expanding member is provided with many 
scale-shaped returns, or the surface of a cloth applied to the surface of 
the expanding member like the cloth of an umbrella is provided with many 
fiber rings. A fish can be captured with the use of this fish capturing 
device based on the same principle as that for the above-mentioned lure. A 
bundle of fibers may be used in place of the fiber ring described as to 
the above embodiment. The expanding member may be formed into an integral 
body from a synthetic resin. 
The above-mentioned embodiments have covered the mechanism in which the 
expanding member 2 expands when tension acts on the line, but it is also 
possible to cause the expanding member 2 to expand by means of elasticity 
of the spring operating upon detection of the capturing device held in the 
mouth of a fish. 
According to the present invention, as described above in detail, it is 
possible to eliminate the risk of the lure being caught by a tree or a 
plant near the angler even when the lure is cast into a fishing point in a 
river, and to avoid the inconvenience of difficult recovery of the lure 
often experienced when the hook is trapped by duckweed in the river, 
because of the absence of a hook in the fish capturing device and the lure 
unlike the conventional one. Occurrence of an accident in which a hook 
injures a nearby person is also prevented. 
Fishes such as black bass for game fishing are released in many cases after 
once catching them with the use of a lure. In this case also, the absence 
of a hook makes it possible to avoid damage to the fish and prevent the 
life of the fish from being reduced by bacteria entering through wounds. A 
fish thus released usually tends to bite the lure less frequently because 
of its fear of the hook thereof. The fish capturing device of the present 
invention arouses in contrast the fighting spirit of fishes, and thus 
provides excellent effects including an increased interest in fishing. 
The present invention can be applied in various other forms without 
deviating from the spirit or main features thereof. The above-mentioned 
embodiments are therefore only examples in all respects and should not be 
interpreted as limiting. The scope of the present invention is indicated 
by the claims presented hereafter and is not bound in any manner by the 
text of this specification. All variation and changes falling under the 
scope of this claims are within the scope of the present invention.