Patent Publication Number: US-2007107296-A1

Title: Fishing aid

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates generally to apparatus for fishing, trapping and vermin destroying and, more particularly, to fishing lures utilizing artificial bait of the type having confined shifting materials that make sounds. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      For generations, fishermen have proposed improvements to lures for attracting and catching fish. One lure design that is now popular and quite effective includes a resilient tube suspended from a single fishhook. The tube trails a number of filaments that wiggle like tentacles when retrieved. Many game fish find the sight of a tube to be an irresistible inducement to strike, but tubes have had a tendency to slide off of conventional fishhooks limiting their effectiveness.  
      Some fishermen have taken to inserting small rattles into tubes to make sounds that travel through the water during fishing. The sounds are believed to mimic those made by injured prey and draw game fish close to a tube that they cannot initially see. Unfortunately, with only friction holding a rattle in place within a tube, a rattle will sometimes fall out and become lost when a tube bumps into a submerged object or is struck by fish. Worse yet, a rattle can shift about within a tube and prevent a fishhook from engaging and grasping a fish during a strike.  
      To overcome some of the problems associated with fishing with tubes, fishhooks have been produced with special clasps that penetrate the tube and provide a secondary means for holding the tube in place. Also, wire tethers have been developed for joining rattles to fishhooks. Producing lures with both tube clasps and rattle tethers is costly, and fishing with both is cumbersome.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      In light of the problems associated with the known apparatus employed to fish with resilient tubes and similar baits, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a fishing aid that securely, compactly, and simultaneously fastens both a rattle and a soft plastic bait to a fishhook. The rattle, in fact, is employed as a means of securement for the bait.  
      It is another object of the present invention to provide a fishing aid of the type described with a rattle that is easily inserted into a soft plastic bait regardless of whether the bait is hollow or solid in its construction. Once inserted, the rattle anchors itself strongly in place.  
      It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fishing aid of the type described that is easy to use and can be deployed with minimal instruction and without resort to any tools. The fishing aid is intuitive to use.  
      It is an additional object of the invention to provide a fishing aid that, when retrieved, has a realistic presence in the water in terms of both appearance and sound. Such a fishing aid will attract and catch more fish than lures now available. For users of the fishing aid, fishing will prove to be a more productive pastime.  
      It is an object of the invention to provide improved features and arrangements thereof in a fishing aid for the purposes described that is lightweight in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and fully dependable in use.  
      Briefly, the fishing aid in accordance with this invention achieves the intended objects by featuring a fishhook having an eye and a barb at its opposite ends. A rattle is releasably secured to the fishhook and includes a hollow tube having opposed ends. At least one ball is loosely positioned within the tube for producing sounds when struck against the hollow tube. A cap closes one of the ends of the tube. The cap has an outwardly extending catch with an open-loop portion for grasping the eye of the fishhook. A plug closes the other one of the ends of the tube. The plug has a sharpened point for easy insertion into a soft plastic bait. The sharpened point is formed by making the plug conical or by adding an outwardly extending spear to it.  
      The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The present invention may be more readily described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a fishing aid in accordance with the present invention to which is attached a resilient bait with portions broken away.  
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the fishing aid of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an alternative fishing aid in accordance with the present invention.  
       FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of the alternative fishing aid. 
    
    
      Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the accompanying drawings.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Referring now to the FIGS., a fishing aid in accordance with the present invention is shown at  10 . Fishing aid  10  includes a fishhook  12  attached to the end of a flexible line  14 . Carried by fishhook  12  is a rattle  16  for producing sounds that are attractive to game fish. A resilient bait  18  for visually stimulating game fish is secured to line  14  by means of fishhook  12  and rattle  16  that both penetrate bait  18  at spaced-apart points.  
      Fishhook  12  comprises a stiff piece of wire bent into the shape of a “J”. As shown, fishhook  12  includes an elongated shank portion  20  that comes to an end at its top in a circular eye  22  to which line  14  is tied. A catch portion  24  is integrally formed with the bottom of shank portion  20  and curves backwardly upon shank portion  20  to terminate at a free end adjacent shank portion  20 . A barb  26  is formed at the free end of catch portion  24  that is capable of penetrating the mouthparts of a game fish and that points toward eye  22 .  
      Rattle  16  includes a hollow tube  28  with opposed ends that loosely contains a number of steel balls  30  or other items capable of producing sounds when struck against the inner wall of tube  28 . A cap  32  closes the top end of tube  28  to hold balls  30  in tube  28 . A plug  34 , however, closes the bottom end of tube  28  to retain balls  30  therein.  
      Cap  32  has a stopper  36  with an inner portion  38  for snug positioning within tube  28  and a somewhat larger outer portion  40  that defines a shoulder  42  at the junction of portions  38  and  40  for preventing the over-insertion of stopper  36  into tube  28 . Inner portion  38  is cylindrical and has a diameter that is substantially equal to the inner diameter of tube  28 . Outer portion  40 , on the other hand, is dome-shaped to streamline rattle  16  and has a maximum diameter that is equal to the outer diameter of tube  28  for a flush fit with the outer wall of tube  28 .  
      Cap  32  is provided with a catch  44  formed of wire that is affixed to stopper  36 . As shown, catch  44  has a spiral wound portion  46  molded within portions  38  and  40  of stopper  36 . A linear stem portion  48  extends outwardly from spiral wound portion  46  and outer portion  40  of stopper  36 . An open-loop portion  50  is integrally formed with the outer end of stem portion  48  and curves backwardly upon stem portion  48  to terminate at a free end  52  capable of being extended through eye  22  or around any other desired feature of fishhook  12 .  
      Plug  34  has an inner portion  54  for snug positioning within tube  28  and a somewhat larger outer portion  56  that defines a shoulder  58  at the junction of portions and  54  and  56  for preventing the over-insertion of plug  34  into tube  28 . Preferably, inner portion  54  is cylindrical and has a maximum diameter that is equal to the inner diameter of tube  28 . Outer portion  56 , on the other hand, is cone-shaped, tapering in diameter from its inner end where its diameter is equal to the outer diameter of tube  28  for a flush fit with the outer wall of tube  28  to its outer end which is a sharpened point  60  for easy insertion into resilient bait  18 .  
      In an alternative embodiment of fishing aid  110  shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , a rattle  116  containing steel balls  130  is releasably attached to fishhook  112 . Rattle  116  includes a cap  132 , identical in all respects to cap  32 , and a plug  134  from which a spear  162  extends for insertion into resilient bait  118 . Plug  134  has an inner portion  154  for snug positioning within hollow tube  128  and a larger outer portion  156  defines a shoulder  158  at the junction of portions  154  and  156  for preventing the over-insertion of plug  134  into tube  128 . Here, inner portion  154  is cylindrical and has a maximum diameter that is equal to the inner diameter of tube  128  and outer portion  156  is dome-shaped, tapering in diameter from its inner end where its diameter is equal to the outer diameter of tube  128  for a flush fit with the outer wall of tube  128 .  
      Spear  162  is formed of wire and is affixed to plug  134 . As shown, spear  162  has a spiral  15  wound portion  164  molded within portions  154  and  156  of plug  134 . A linear stem portion  166  extends outwardly from spiral wound portion  164  and outer portion  156  of plug  134 . A barbed portion  168  is integrally formed with the outer end of stem portion  166  and extends backward therefrom toward plug  134  at an acute angle A. In use, barbed portion  168  catches upon material comprising the interior of resilient bait  118  to lock rattle  116  and bait  118  together. Further, angular junction of portions  166  and  168  defines a sharpened point  160  that can be easily penetrated into bait  118  during the assembly of fishing aid  110 .  
      Tubes  28 , 128 , caps  32 , 132 , and plugs  34 , 134  can be formed from any materials that a manufacturer finds suitable. Such materials might include plastic compounds, glass, and metal alloys that are durable and not easily corroded by prolonged exposure to water. Aluminum and lead are particularly well-suited metals since they are easily worked and are available at relatively low cost.  
      Resilient bait  18  includes a tube  70  molded from soft plastic or rubber and having a closed end  72  and an open end  74  that provides access to an interior cavity  76  that is large enough to contain rattle  16 . Around open end  74 , a number of filaments  78  extend outwardly from tube  70  to simulate tentacles that many game fish instinctively find appealing insofar as food is concerned. Bait  18 , however, can take a variety of forms and can simulate animals like minnows, worms, frogs, crayfish, and salamanders, to name a few. Furthermore, bait need not be hollow and possess an interior cavity at the time of its manufacture to be used with fishing aid  10  but, rather, can be solid and possess no internal voids. If the material that a solid bait is formed from is sufficiently plastic, rattle  16  can be pressed inside with a minimum of effort with sharpened point  60  or spear  162  opening a cavity ahead of rattle  16 .  
      The use of fishing aid  10  is straightforward. First, fishhook  12  is tied by a knot  80  to flexible line  14 . Next, catch portion  24  of fishhook  12  is pressed through bait  18  midway between closed end  72  and open end  74  such that fishhook barb  26  rests against the side of bait  18  so as to make fishing aid  10  weedless. Then, with rattle  16  secured by means of catch  44  to fishhook eye  22 , sharpened point  60  of plug  34  is pressed into the closed end of bait  18  and into cavity  76 . Next, with the continued application of a light pushing force, rattle  16  is fully inserted into cavity  76 . Now, fishing aid  10  can be put into a body of water in an effort to catch fish with bait  18  being firmly secured to line by both fishhook  12  and rattle  16 .  
      Fishing aid  10  is cast and retrieved in the usual manner by means of a rod and reel (not shown). During retrieval, bait  18  can be given a wiggling action by manipulating the rod and reel to visually simulate a wounded animal that game fish find attractive. Furthermore, the wiggling of rattle  16  thrusts balls  30  against the inner wall of tube  28 , cap  32 , and plug  34  to produce sonic emanations that travel away from fishing aid  10  to attract fish that cannot immediately see bait  18 . When a fish strikes bait  18 , a tug is felt on line  14  and fishhook  12  is set in the mouth of the fish by pulling sharply on line  14 . After line  14  is reeled in, the just-caught fish can be released from fishhook  12  and either set free or harvested. Use of fishing aid  10 , will provide a fisherman with more opportunities to make such a choice than ever before possible.  
      When a fisherman has caught his limit or has otherwise decided to terminate his fishing efforts, fishing aid  10  can be detached from line  14  and placed in a tackle box for reuse at a convenient time. No further disassembly of fishing aid  10  is required as its compact size lends itself easy storage in a tackle box. Some fishermen who coat baits such as the one shown at  18  with scents and other chemical attractants may choose to detach the bait from fishhook  12  and rattle  16  by reversing the steps for attachment noted above so that the bait can be stored in a sealed container. The process of setting up fishing aid  10  for use or stowing fishing aid  10  after use requires just a few minutes to complete.  
      It should be appreciated that the use of fishing aid  110  is substantially similar to the use of fishing aid  10 . The only substantial difference is that the sharpened point  160  of spear  162  leads the way into the closed end of bait  118  rather than sharpened point  60  of cone-shaped plug  34 . With barbed portion  168  of spear  162  penetrating the interior of bait  118 , it is exceedingly difficult to loose bait  118  in the water due to a snag or a fish strike. Thus, a fisherman, not having to repeatedly replace bait  118 , can pursue his quarry with greater efficiency and at lower cost than has been possible in the past.  
      While fishing aids  10  and  110  have been described with a high degree of particularity, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications can be made to them. Therefore, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the fishing aid embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.