Patent Publication Number: US-2009223108-A1

Title: Swimming softbait lure

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
     U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/068,711, entitled “Swimming Softbait Lure” filed on Mar. 10, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC  
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of Invention 
     This invention relates generally to artificial lures and deals more particularly with a flexible artificial lure designed to take advantage of predator fish&#39;s recognized or perceived abilities to target bait that moves with a serpentine motion, vortex generated behind the moving target bait, or modulated reflected light pattern. 
     2. Background Art 
     Conventional fishing lure designs usually incorporate shapes that use water resistance to impart some form of action or movement to the lure body. Example shapes are lips that cause the lures to descend as they are pulled through the water; spinners that turn in reaction to the forward progress of the lure; curved or flattened tails that ripple when straightened out by water resistance, appendages, etc. Such design factors in the various shapes, while enhancing body movement, impart a rhythm that contrasts with the random movements of bait fish trying to avoid their predators. While the body of a typical fishing lure moves, bends, vibrates or ripples, the devices which create these movements also tend to provide a directional stability that is not typical of the movements of frightened or injured prey and to which random movements predatory fish respond most readily to. 
     The present invention utilizes a balanced, streamlined design purposely devoid of such stabilizing features to eliminate directional stability. This lack of stability allows the lure, as it is moved through or over the water, to move in an overall erratic serpentine path, as opposed to the directional path of conventional lures. This random movement more accurately mimics the movements of frightened prey. The balance of the preferred configuration of the present invention is such that the lure is free to move in random directions, as opposed to the “head first” motion of conventional lures. 
     Another general problem associated with the design of artificial plastic fishing lures is their inability to function both on and beneath the surface of the water. Thus, a fisherman generally will need to change lures to accommodate above or below surface fishing. 
     An independent comparison of lures made according to the present invention and ones made according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,372 was found. The surprising result of this comparison 1  showed that the present invention had a significantly higher success rate in catching striped bass in the Cape Cod Canal. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the invention, an artificial fishing lure is presented and comprises an elongate, asymmetrical, resilient body with a plurality of hinges, which provide flexure about an axis. Although hinged, the lure has a continuous, integral body. 
     In its preferred embodiment, the lure has two or more opposing concave ellipsoidal cuts to form hinges each of which allow for flexure along an axis. The use of a plurality of hinges in conjunction with spoilers on alternating segments allows for independent movement of different segments of the lure. 
     OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES 
     Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the present invention are: 
     (a) to provide an artificial lure that substantially overcomes the above and other problems associated with known artificial fishing lures; 
     (b) to provide an artificial lure which moves in an erratic serpentine manner when pulled under and on the surface of the water, thereby creating the impression of a swimming eel or frightened wounded bait fish. 
     (c) to provide a multi plane lure which can be used both on the surface and under the surface of the water; 
     (d) to provide a lure that can be varied in size, dimension, and color to resemble and thus attract a variety of fishes; and 
     (e) to provide a sinking type fishing lure with which surface tension can be used to float the lure on the surface of the water. 
     (f) testing of the invention to catch striped bass was done by an independent third party as described in Attachment A. Attachment A compares the relative success of fishing with the invention as compared to fishing with a bait made according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,372. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the artificial fishing lure of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of ellipsoidal concave cuts to form hinges of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  taken along the horizontal axis. 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  with a hook in place as the lure lies on a surface. 
         FIG. 4  is a top view showing compound flexure of a preferred embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       FIG. 1  shows the artificial fishing lure of the present invention wherein the lure is generally designated  10  and includes a multi-segmented, continuous non-stabilized, integral body  12  having ellipsoidal concave cut surfaces  20  on opposing sides. The lure  10 , as shown, has a plurality of segments including leading and trailing segments and a medial portion  16 . The body  12  increases in size from the leading terminal end  15  toward the medial portion  16 , with the tallest and broadest cross section forward of the center. Hinges  40 ,  40 , couple the medial portion  16  to the leading and trailing segments. When the lure is retrieved through water, spoilers  47  on alternating segments create a transverse force causing alternating segments to turn in opposing directions. The body  12  decreases in size from the medial portion  16  to the trailing terminal end  17 . The leading portion of the lure has a high volume per unit length ratio, thus offsetting the weight of the hook and maintaining the near perfect balance that is integral to the lure&#39;s non stable movement. 
     The recesses in the body  12  generally designated  20 ,  20  and which are created as part of the hinges  40 ,  40  trap and release air bubbles as the lure bends and swims in the water. The recesses  20 ,  20  also exaggerate the effect of the spoilers in creating a side-to-side serpentine motion. 
       FIG. 2  shows a cross-sectional view of a hinge  40 . The vertical stem  45  of the hinge  40  allows for flexure along the vertical axis. 
       FIG. 3  shows a preferred embodiment of the lure where a hook  30  is placed in the lure. The hook  25  includes a shank  30 , line connecting means  26 , return bend  27  and barb  28 . The return bend  27  terminates in a barb  28  and also preferably passes through a medial portion  16  of the body  12 . The line connecting means  26  is offset from the shank  30  and is embedded in the leading end  15  of the body  12  and which shank offset allows the shank  30  to be oriented generally parallel to the body without being embedded into the body. The barb  28  protrudes through the surface and points toward the leading end  15 . It is preferred that the barb be nested in close proximity to the back surface to provide additional protection against snagging. The line connecting means or eye  26  is embedded in the leading end  15  of the body and is offset therein. The shank  30  of the hook  25  runs substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body of the lure and is not embedded in the body. 
       FIG. 4  shows the body in a flexed position. The hinges  40 , 40  allow for independent motion of the leading and trailing segments respectively. The hinges  40 ,  40  are shown by way of example flexed in different directions. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the flexible material is flexible vinyl plastisol, which may be pigmented or colored with polymer materials to lend coloration appropriate to the lure&#39;s expressed purposes of imitating natural prey or arousing the response of predatory fish by contrasting with its natural surroundings. The flexible hinges of the lure allow a fairly dense plastisol to be used to fabricate the baits. This provides for a longer usable lifetime when subjected to fish bites. An alternative embodiment is to use a biodegradable based material in place of plastisol. Most biodegradable materials when substituted for plastisol result in a very stiff and inflexible lure. The flexible hinges of the lure allow a fairly rigid biodegradable material to be used to fabricate the baits, while providing significant overall lure flexibility. 
     The overall buoyancy of the lure may be varied in manufacture by mixing air bubbles or salt into the plastisol material, or by using a flexible material of different specific gravity. 
     If the lure is made of a transparent or translucent material, the lure acts as a fiber optic. In the case where the lure functions as a fiber optic, light entering the lure is transmitted through the lure and exits at hinge locations and the tail. Light exiting these locations when combined with the serpentine movement of the lure produces a modulated light pattern similar to that of a metal spinner that is frequently combined with fishing lures to provide an attraction for fish. 
     The combination of rough surfaces (cuts forming hinges and spoilers) causes a mixing action that can activate dinoflagellates into illuminating when passing through a field of bioluminescent organisms. For a transparent or translucent lure, this light can emanate from the hinges or the tail. The lure passing through a field of dinoflagellates gives the appearance of bait fish swimming through the dinoflagellates. 
     Operation 
       FIG. 3  shows one configuration of hooking the lure of the present invention. The lure of the present invention offers the most hook protection, i.e., from getting “snagged” to the bottom surface while fishing. This is due to the breadth and shape of the top surface of the lure. The arrangement of the hook in this manner provides resistance to snags nearly equal to that achieved by concealing the point of the hook inside the body of a plastic lure. 
     A surprising result observed when using a lure made in this configuration was that a school of small fish was attracted to it, when it was retrieved through the middle of the school. This may have been caused by the modulated light pattern created by the lure that tended to make it look like a part of the school of fish. Retrieving several other types of lures through a school of small fish tended to cause the school to split up and scatter. 
     As a “weightless” lure, the present invention will swim the surface in a zigzag motion with short jerks of the rod. After the lure is allowed to dive, a twitch of the rod will cause the lure to dart erratically and unpredictably underwater. 
     Although the description contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing an illustration of a preferred embodiment of the invention. For example, the lure of the present invention can have just one or more than two hinges. 
     Thus, the invention is described by way of example rather than limitation.