Patent ID: 7261327

Claim:
Fishing hook tying apparatus comprising: a cylindrical housing with a longitudinal axis and a shaft rotatably mounted within the body for rotation about the longitudinal axis; an end of the shaft protruding longitudinally outward from one end of the housing, the end of the shaft forming a chuck including resilient jaws and a longitudinally movable collar having an open-jaws position and a closed-jaws position, the chuck being formed to grasp the shank of a fishing hook in the closed-jaws position and to release the fishing hook in the open-jaws position; a lanyard including a first end extending outwardly through an opening in the housing and a second end attached to the shaft, the lanyard having a wound-position wherein a portion of the lanyard between the first and second ends is wound around the shaft and an unwound-position wherein the portion of the lanyard extends outwardly through the opening in the housing; and a compression/tension spring mounted between the shaft and the housing and attached to the shaft and to the housing so as to produce a winding bias on the shaft when the lanyard is moved from the wound-position to the unwound-position, the winding bias tending to rotate the shaft from the unwound position of the lanyard to the wound position of the lanyard.