Patent ID: 7581348

Claim:
A fish hook including: (i) a shank having an axis extending along a length thereof; (ii) a bend extending from the shank; (iii) a point defined by a free end of the bend; (iv) a retaining formation formed by a pair of first volutes located at an end of the shank remote from the bend, the pair of first volutes being located adjacent to each other so as to either directly contact each other or form a first minimum gap therebetween, the first volutes collectively forming a helix about a central axis, each of the first volutes being resiliently flexible with respect to each other, the pair of first volutes being configured to permit a fishing line to pass between the first volutes by resilient separation of the first volutes when the fishing line is pressed between the first volutes; and (v) a helical formation having a plurality of spaced apart second volutes positioned between the shank and the retaining formation, the second volutes of the helical formation being spaced from each other to form second minimum gaps therebetween, each of the second minimum gaps between the second volutes of the helical formation being larger than any first minimum gap between the pair of first volutes of the retaining formation, the retaining formation and the helical formation being configured so that a fishing line can be freely passed between the second volutes of the helical formation without farther separation of the second volutes but the fishing line can only be passed between the first volutes of the retaining formation by further separation of the first volutes.