Patent ID: 8001717

Claim:
A fishing bait pen comprising: a. in an operative mode: i. a sidewall and bottom for confining fishing bait and wherein at least one of the sidewall or bottom includes one or more openings to permit water to flow through the fishing bait pen; ii. an upper floating support associated with the fishing bait pen that assumes a generally circular configuration and supports the fishing bait pen in the water; iii. the upper floating member including a buoyant sleeve and an elongated piece of flexible steel formed in a loop and extending through the buoyant sleeve; iv. a lower member associated with the fishing bait pen and which assumes a generally circular configuration that assists in forming the shape of the fish bait pen about a lower portion thereof; v. wherein in the operative mode the upper floating support and the lower member are spaced apart such that the fish bait pen includes a depth defined by a distance between the upper floating support and the lower member; and b. in an inoperative mode: i. the fishing bait pen assumes a collapsed configuration; ii. wherein in the collapsed configuration the upper floating support and lower member lie adjacent each other and the fishing bait pen assumes a coiled and collapsed configuration where both the upper floating member and the lower member lie adjacent each other and assume FIG. 8 configurations with half sections of the respective FIG. 8 configurations overlapped; and c. a flexible sheathing interposed between the buoyant sleeve and the elongated piece of flexible spring steel, and wherein the elongated piece of flexible steel is threaded through the sheathing and the sheathing is in turn threaded through the buoyant sleeve.