Patent ID: 8832990

Claim:
An apparatus for fishing comprising: a fishing rod comprising: an elongate rod body; a fishing line guided along the rod body; a reel mounted on the rod body for winding in the fishing line comprising a spool on which the fishing line is wound, a rotor for winding the line around the spool and for guiding the line as it is wound onto the spool and a manually operable handle for driving rotation of the rotor; and a base unit for mounting on a support adjacent a body of water in which the fish to be caught are located, the base unit comprising: a rod holder for mounting the rod body on the base unit with the fishing line exposed for entry into the body of water; an electric motor for driving the reel; a battery for providing electric power to the electric motor; a switch for activating the supply of electric power to the electric motor, the switch being arranged such that it is operated to supply power on application of a pulling force to the fishing line by a fish in the body of water; the rod holder and the rod body being arranged such that the rod body can be removed from the rod holder for manual operation of the reel by manual operation of the handle; wherein the electric motor is arranged for driving rotation of the spool independently of the rotor so that rotation of the spool by the motor causes no movement of the handle and the rotor.