Patent ID: 8910414

Claim:
An artificial fishing lure, comprising: a substantially hollow body having front and rear ends which define a longitudinal axis therebetween, walls defining an internal firing chamber, and an escape notch formed through at least one of the walls of said hollow body at the rear end, and a longitudinal axis of the escape notch being laterally offset from the longitudinal axis of the hollow body; a spring-biased hook assembly located substantially within said firing chamber of said body in a loaded condition and adapted for sudden rearward linear movement from the loaded condition to a released fish-catching condition, said hook assembly comprising first and second metal hooks attached together at a proximal end of said hook assembly, and having oppositely directed bends and points at a distal end of said hook assembly, the distal end of said hook assembly adapted for being pushed together against an inherent spring-biasing force of said hook assembly, such that the oppositely directed bends and points reside substantially together when in the loaded condition and flare apart by operation of the spring-biasing force into the released fish-catching condition; and a pivoted actuation lever having a proximal end joined to said hollow body, and an opposite hook-engaging end adapted for releasing said hook assembly from the loaded condition; such that: (i) in the loaded condition, the spring-biased hook assembly is stored inside the firing chamber of said body; and (ii) when said actuation lever is pivoted, said hook-engaging end engages and moves said hook assembly into the escape notch of said hollow body, whereby the spring-biasing force of said hook assembly causes the sudden rearward linear movement of said hook assembly, outwardly from the firing chamber and into the released fish-catching position.