Patent ID: 8567108

Claim:
A fishing rod holder for automatically setting a fish hook within a mouth of a fish, said fishing rod holder comprising: a base assembly; a trigger mechanism mounted to said base assembly; a rod holder assembly attached to said base assembly, said rod holder assembly being releasably connected to said trigger mechanism and further being capable of holding an existing fishing rod and further comprising: a cradle; a resistance band pivotally connected to said cradle and comprising an upwardly facing band opening for receiving said rod holder tube and a resistance band adjustment fastener engaged and passing through a wall portion of said cradle thereby contacting said resistance band in a perpendicular manner to open and close said band opening; a rod holder tube supported by said cradle and pivotally attached thereto; and, a fastener engaged and passing through an upper wall portion of said rod holder tube; and, an adjustment assembly attached to said base assembly and said rod holder assembly; wherein downwardly movement of said rod holder assembly unlocks said trigger mechanism; wherein said upwardly facing band opening receives said rod holder tube; wherein said rod holder tube is pulled downwardly until overcoming a resistance of said resistance band and thereafter enters said cradle; wherein said resistance band selectively adjusts an activation force for unlocking said trigger mechanism; wherein said resistance band adjustment fastener inwardly flexes a side portion of said resistance band and thereby enables said rod holder tube to travel downwardly through said band opening and into said cradle; wherein said resistance band selectively returns to an expanded form against an inner surface of said cradle as said resistance band adjustment fastener is displaced outwardly from said cradle; and, wherein said adjustment assembly displaces said rod holder assembly from an initial angled position relative to said base assembly to a vertical position relative to said base assembly after said trigger mechanism is unlocked.