Patent Application
20230301285
The present invention relates generally to fishing lures and more particularly, to a fish tail fin connectable to a trailing hook of a fishing lure.
Commercial and sport fishing is a rapidly growing market. A wide variety of different baits and artificial lures are available depending on the desired properties and target fish.
When dragged through a water body, lures need to be able to replicate the movements of a fish or other bait in order to get a predator's attention. In order to achieve this, different solutions have been developed to fully or at least partly replicate life-like swimming movements when dragged through a water body.
One alternative is so called jointed fishing lures, where a lure is made up of at least two segmented body sections, each jointed by a movable joint. When dragged through a water body, each of the at least two segmented body sections will move independently and the lure therefore exhibits a natural S-shaped swimming action, thus replicating the strokes of a swimming fish. An example of a jointed drag fishing lure is shown in the following U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/014,449.
Jointed fishing lures are however quite complex in design and bigger models lack a realistic fish like movement when dragged through a water body. Usually the bigger the lure, the heavier the resistance through water, thus resulting in a heavier load on the fisherman, and on the line, reel and rod.
Another proposed alternative is a skirt attached to or dragging behind a lure body. An example is shown in the following US patent application: U.S. Pat. No. 320,059 and U.S. Ser. No. 12/807,098. However, due to their light weight and structural flexibility, skirts tend to exhibit an unrealistic unstable movement when dragged through a water body. When dragged, skirts can exhibit excessive wiggle or oscillation when trailing behind a lure body, thus not giving a realistic impression to a predator fish. The skirts can also comprise a hook hidden inside the skirt assembly. If the skirt exhibits excessive wiggle or oscillation, the hook will follow, thus decreasing the probability of hooking a fish. Moreover, it is important that the hook does not rotate around its own axis when dragged through a water body, as the hook needs to be in a stable position when a fish bites, i.e. the hook needs to always point in the same direction. If the hook rotates when a fish bites, it might not get caught by the hook. A rotating and spinning hook will also fatigue the fishing wire resulting in the hook falling off. The bigger the hook, the bigger these problems are.
In order to resolve the excessive wiggle or oscillation, a common solution is to add weight to the lure, skirt, or trailing hook. This can be done in several ways, the most common alternative being attaching a weight of different size. A common solution when wanting to stabilize the flow of a hook when dragged through a water body, is to attach a weight, or keel to the flat section, i.e. the shank, of the hook. The keel stabilizes the hook and makes the hook point in a stable direction, however it adds significant drag and weight to both the fishing line and on the fisherman.
Pelagic predators have an innate hunting method, which is to bite off the prey fish's tail fin to immobilize the fish by depriving it of its ability to swim. The predator turns after the attack and swims back to eat the hopeless prey fish. When fishing for these types of fish, it is therefore important to utilize a lure that exhibits a realistic tail stroke movement when dragged through a water body. As the predator will aim to strike at the tail, it is also important that the tail section of the lure is able to withstand the forces caused by the bite of the predator.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a fishing lure comprising a hook, exhibiting a realistic tail like movement when dragged through a water body and where the hook is able to travel in a stable manner through water.
An object of the present invention is to provide a fishing lure that exhibits realistic fish like movement when dragged through a water body.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure, that better resembles the appearance of a fish, especially when dragged through a water body.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure that exhibits a better wiggle and oscillation stability when dragged through a water body. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure that is connectable to a trailing hook, and wherein the hook is able to flow through water in a stable manner.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure that exhibits less water resistance when dragged through a water body, thus reducing the force on a fishing line, fishing equipment and fisherman.
In a broader aspect, the invention relates to a fish tail fin connectable to a trailing hook of a lure, wherein the fish tail fin has a body, which has a first end directed towards a main body of the lure when connected to the lure, an opposite distal end, a longitudinal axis defined therebetween, an upper tail side and a lower tail side, said upper tail side and lower tail side diverging from each other towards the distal end, wherein the fish tail fin is configured to have a buoyancy.
A fish tail fin according to the present disclosure provides a more realistic fish like movement when dragged through a water body compared to the prior art. Without being bond to theory, it is believed that tail fin shape provides a stabilizing effect and a smaller wiggling of the fish tail fin when dragged through a water body. Thus, when connected to a lure, it provides the impression of a real like fish swimming by wiggling its tail fin.
Compared to the prior art, the present disclosure also solves the problem of excessive wiggle or oscillation by providing a fish tail fin connectable to a trailing hook of a lure, wherein the fish tail fin has a buoyancy. As the fish tail fin is connectable to a trailing hook of a lure, the gravitational weight of the hook is cancelled, or at least partly cancelled, by the bouncy provided by the fish tail fin. As the gravitational forces are cancelled or partly cancelled by the provided bouncy, the hook is much more stable when dragged through a water body. There is thus a synergistic effect provided by the weight of the hook and the buoyancy of the fish tail fin to achieve stable and controlled movement, which is not achieved in the prior art. This also results in the fish tail fin, and hence the hook, not rotating around its own axis and the hook does therefore always point in the same direction when dragged through a water body.
As a further benefit, excessive wiggle or oscillation of the lure is avoided, the fish tail fin provides lower drag when dragged through a water body. This is made possible by the fish tail fin stabilizing the hook, keeping it trailing behind the trailing lure tail in a narrower field of movement and in an upright or vertical position, thus reliving the lure tail from the kinetic energy the hook with its weight would normally produce every time the hook lashes out (i.e. wiggles) left and right, which results from the lure tail moving sideways back and forth. As the lure tail does not have to pick up the weight from the hook, the lure tail will now move sideways faster in a much narrower pattern, making the lure turn a smaller area of its sides against the water body, resulting in lower drag. This enables the usage of bigger lures and hooks compared to the prior art, and the use of lighter lines, reels and rods.
As a further benefit, the fish tail fin according to the present disclosure enables the usage of a bigger hook when using a lipped plug as lure. Usually, in order not to interfere with the fish like swimming movement provided by the lipped plug, small hooks are used. However, as the fish tail fin according to the present invention is able to stabilize the movement through a water body of a connected hook, due to the synergistic effects described above, it is possible to utilize a bigger hook in combination with a conventional lipped plug. This creates a more selection flexibility for both the producer and also the consumer. Furthermore, the buoyancy of the fish tail fin provides a lifting action towards the back end of the lipped plug, thus providing said lipped plug with a better angle of attack when traveling through a water body, resulting in better performance and diving.
The fish tail fin is preferably made of a soft and flexible plastic material. As the fish tail fin according to the present disclosure is connectable to a hook of a lure, it is important that the fish tail fin does not impede the bite of a fish as this would decrease the hook's efficiency, when setting the hook in a striking fish's mouth.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the fish tail fin is configured to have a buoyancy to make the fish tail fin float on water.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the fish tail fin further comprises a floating member attached to the body of the fish tail fin, wherein the fish tail fin is configured to have a buoyancy greater than the total gravity force acting on the lure to which it is connectable, thereby making the lure float on water.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the fish tail fin and the floating member together exhibit a buoyancy greater than the total gravity force acting on the fish tail fin, and the combined weight of the lure and the trailing hook connectable to the fish tail fin.
The floating member provides the fish tail fin with additional buoyancy. By controlling the buoyancy, the fish tail fin can be optimized for different hook sizes. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, both the body and the floating member are made of a material that is able to float on water when assessed individually.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the fish tail fin further comprises a hook support member attached to the body of the fish tail fin and wherein the hook support member is configured to be connectable to a trailing hook.
The hook support member ensures that the fish tail fin is properly connected to the trailing hook of the lure.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the hook support member comprises a hollow tube-shaped member with a longitudinal slit, wherein the hollow tube-shaped member is configured to form a cavity into which the trailing hook can be snapped. By snapped, it is meant that a hook is pushed into the hollow tube-shaped member through the longitudinal slit, thereby fastening the hook in a correct position. By fastening the hook efficiently, it is able to withstand the resulting forces when trailed through a water body, and when a fish attacks, i.e. bites, on the hook. Furthermore, as the hook is fastened through a snapping mechanism, it is removable and can be changed depending on the fishing conditions or the targeted fish type for instance.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the hollow tube-shaped member is made of PVC.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the hook support member comprises a first part having a substantially U-shaped form and is configured to receive the trailing hook, and a second part is configured to slide along the exterior part of the lateral walls of the first part in order to form a hollow cavity holding the hook in place. By such embodiment, it is possible to provide a hook support member wherein the hook can be hold in place, without the need of a snapping mechanism. As such, it is possible to fasten the hook with less force than is required by the snapping mechanism, since the user simply inserts the hook into the first part, and then slides the second part along the exterior part of the first part located beneath.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the floating member is interposed between at least two body parts. By such embodiment, it is possible to provide a more hydrodynamically efficient tail fin when dragged through a water body.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the hook support member is made of a flexible plastic material, preferably said plastic material is able to float on water. The flexible plastic material is folded to a cylindrical shaped, with the loose ends squeezed in and fastened between two body parts. The flexible plastic material thus forms a cylindrical hollow shape part with and an open end, or slit, where the hook's shank can be inserted.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least two body parts are substantially symmetrical in shape. Such an embodiment further improves the hydrodynamical efficiency of the fish tail fin, and further improves the impression of a real fish tail fin to a predator fish.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the distal end of the body is fork-like shaped. By such an embodiment, it is possible to better replicate the shape of certain types of fishes, thus improving the impression of a real fish tail fin to a predator fish.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the body has a general triangular shape, and the distal end of the body has a concave circular shape connecting said upper tail side and lower tail side. By such an embodiment, it is possible to better replicate the shape of certain types of fishes, thus improving the impression of a real fish tail fin to a predator fish.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the body is made of a flexible plastic material. By utilizing a flexible material, the body does not interfere and hinders a predator fish when biting on the hook.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure the floating member has a density of between 0.10-0.9 g/cm3, preferably between 0.40-0.50 g/cm3. The floating member can for instance be made of a porous wooden material having a density below 1 g/cm3 such as balsa or bamboo, or a porous plastic material having a density below 1 g/cm3 such as styrofoam or natural rubber. The density is selected depending on the desired hook to be attached.
The invention is now described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
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