CA2501536A1 - Jig and spinner bait fishing lure - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a novel jig and spinner bait fishing lure with a glass weighting body including an offset channel. The glass weight is engaged to the shaft offset from its center of mass, center of pull and center of resistance when in a jig format by a tie and epoxy bond. In a jig format the glass weighting body freely rotates about the shaft of the hook about its offset channel providing a highly unstable darting and flashing movement when used with spinners.

Description

TITLE
JIG AND SPINNER BAIT FISHING LURE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The field of the invention is fishing tackle and in particular fishing lures used for various types of sport fishing.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART
There has long been a wide variety of fishing lures available to the fishing public. Such lures include 1 or more hooks connected for connection to a 1o fishing line and a variety of attractants which may be in form of feathers, metal spoons and/or coloured beads added to enhance the attractiveness of the lure to the subject fish in place of live bait. These combinations come in many special forms and adaptations directed at a 'live-bait' or similar appearance and function.
As such, many lures are intended to be used in certain specific ways and at certain depths under specific but widely variable conditions. In most of these situations the lure is required to act in a lifelike and erratic manner so as to simulate the actions of a bait fish under attack or to catch the attention of a predator.
As fishing stocks become depleted and more people become involved in the sport, a successful fishing experience is becoming more and more difficult to achieve. This is made even more serious by competitive fishing where high intensity activities lead to a high loss rate in tackle and especially lures.
The wide variety of fishing requirements and increasingly fleeting success leads to a high cost for the design, manufacture and marketing individual lures and much labour-intensive work. Economies of scale are difficult to achieve and are quickly defeated by high initial costs. One example of this is the hours spent by specialist fly-fisherman tying unique flies, often called an art in itself.
30 Often additional specific weights are required to overcome lure-related or use-related buoyancy issues. Traditionally these weights may be fabricated from lead or other malleable metal in a wide variety of forms.
It is known that malleable extra weights and deformable beads may be added to the lure by bending or crimping the body of the weight to any suitable part 35 of the lure but preferably directly to the hook.
It is also known that beads and spoons may include a passage large enough to accommodate the head of the hook for installation on the straight part of the shaft. This requires additional mechanical restraints and extra manufacturing steps. The resulting lure is substantially symmetrically 40 weighted unless even further steps are taken to provide for and asymmetrical attractants simulating eyes and other bait features.
It is also known that other decorative items such as feathers may be tied and/or glued onto the hook. This is common in respect of specialty lures used for fly-fishing.
45 Unfortunately, many lures are lost in the fishing process and in more popular areas, such as are used by fishing derbies, remain on lake bottom and decompose into harmful waste products, the worst of which is lead and lead alloys and the like, which are common in weights.

Efforts have been made to fabricate fishing lures on a factory or production 50 basis using plastic and glass beads. These are symmetrical beads which remain loosely engaged with the hook by mechanical restraints.
Most recently efforts have been directed to simplified manufacturing processes wherein a glass or plastic bead is formed with an exposed channel rather than an internal passage. Attachment is sought by epoxy-type 55 cements but manufacturing efficiency leads to a high failure rate or a lengthened and more expensive process.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The present invention seeks to avoid these problems with the prior art and provide a simple and fast method of construction and assembly for an 60 asymmetrical fishing lure which is attractive to predator fish without a multiplicity of parts and which remains stable in its chosen configuration.
It is a further object of the invention to reduce buoyancy without the use of metal weights using a high density material, particularly glass.
It is a further object of the invention to provide for a high degree of 65 uniformity and a low failure rate in a fishing lure.
It is a further object to provide a form of glass weight adapted for asymmetrical attachment to a hook or lure shaft for either jig or spinner bait forms. In spinner bait form the weight is not restrained and rotates freely about the shaft and may move along the shaft as well. An object is to 70 enhance the action and effectiveness of the spinner bait by enhanced asymmetrical action of more than a single so-acting part on the same shaft.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a fishing lure such as a jigging lure with a weighted hook not incorporating any lead wherein the weight is glass formed to provide a channel offset from the centerline of the 75 weight and the centerline of pull on the hook and which may be adapted to contain decorative materials without the use of complex and expensive fused layers.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a fishing lure adapted to be used as a spinner bait wherein the glass weight is freely rotatable about 80 the hook shaft and offset so as to provide a lure with a unstable center of both mass and pull along with a changing resistance to movement when in use so that the various forces acting on the lure, such as line pull, water flow, spinner rotation, and others, provide a high degree of unstable behaviour in the lure about multiple and changing axes so as to emulate a darting 85 movement attractive to fish.
THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention provides a method of manufacture of an attractant fishing lure which is inexpensive and quick to complete with a minimum of skilled labour and which is highly repeatable. The lure is either a jig or a 9o spinner bait configuration and includes a glass weighting body.
The fishing lure of the invention includes a hook, a shaft and an attachment point comprising a glass weighting body between said hook and said point and said glass weight including an offset channel adapted to engage said shaft.
95 In one aspect the fishing lure glass weighting body is affixed to said shaft by an epoxy bond and tied adjacent one edge of said channel so as to provide said offset prior to and during application of said epoxy bond. The channel may be closed.

In another aspect the fishing lure of the invention the glass weighting body 100 highly asymmetrical.
In yet another aspect the fishing lure of the invention includes spinner means engaged to said shaft adjacent one end thereof and adapted for asymmetrical movement when towed through the water. Preferably, in spinner bait configuration the glass weighting body is freely rotatable about said shaft 105 and said offset channel.
The method of the invention includes installation of the glass weighting body including a channel so as to surround the shaft portion of the hook intermediate the hook end and the attachment end. The body is then tied securely by tie means secured to the shaft at opposite ends of the glass l1o weighting body and extending therebetween. Tightening of the tie secures the glass body in an asymmetrical configuration and epoxy is applied to permanently secure the glass body, seal and secure the tie and close the ends of the channel.
THE DRAWINGS
115 Figure 1 shows a side elevation of the fishing lure of the invention from the plane of the hook.
Figure 2 shows a axial end view of the lure of Figure 1.
Figure 3 shows a first step in the method of the invention.
Figure 4 shows a 2°d step in the method of the invention.
12o Figure 5 shows a side elevation of the spinner bait form of the invention.

THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The preferred embodiment lure of the invention 1 is shown in side elevation in Figure 1. A typical hook includes a barbed pointed end 2, a substantially 125 straight shank 11, and an attachment end including a loop 3. Glass bead or body 4 includes a channel 7 offset from the center of mass of the glass bead 4, which is preferably offset from the centerline of the glass body 4 and the center of resistance to movement through the water, large enough to accommodate loop end and point of attachment 3. The glass body in the 13o drawings is shown as a representative bead shape but economical manufacturing techniques result in a wide variation of body dimensions and shapes, particularly the shape, size and configuration of channel 7 which is not necessarily linear or circular in cross-section.
Thread-like tie material 6 extends from the hook shank 11 around bead 4.
135 Solidifying epoxy material 5, preferably epoxy cement, surrounds and encapsulates tie thread 6 bonding hook shank 11 to glass body 4 and thread 6 by means of cement bridge 10.
Epoxy material 5 is preferably sufficiently flowable or liquid in its initial stages so as to penetrate into channel 7 as at 8a and 8b and between and 140 among threads 6 in Figure 1 prior to hardening.
Figure 2 shows an axial end view of lure 1 of the invention taken along line A-A of Figure 1. Material 5 preferably sufficiently covers glass body 4 so as to form and maintain a permanent connection between and among threads 6 and body 4 and also to function together with the chosen bead and other 145 features for the lure 1. Material 5 may be narrow or broad or of varying thickness or colour to assist the attractiveness of the lure to the chosen target predator.

A ls' step in the method of manufacture of the preferred embodiment lure 1 is shown in Figure 3. Hook loop end 3 is inserted into and through an 150 enlarged passage 7. The 2nd step in the method of manufacture is shown in Figure 4 wherein thread like material 6 is wound from hook shank 11 locations as at 9a and 9b around bead 4. As threads 6 are tightened hook shank 11 is drawn further off center of passage 7 towards passage side 7a and distant from passage side 7b exposing the ends of channel or passage 7.
155 Sufficient tightening of threads 6 provide for substantial fixation of the relationship between hook shank 11 and glass body 4 for a wide variety of bead configurations (not shown) and bead passage shapes and sizes (not shown).
Once the relationship between hook 1, hook shank 11 and body/bead 4 is 6o substantially fixed as in Figure 4 solidifying material 5 may be added externally so as to encapsulate threads 6 as at 10 and to penetrate channel 7 as at 9a and 9b.
Additionally, material 5 may be applied in several steps which may include partial application prior to fixation by threads 6.
165 As can be seen from Figures 1 through 4 the resultant lure has its center of mass offset from the centerline of the shaft and the tie point provide for an unstable action when in use along multiple axes.
A second preferred embodiment 20 is shown in side elevation in Figure 5.
Hook point 22 and shaft 21 act with restraining elements 30 to contain axial 170 movement of the other components along the line of shaft 21.
Asymmetrical glass body 4 includes an asymmetrical channel 35 with channel edges 7 and is mounted to shaft 21 for free rotation around the center line of shaft 21. A spacer bead as at 34 my separate the glass body 4 from an eccentric spinner as at 31 also mounted to shaft 21 as at 33.
_7_ 175 Further decorative spacers 32 complete the length of the shaft to an end attachment at 3.
Eccentric spinner 31 may be a single unit as shown or multiples of same.
Each spinner 31, as shown in Figure 5, may be attached to shaft 21 at a point offset from its center of mass and resistance nominally shown as at 35 in 18o Figure 5. This offset provides for a highly irregular movement in the water which, when coupled to a shiny finish, provides an unstable and flashing action.
Glass body 4 interacts with forces on the lure 20 in an entirely different manner, particularly due to its asymmetric alignment with shaft 21 and its 185 free rotation providing a greatly increased instability in movement and a darting motion.
Channel 7 may be configured large enough to permit passage of the tie end 3 thereby increasing instability in movement and a jerky motion as it contacts the shaft or just large enough to permit passage of the shaft wire thereby 190 imparting an entirely different motion characteristic.
Multiple asymmetric glass weights in different materials and finishes provide for a highly irregular and darting movement attractive to sport fish while maintaining a lead free assembly which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and provides an eye catching design without the use of 195 expensive laminated structures.
The multiple reflective and refractive surfaces of an irregularly shaped glass weighting body as shown provide for an unstable flashing characteristic which may be enhanced by bubbles or other materials included within the glass body or added to its surface. The glass avoids the chemistry of lead 20o giving the lure a long lifetime in the water.
_g_ Specific embodiments of the fishing lure with the mufti-step construction according to the invention have been described for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the invention may be manufactured in a factory setting and used effectively. It should be understood that other variations and 205 modifications of the invention and its aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art and that the invention is not limited by the specific embodiments described.

Claims (9)

1) A fishing lure including a hook, a shaft and an attachment point comprising a glass weight between said hook and said point and said glass weight including an offset channel adapted to engage said shaft.

2) A fishing lure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said glass weight is affixed to said shaft by an epoxy bond and tied adjacent one edge of said channel so as to provide said offset prior to and during application of said epoxy bond.

3) A fishing lure as claimed in claim 2 wherein said channel is substantially closed at each end by said epoxy bond.

4) A fishing lure as claimed in claim 3 wherein said epoxy bond encapsulates said tie.

5) A fishing lure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said glass weight is asymmetrical.

6) A fishing lure as claimed in claim 5 further comprising spinner means engaged to said shaft.

7) A fishing lure as claimed in claim 6 wherein said spinner means is engaged to said shaft adjacent one end thereof and adapted for asymmetrical movement when towed through the water.

8) A fishing lure as claimed in claim 7 wherein said glass weight is freely rotatable about said shaft and said offset channel.

9) A fishing lure as claimed in claim 8 where said shaft includes means to restrain said glass weight and said spinner adjacent said attachment point.