GB2211382A - Improvements in swimfeeders - Google Patents

Abstract

A swimfeeder has a substantially tubular body 11a to 11d which is apertured for water penetration, is weighted to rest on the river bed its undersurface 11d and has an attached swivel 10 for reeling the swimfeeder in. So that the swimfeeder will rise quickly to the water surface, it has an upturned front 11c; it has a weight 13 which to make it rear heavy, and the swivel 10 is fixed above the horizontal plane of the undersurface to the lower front edge 11b of the body 11a and 11d. The body 11a to 11d is also tapered from the rear to the front end 11a to 11b so that it is less likely to wobble through the water and air (when cast). Finally the body apertures are parallel slots 17a to 17c to give resiliency to the body walls and rapid non-logging release of the ground bait. <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements in Swimfeeders Description This invention relates to swimfeeders, which includes both open and block-ended swimfeeders.

In fishing it is desirable to project ground bait such as bread into the middle of the river, where the angler is casting. One way of achieving this is by a swimfeeder. This is-a hollow, often openended tubular device into which the ground bait is packed. The swimfeeder is attached to the fishing line; and is perforated with holes so that there is water penetration to unclog and release the ground bait. The swimçeeder is also xsTeighted so as to lie on the river bed, and has a swivel attached to its lower edge so that it can be reeled in. However these swimfeeders suffer from a number of disadvantages. Firstly, they often do not release the ground bait when required, and in fact it is a skillfull task to controllably vary the release times of the ground bait.Secondly, conventional swimfeeders wobble when cast and wobble or resistingly 'swim' through the water. Thirdly, they are difficult to pull up to the surface of the water and even present further resistance to reeling the line in; in fact the angler can ofter mistake the resistance of the swimfeeder for that of a hooked fish.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate the aforesaid disadvantages.

It is a further object to provide a swimfeeder which moves easier through the air and through the water and reaches the surface thereof quicker than an existing swimfeeder.

The invention provides swimfeeder which is upturned towards its forward end so that on reeling in, it will rise quickly to the water surface. Further more the upturned front help the swimfeeder to ride over twigs and stones on the river bed, thereby mitigating the probability of it snagging.

Accordingly in the present invention there is provided: A swimfeeder having a body which is adapted to lie, in use, on its undersurf ace and adapted for attachment of a swivel line at its forward end, the forward end of the body being inclined generally upwards from said undersurface.

Preferably the upwardly turned front includes a planar surface, to help the swimfeeder skim across the water surface, and advantageously this planar surface fans upwardly and outwardly.

The swivel line, which is conventional and forms no part of the invention, can be attached to the body at any suitable location such as conventionally in the horizontal plane of the undersurf ace.

Preferably, however, the swivel line is attached at a point above said horizontal plane suitably in the lower third of the body, for example in a preferred embodiment the forward end of the body turns upwards to define a front edge of the body at about one third height up froXm the horizontal plane of the undersurface, and the swivel line is attached, in use, to this front edge.

Conventionally swimfeeders would be weighted equally along their undersurf ace, and such weight distribution would also be suitable for use with the invention. Preferably, however, the body will be rear heavy, so that the front of the swimfeeder is pushed upwards through the water. Ideally the weighting will adapted to be separate and detachable from the body for selective weighting replacement.

Thus a preferred separate weight would taper, when on the body, from the rear to the front edge thereof.

Heretofore swimfeeders have been tubular and of constant diameter.

Although such constant diameter swimfeeders are suitable for use with the invention, they tend to wobble through the air and 'swim' through the water. The aerodynamics and 'swimming' characteristics of the invention are improved by having a body (preferably tubular) which tapers either towards the front or rear end, but advantageously towards the front end. In combination with the rear weighting - the aerodynamic of the swimfeeder are further improved.

Conventional swimfeeder body (either open or block-ended) had holes for the water to penetrate aiding release of the ground bait.

Although this would be suitable for use with the present invention, preferably the swimfeeder body is made from a suitable plastics material and has a plurality of slots arranged therein so that the remaining body therebetween have resiliency and the body can thereby hold more ground bait; which is released mor controllably. The slots advantageously extend longitudinally of the body being preferably parallel. Such resiliency together with the tapered wall os the body, lend the swimfeeder more controlled release of the ground bait.

Thus the ground bait can be packed in from the rear (which is preferably widest) into the tapered front, so that the ground bait is held more firmly and thus released later that it would be if it was packed reverse along the taper.

By a suitable plastics material it is meant one that will display the requisite field strength and resiliency after the slots are formed. Nylon may be useable, but polythene is especially preferred.

It will be appreciated that all features of the invention achieve an advantageous effect. However such effects can be increased by having several complimentary features in the same embodiment. Thus whereas, the positioning of the swivel (second feature), the rear heaviness of the body (fourth feature), and the upwardly inclined front (first feature), all help to lift the front of the swimfeeder thereby allowing it to reach the surface of the water quicker and more easily. Preferably both aprementioned features will be present together with the upwardly turned front.

It is also preferable to include the taper (third feature) which mitigates the wobble of the swimfeeder as it moves through the air and water.' The provision of the slots (fifth feature) increases the resiliency of the body, the water penetration, and so the ease of release of the ground bait.

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: - Fig. 1 is a front view of a swimfeeder embodying all aspects of the invention; Fig. 2 is a rear view of the swimfeeder shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view of the swimfeeder from the right hand side; Fig. 4 is a top end view of the swimfeeder lying on its under surface; Fig. 5 is a rear end view of the swimfeeder lying on its undersurf ace; and Fig. 6 is a side perspective view of the swimfeeder lying on its undersurface and having a swivel.

Referring to the drawings, there is a swimfeeder (Fig. 1 to 5) with a swivel line 10 (Fig. 6) for casting fishing ground bait.

The swimfeeder includes a polythene body 11 having a lip 12 extending from the rear edge lla thereof. An obtuse segment has been cut away from the front of the body 11 to leave a forward edge llb lying in two planes at just over 900 to each other (Fig.

3); and the lower third of the body forwardly projecting, designated llc. As best seen in Figs. 4 to 6, the body tapers from the rear to the front.

A lead weight 13 is provided so that the swimfeeder will rest on its undersurface llb on the sea-bed, as shown in Fig. 7. This weight 13 is attached to the body 11 by hooking into a hole 14 on the undersurf ace lid and hooking round the back edge of the body 11.

A gap 12a is provided in the lip for receiving the rear of the lead weight 13. As shown, the lead weight tapers ;rom the back edge towards the front, so that overall the body 11 is rear heavy.

Furthermore, the lead weight 13 is detachable and can easily be replaced with weights of different sizes. The undersurface lid of the projecting forward portion lic is inclined upwardly from the horizontal plane in which it lies towards the front edge llb, and includes a planar portion 15 fanning outwards from the hole 14.

Thereafter the undersurface rises more steeply to the front edge lib.

The swivel 10 for fixing to the fishing line is attached via a second hole 16 (Figs. 4 and 5) to the body 11 just below the forwardmost lower edge thereof (which is about one third of the diameter up from the horizontal plane of undersurface lid).

A further feature is the provision in the body 11 of slots 17a, 17b, 17c which are parallel and extend longitudinally from the rear edge ila to various lengths towards the front edge lib. As shown in Fig. 6 when resting Qn the river bed, uppermost slot 17a is the shortest, while the two lowermost slots 17b are the longest and extend the length of the weight 13. The remaining intermediate slots 17c are of intermediate size. The strips of the body remaininc between the slots 17a to 17c are now resilient allowing for better packing and release of the ground bait.

Some of the characteristics of the swimfeeder are improved in comparison to existing models - namely the aerodynamics of the cast, the release of the ground bait, and the movement through and on the surface of the water.

The positioning of the swivel should be above the horizontal plane of the undersurface on which the swimfeeder lies, and preferably is about one third of the way up therefrom. However, other acceptable positions which will also aid in the lift of the front will become apparent by trial and error.

As previously discussed and in accordance with the invention, the front of the body should be generally upwardly turned.

There can be a number of variations on the configuration of the slots, the overall purpose being to lend resiliency to the remaining body between the slots. Furthermore, although polythene is the preferred material for the body, others may be suitable such as nylon.

The swimfeeder may also be varied to accomnKxhte different types of ground bait. To use maggots, the swimfeeder should be closed at both ends by caps (block-ended swimfeeder) which have holes therein for the maggots to crawl out of. A lip similar to that disignated 12 could be used for the caps to snap-fit over. The overall rear weighting, upwardly inclined front, taper, and position of the swivel are all features especially useful for a block-end swimfeeder.

When the swimmfeeder 10 is cast, it flies rear first, and straight, aided by the overall rear weighting and because of the tapered body does not wobble as much as before.

When loading the ground bait (for example bread), the walls of the body swell outwards gripping the bait tight. On impact with the water, the slots allow good water penetration which results in rapid non-clogging release of the ground bait. It is also possible to vary the release time of the ground bait because of the resiliency of the body walls and the taper of the body 11.

In the latter feature, if the ground bait is packed from the rear, it will have a grip on the body walls and be released later than if it is packed from the front. The ground bait can therefore exit from both ends of the body and a large exit area is preferable hence the cut away front end of the exemplified swilufeeder Finally, consider the swimfeeder lying on the river bed such as shown Fig. 6. When the fishing line is reeled in, the front of the swimfeeder lifts and the swimfeeder travels quicker and more easily to the surface. This is due to at least three contributory features. Firstly, the swimfeeder is rear heavy. Secondly, the water is deflected under the swimfeeder by the upwardly inclined surface at the front thereof.This inclined surface also helps the swimfeeder to skim more easily over the surface of the water which results in a reduction in the resistance to reeling in.

Thirdly, because the positioning o- the swivel is above the horizontal plane of the undersurf ace on which the swimfeederlies, the front thereof is pulled up when the line is reeled in. These latter features also helps the swimfeeder to ride over obstructing stones and twigs on the river bed. It should also be noted, that the taper of the body mitigates the wobble (or swim) experienced by previous tubular swimfeeders when travelling through the water.

It will be appreciated that alterations can be made to the features exemplified. For example, the weighting of the swimfeeder can be variably distributed but overall should have an imbalance towards the rear. However the weight preferably decreases from the rear of, towards the front of the body, such as shown in the drawings.

The swimfeeder can be in a number of different colours for disguise underwater, and in the embodiment shown, is dark green.

Claims (11)

Claims

1. A swimfeeder having a body which is adapted to lie, in use, on its undersurface and adapted for attachment of a swivel line at its forward end, the forward end of the body being inclined generally upwards from said undersurface.

2. A swimfeeder as claimed in claim 1 wherein the-upwardly inclined front includes a planar surface.

3. A swimfeeder as claimed in claim 2 wherein the planar surface fans outwardly and upwardly.

4. A swimfeeder as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the attachment of the swivel line is above the horizontal plane of the undersurface.

5. A swimfeeder as claimed in claim 4 wherein the forward end of the body turns upwards to define a front edge of the body at about one third height up from the horizontal plane of the undersurface, and wherein the swivel line is attached, in use, to this front edge.

6. A swimfeeder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the body is weighted to lie on its undersurface the body being rear heavy.

7. A swimfeeder as claimed in claim 6 wherein the weighting is separate and detachable from the body and tapers from the rear towards the front end.

8. A swimfeeder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the body is tapered towards the front or rear.

9. A swimfeeder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the body is made from a suitable plastics material and has formed therein a plurality of slots so arranged that the remaining body there between has resiliency.

10. A swimfeeder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the slots extend longitudinally between the front and rear of the body.

11. A swimfeeder substantially as described with particular reference to Figures 1 to 6.