GB2215572A

GB2215572A - Process for storing fishing tackle

Info

Publication number: GB2215572A
Application number: GB8807192A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kare Hoseth
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1986-11-18
Filing date: 1988-03-25
Publication date: 1989-09-27
Anticipated expiration: 2008-03-25
Also published as: IS3277A7; CA1317210C; DK162132C; GB8807192D0; DK162132B; DK604187D0; NO160481C; NO160481B; DK604187A; NO864580L; IS1536B; NO864580D0; GB2215572B

Abstract

A process for storing fishing tackle which consists of a line provided with bait-supporting hooks which are attached to the line by way of snells, comprises the steps of applying a piece of bait to each hook, covering each bait supporting hook in an enveloping body and attaching the covered hooks to the line prior to laying the line in storage means. The covering of the bait-supporting hooks in an enveloping body prevents the tackle from becoming tangled. The enveloping body may be removed prior to casting of the tackle or, alternatively, the enveloping body may be formed from or include a water-soluble material such that the enveloping body dissolves once the tackle has been cast into the sea, thereby exposing the bait ready for fishing. <IMAGE>

Description

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION Process for storing fishing tackle.

THE PRESENT INVENTION relates to a process for storing fishing tackle and more particularly to a process for the preparation of fishing tackle including a line having bait-supporting hooks for laying in appropriate storage means.

One form of fishing tackle comprises a line provided at spaced intervals along its length with a plurality of depending, relatively short lengths of line known as snells onto each of which a conventional fishing hook is attached. Bait is received on the hooks.

It will be appreciated that care must be taken when placing the fishing tackle into a tub or other similar storage means. The laying of the hooks with bait, together with the line and associated snells is of particular importance. If the bait-supporting hooks are not positioned in an accurate manner then there is the risk of one or more hooks catching fast in another hook or in another snell or in the line itself.

When the fishing tackle is subsequently placed in the sea the tackle should be put out as far as possible in a uniform manner in order to achieve optimum fishing conditions.

There exists a general problem of how to effect baiting of the hooks in an efficient and simple manner whilst, at the same time, ensuring that tangling together of the line, snells and hooks by the accidental catching fast of the hooks in the tackle is avoided. In certain circumstances the catching fast of hooks in this manner can result in the whole or large portions of the tackle being put out into the sea in bunches, something which is clearly undesirable and which also creates further complications in the subsequent hauling in of the tackle.

Several previous attempts have been made at solving this problem.

One previously used manual method of laying tackle in a tub or storage container consists of placing the hooks, with their associated bait, side by side along the inner walls of the tub or storage container with the points of the hooks directed upwards, and with a separator (such as newspaper or the like) being placed between each vertical layer.

Once the hooks have been baited by an appropriate baiting machine if a manual method of laying the tackle in a tub or other storage container is to be used then a person must take the tackle from the baiting machine and place it in the tub or other storage means. Thus the capacity of the baiting machine is effectively limited to the capacity of the person who is to place the baited hooks in position in the tub or storage means.

From Norwegian Patent Specific-tion Nn 151to5 a form of protection for fish hooks is known in the form of protector having a holding portion along one edge which is snap-fastened to the leg of a fish hook, whilst the bent point of the fish hook is recieved in a gap between two parallel flap portions disposed at the opposite edge of the fish hook protector. This type of fish hook protector is however not suitable for use with a fish hook when baited but only with a fish hook without bait.

A further proposal is made in the United States Patent Specification No. 2600673, this proposal consisting of an elastically yielding cover within which one or a pair of fish hooks are received. Activation of the fish hook or hooks is effected by compression of the cover. Again this cover is not suitable for receiving a hook when baited, since the bait might prevent compression of the cover.

A further significant problem occurs when the fishing lines are set out into the sea from boats. The bait on the bait-supporting hooks is frequently eaten by sea birds while the fishing line passes from the upper edge of the boat to the surface of the sea. In many instances this particular problem can be so severe that more than half of the bait-supporting hooks are effectively put out of operation due to the bait being either totally or partially consumed or becoming completely or partially detached from the hooks. There has been a long standing need for a solution to this particular problem.

It is also a known phenomenon that when baited fishing tackle remains in the sea for a certain period of time the bait and/or catch (-already dead fish) is wholly or partially eaten by plankton (cirolana s.p.) (a "woodlice" like animal) which is found in various locations at differing depths in the sea, but most often along the sea bed. In certain circumstances it is therefore desirable to protect the bait for a certain period of time against attack by plankton before the fishing operation commences but whilst the bait is already in the sea. More specifically, it is desirable to be able to limit the time of the active fishing operation of the bait to, for example, a specific number of hours prior to the hauling in of the fishing tackle.

This active fishing period may, for example, commence several hours after the fishing tackle has been cast or put out.

The present invention therefore seeks to provide a process for the storing of fishing tackle, which process allows for simpler and more reliable handling of baited hooks. One object of the invention is to provide a process in which the catching fast of hooks in the tackle is avoided by providing for the positioning of the baited hooks and associated snells in an orderly system relative to the line. The invention also seeks to provide a process which additionally obviates or at least mitigates the further, associated problems outlined above.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a process for storing fishing tackle consisting of a line provided with bait-supporting hooks which are attached to the line by way of snells, said process comprising the steps of applying a piece of bait to each hook, covering each bait-supporting hook in an enveloping body, attaching each covered hook to the line and subsequently laying the line in storage means.

Preferably the enveloping body extends around a portion of the line, thereby attaching the hook covered by the said body to the line, the hook being attached to the line at a position such that the associated snell is stretched out along the line.

By surrounding each bait-supporting hook separately and attaching the same to the line with the associated snells stretched out along the line, the handling of the tackle becomes far simpler than was previously possible, since once the hooks have been baited and covered in the enveloping body and attached to the line the hooks are effectively protected and prevented from catching on or becoming entangled with other hooks or other parts of the tackle. Thus the tackle may be handled in a more casual manner than was previously possible and may therefore be placed in suitable storage means in a random manner. The processing of the tackle in this manner also ensures the orderly setting of the bait-supporting hooks as well as their respective snells when the tackle is subsequently put out in the sea.

Preferably each snell is stretched out along the line after a piece of bait has been applied to its associated hook and before the bait-supporting hook is covered in an enveloping body.

Conveniently the snell associated with each hook is partially covered by the enveloping body.

Advantageously the enveloping body is received substantially on one side of the line.

Preferably the enveloping body serves to render the baited hooks inoperative for a predetermined period of time after they have been placed in the sea such that the active fishing operation, when the baited hooks are operative, is limited to a predetermined subsequent period of time.

Using a suitable activator agent with a body of material or cover which envelops the bait with associated hook, makes it possible to control the time one wishes the tackle to be allowed to stand in the water or the sea before that material or cover dissolves, i.e. before the bait is exposed ready for fishing.

Being in a position to control the time delay before the bait is exposed ready for fishing makes it possible to use a totally new work routine when fishing.

As mentioned above there are disadvantages in leaving the tackle standing in the sea for a long time, especially in view of the fact that the bait and the catch of fish will be attacked by plankton. There are also disadvantages which result from other circumstances. Thus, it has previously been important that the catch of fish is hauled in on the same day as- it is caught. With this consideration in mind the putting out of tackle has generally been undertaken at night or in the early dawn so that the tackle is ready for fishing at daybreak and so as to avoid catching fish which will not be hauled in until the following day.

The possibility of regulating the time of activation of the bait for fishing makes it possible to organise the tasks of putting out and hauling in the tackle in a completely new manner without any resulting problems. Thus it is now possible to put out the tackle at a convenient point in time, such as during the afternoon or evening of the day before fishing is to take place with the hooks and associated bait having been rendered inoperative for a predetermined period of time by means of an appropriate activator agent, such that the tackle will only be rendered operative ready for fishing at a suitable point in time the next morning.

This enables the time of casting or putting out of the tackle to be selected almost independantly of the time at which the tackle is to be hauled in, whilst at the same time enabling the commencement of the fishing operation to be set at a particular time relative to the time at which the tackle is to be hauled in. Thus, in practise, for example, once a set of tackle has been hauled in with its associated catch of fish a new set of tackle may immediately be cast with baited hooks which have been rendered inoperative in the above-described manner. The newly put out tackle may then be hauled in the following day without having suffered the disadvantages mentioned above such as the catch having been partially eaten by plankton.Thus a conventional fishing routine may be rationalised by undertaking the hauling in operation for one catch immediately prior to the putting out or setting of the tackle for a subsequent catch rather than these two operations being performed at difference points in time over a twenty four hour period as has been the case previously.

Preferably the enveloping body is formed from a water soluble material.

The use of a water-soluble material for the enveloping body enables the body to be submersed in water or wetted with water in another manner so as to make the bait-supporting hooks ready prior to a peeling off operation on board the fishing vessel or during the process of setting the fishing tackle in the sea.

Conveniently the enveloping body is in the form of a mouldable mass of material which includes a quantity of alginate.

Advantageously the enveloping body is in the form a pre-shaped cover or sleeve.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided fishing tackle conprising a line provided with bait-supporting hooks, the hooks being attached to the line by way of snells, each bait supporting hook being covered by an enveloping body and being attached to the line so that the hooks are retained in predetermined positions relative to the line.

Preferably the enveloping body extends around a portion of the line, thereby attaching the hook covered by said body to the line, the hook being attached to the line at a position such that the associated snell is stretched out along the line.

Preferably the enveloping body is formed from a water-soluble material.

Conveniently the enveloping body is in the form of a mouldable mass of material which includes at quantity of alginate.

Advantageously the enveloping body is in the form of a pre-shaped cover or sleeve.

The invention also provides a method of fishing, said method comprising the steps of applying a piece of bait to each hook in a set of fishing tackle, covering the baited hooks in a water-soluble enveloping body and casting the tackle into the water such that the watersoluble enveloping body dissolves over a period of time to expose the bait ready to attract fish at a subsequent point in time.

In order that the present invention may be more readily understood and so that further features thereof may be appreciated, the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a schematic representation of fishing tackle being processed in accordance with the present invention; and FIGURE 2 is a schematic view, on an enlarged scale, of part of a baited line which has been processed in accordance with the present invention.

With reference to the drawings, there is shown, to the left of Figure 1, a guide 10 which carries a fishing line 11 by way of hooks 13 attached to the line at intervals via snells 12. The line 11 passes to a baiting device 14. The baiting device 14 is known per se. Each fish hook 13 is drawn through the baiting device 14 where a piece of bait 15 is fastened to the hook, the baited fish hook then passing out of the baiting device in a direction to the right as illustrated in Figure 1. On leaving the baiting device 14 the line 11 is in a stretched out condition, as shown in Figure 1, with each snell 12 hanging freely downwards from the line 11 and with a piece of bait 15 fastened to each fish hook 13.

In a conventional process the fishing line 11 is guided directly out into the sea with the bait-supporting hooks on the end of the freely hanging snells or the line may be fed directly to a tub 16 via a conveying apparatus 17. The conveying apparatus 17 may, for example consist of two guide rollers 17a and 17b disposed vertically above the tub 16. If the line 11 is to be cast directly into the sea then the conveying apparatus 17 may guide the line with associated snells and bait-supporting hooks directly out into the sea.

In the presently proposed process, after leaving the baiting device 14, each bait supporting hook 13 is wrapped in an enveloping body before the line is put out into the sea or fed to a tub 16. By way of example, Figure 1 illustrates schematically a packing station 18 and an activator station 19, the packing station and the activator station being disposed between the baiting device 14 and the conveying apparatus 17. In the packing station 18, the bait supporting hooks are wrapped in an enveloping body of packing 20 which may, for example, consist of an alginate material (see Figure 2) or some other suitable material. In the activator station 19 an activator agent is sprayed onto the packing 20, this agent ensuring the disolution or breakdown of the packing once it has come into contact with water so that the bait will then be exposed.The agent may be applied to the packing 20 at the activator station 19 other than by way of spraying it onto the packing.

The baiting and/or wrapping of the hooks 13 may be effected manually as well as mechanically.

In one embodiment the bait-supporting hooks, together with a section of line and a small portion of the snell adjacent the hook, are each covered in an enveloping body which is formed from strip material which is wrapped around the baited hook and the line with the end of the strip being fastened in place in such a way that the hook is effectively attached to the line by the enveloping body and such that the hook cannot accidentally become removed from the enveloping body.

The end of the strip material which forms the enveloping body may, for example, be fastened in the gap between the line 11 and the snell 12. The strip material may be in the form of porous, relatively thin paper. Once the bait supporting hooks have been wrapped or covered in an enveloping body the line and the associated hooks can be placed in a tub or other similar storage means in a random manner without the risk of the line and/or hooks becoming tangled or catching fast, since the hooks are protected by the enveloping body.

When the tackle is subsequently cast or put out into the sea, it is passed through an apparatus for cutting off and mechanically removing the paper material constituting the enveloping body before the tackle enters the sea.

In an alternative embodiment instead of using strip material to form the enveloping body a sheet of crepe paper material may be folded or wrapped into place in a manner similar to that described above. The crepe paper can then be "peeled off" the tackle, usually in almost one piece, as the tackle passes through a mechanical scraping element when being cast or put out to sea.

In another embodiment the bait-supporting hooks, together with an adjacent portion of the line itself may be encapsulated or enveloped within a readily mouldable mass of material which can dissolve in water. The mouldable mass of material serves to attach the baitsupporting hooks to the line at a position such that the associated snells extend stretched out along the line.

The readily mouldable mass of material may, for example, be a material made of or containing a substantial quantity of alginate. The encapsulation or covering of the hooks may take place in the packing station 18 illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings where the mouldable material would be moulded into place on the tackle in the form of a thickened portion surrounding the hook and adjacent section of line and having uniform transition regions to the front and behind the baitsupporting hook.

The encapsulating material may, alternatively, only cover a part of the hook, such as the region around the point of the hook in order to protect, first and foremost, the point of the hook from accidently catching another hook or a part of the line and in order to ensure that the bait-supporting hook is attached to the line at a specific position along the line.

When the tackle is cast into the sea and enters the water the water soluble encapsulating material will dissolve relatively rapidly so that the bait-supporting hook will be released from the line and the bait will be exposed ready for the fishing operation. Even if small residues of the encapsulating material remain attached to the line or the hook bait this is not a worry in practise since any such residues will gradually dissolve and disappear into the sea without contaminating the water.

Instead of an encapsulating operation using a mass of material containing alginate or a similar watersoluble material, when mechanical baiting is to be used, the bait-supporting hook and adjacent portion of the line may be covered in an enveloping body which is in the form of a cover or sleeve which is pre-cast or pre-shaped in an alternative manner and which is threaded around the hook and line. The threading of the cover or sleeve around the hook and onto the line may, for example, be accomplished by means of a snap-like fastening operation.

It will be appreciated that the present invention may be put into practise using various types of wrapping or encapsulating materials to form the enveloping body around the bait-supportinghooks. In all embodiments of the invention it is intended that polution of the sea should be avoided. Thus, in certain cases a cover may be used which is formed from, for example, crepe, relatively thin paper or similar sheet material which is readily fastened in place and which is also easy to remove from the tackle by way of a simple tearing off operation prior to casting the tackle into the sea. Alternatively, a wrapping or encapsulating material may be used which is readily removable or readily tearable when wet or which can easily be dissolved and/or torn off after it has been submersed in water. Various methods may be used to remove such a water-soluble wrapping or encapsulating material before the tackle is placed in the sea, but it will also be appreciated that the wrapping or encapsulating material may be removed after the tackle has been placed in the sea.

It will be appreciated that various modifications and alterations may be made to the above-described process and apparatus, such modifications and alterations being within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A process for storing fishing tackle consisting of a line provided with bait-supporting hooks which are attached to the line by way of snells, said process comprising the steps of applying a piece of bait to each hook, covering each bait-supporting hook in an enveloping body, attaching each covered hook to the line and subsequently laying the line in storage means.

2. A process according to Claim 1 wherein the enveloping body extends around a portion of the line, thereby attaching the hook covered by said body to the line, the hook being attached to the line at a position such that the associated snell is stretched out along the line.

3. A process according to Claim 2 wherein each snell is stretched out along the line after a piece of bait has been applied to its associated hook and before the baitsupporting hook is covered in an enveloping body.

4. A process according to Claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the snell associated with each hook is partially covered by the enveloping body.

5. A process according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the enveloping body is received substantially on one side of the line.

6. A process according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the enveloping body serves to render the baited hooks inoperative for a predetermined period of time after they have been placed in the sea such that the active fishing operation, when the baited hooks are operative, is limited to a predetermined subsequent period of time.

7. A process according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the enveloping body is formed from a water-soluble material.

8. A process according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the enveloping body is in the form of a mouldable mass of material which includes a quantity of alginate.

9. A process according to any of claims 1 to 7 wherein the enveloping body is in the form of a pre-shaped cover or sleeve.

10. Fishing tackle comprising a line provided with bait-supporting hooks, the hooks being attached to the line by way of snells, each bait supporting hook being covered by an enveloping body and being attached to the line so that the hooks are retained in predetermined positions relative to the line.

11. Fishing tackle according to Claim 10 wherein the enveloping body extends around a portion of the line, thereby attaching the hook covered by said body to the line, the hook being attached to the line at a position such that the associated snell is stretched out along the line.

12. Fishing tackle according to Claim 10 or Claim 11 wherein the snell associated with each hook is partially covered by the enveloping body.

13. Fishing tackle according to Claim 10, 11 or 12 wherein the enveloping body is received substantially on one side of the line.

14. Fishing tackle according to any one of Claims 10 to 13 wherein the enveloping body is formed from a watersoluble material.

15. Fishing tackle according to any one of Claims 10 to 14 wherein the enveloping body is in the form of a mouldable mass of material which includes a quantity of alginate.

16. Fishing tackle according to any one of Claims 10 to 14 wherein the enveloping body is in the form of a preshaped cover or sleeve.

17. A method of fishing, said method comprising the steps of applying a piece of bait to each hook in a set of fishing tackle, covering the baited hooks in a watersoluble enveloping body and casting the tackle into the water such that the water-soluble enveloping body dissolves over a period of time to expose the bait ready to attract fish at a subsequent point in time.

18. A process for storing fishing tackle substantially as herein described.

19. Fishing tackle substantially as herein described, with reference to and as shown the accompanying drawings.

20. Any novel feature or combination or features disclosed herein.