US-12622420-B2 - Fishing lure

US12622420B2US 12622420 B2US12622420 B2US 12622420B2US-12622420-B2

Abstract

A lure is disclosed. The lure comprises a head, a tail, a first channel extending inside the head to the tail, a pair of hind legs extending from the tail and including a first leg having a first foot, a second leg having a second foot, the first foot being connected to the second foot forming a foot body having a second channel. The lure has a line having a first end and a second end, and the second end is provided through the first channel and the second channel. The second end is connected to the foot body. The lure may resemble a frog, insect, or amphibian.

Inventors

Maxwell S. Smith

Assignees

Fishing2TheMax, LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20221222

Claims (20)

1 . A lure comprising: a head, a tail, a first channel extending inside the head to the tail, a pair of hind legs extending from the tail and including a first leg having a first knee and a first foot, a second leg having a second knee and a second foot, the first leg and the second leg form a space between the first knee and the second knee, and the first foot being connected to the second foot forming a foot body having a second channel; wherein the lure is configured to receive a line having a first end and a second end, the second end extending through the first channel, through the space, and into the second channel and through the foot body, the second end being connected to a hook; wherein the pair of hind legs are made of a material that allows the hind legs to bend and then revert to an extended shape, such that the legs use elastic energy to pull the line against the water to move the lure; and wherein: pulling the first end of the line causes the pair of hind legs to be in a loaded state, wherein the hook moves to the foot body, the first and second legs bend at the first and second knees respectively, and the foot body is pulled towards the tail; and releasing the line causes the pair of hind legs to be in an unloaded state, wherein the first and second legs revert to the extended shape, and the foot body moves away from the tail.
2 . The lure of claim 1 , wherein the lure is provided resembling a bait chosen from the group consisting of a frog, an insect, a grasshopper, a bird, a mammal, a reptile, and an amphibian, and a portion of the line resembles a tongue of the bait.
3 . The lure of claim 1 , further comprising the line and the hook, wherein the line is made of a material chosen from the group consisting of nylon rope, PE assist line, assist line, monofilament line, fluorocarbon line, and PE assist line integrated with metal wire.
4 . The lure of claim 2 , wherein the lure has varying degrees of buoyancy.
5 . The lure of claim 2 , the lure is made of material chosen from the group consisting of shape-memory polymer, thermoplastic elastomer, plastic, plastisol, resin, and rubber.
6 . The lure of claim 2 , the first channel and the second channel are tubes made of material chosen from the group consisting of metal, aluminum, and plastic.
7 . The lure of claim 1 , further comprising at least one second hook attached between the head and the tail, wherein the at least one second hook is connected to the lure by a cord.
8 . The lure of claim 7 , wherein the cord attaching the at least one second hook to the lure is made of a material chosen from the group consisting of nylon rope, PE assist line, assist line, monofilament line, fluorocarbon line, and PE assist line integrated with metal wire.
9 . The lure of claim 8 , the hook and the at least one second hook each being one chosen from the group consisting of a j-hook, a single hook, a double hook, a treble hook, and an assist hook; the hook is further secured to the lure with shrink wrap applied around a first shank portion of the hook and the line, and the at least one second hook is further secured to the lure with shrink wrap applied around a second shank portion of the at least one second hook and the cord.
10 . The lure of claim 1 , wherein the pair of hind legs are insertable into the tail and secured by a fastener extending through a connecting slot on the pair of hind legs and the tail.
11 . The lure of claim 1 , wherein the second channel is configured to receive the hook when the line is pulled.
12 . A line-thru lure comprising: a head, a tail, a hook, a first channel extending inside the head to the tail, and a pair of hind legs extending from the tail, a first leg having a first knee and a first foot, a second leg having a second knee and a second foot, the first leg and the second leg form a space between the first knee and the second knee, and the first foot being connected to the second foot forming a foot body having a second channel; a line having a first end and a second end, the second end is provided through the first channel, through the space, and into the second channel and through the foot body, the second end is connected to the hook; and at least one second hook attached between the head and the tail via a cord wherein the pair of hind legs are made of a material that allows the hind legs to bend and then revert to an extended shape, such that the legs use elastic energy to pull the line against the water to move the lure; and wherein: pulling the first end of the line causes the pair of hind legs to be in a loaded state, wherein the hook moves to the foot body, the first and second legs bend at the first and second knees respectively, and the foot body is pulled towards the tail; and releasing the line causes the pair of hind legs to be in an unloaded state, wherein the first and second legs revert to the extended shape, and the foot body moves away from the tail.
13 . The line-thru lure of claim 12 , wherein the line-thru lure resembles one bait chosen from the group consisting of a frog, a grasshopper, a mammal, a bird, an insect, a reptile, and an amphibian, and a portion of the line proximate to the head resembles a bait tongue movable in and out of the head.
14 . The line-thru lure of claim 13 , the line-thru lure includes a shrink wrap further securing the at least one second hook to the cord, the at least one second hook is one chosen from the group consisting of a j-hook, a single hook, a double hook, a treble hook, and an assist hook.
15 . The line-thru lure of claim 12 , the line-thru lure is made of material chosen from the group consisting of elastic polymer, rubber, plastisol, resin, and shape-memory polymer, wherein the line-thru lure has varying degrees of buoyancy.
16 . The line-thru lure of claim 12 , the first channel and the second channel are tubes made of material chosen from the group consisting of metal, aluminum, and plastic.
17 . The lure of claim 12 , wherein the pair of hind legs are insertable into the tail and secured by a fastener extending through a connecting slot on the pair of hind legs and the tail.
18 . The lure of claim 12 , wherein the hook is configured to enter the second channel in the foot body when the line is pulled.
19 . A method of catching a fish comprising: providing the lure of claim 1 ; extending the first end of the line through the body, through the pair of hind legs, through the space, and through the foot body; connecting the first end of the line to the hook; casting the lure on a body of water expected to have fish; pulling the line to cause the hook to load the pair of hind legs, the hook hides within the second channel in the foot body when the line is pulled; and releasing the line causing the pair of hind legs to unload while the lure remains essentially in place.
20 . The method of claim 19 , the method further comprising: holding the line to increase the load on the pair of hind legs; and releasing the line causing the lure to move forward.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure generally relates to fishing, and more particularly relates to fishing lures. BACKGROUND Fishing has been an important part of human culture since hunter-gatherer times, and is one of the few food production activities that has existed from prehistory into today's modern age. In addition to being caught to be eaten for food, fishing is a popular recreational pastime. There are many fishing techniques and tactics for catching fish. Recreational and commercial fisherman may use similar fishing techniques and equipment. Fishing tackle is the equipment used by fishers when fishing and may include items such as hooks, lines, sinkers, floats, rods, reels, baits, lures, spears, nets, gaffs, traps, waders, and tackle boxes. A fishing lure is a broad type of tackle in the form of artificial fishing bait designed to mimic prey animal and attract the attention of fish. The lure may use many features to attract the fish such as using appearances, movements, vibrations, bright reflections, and flashy colors to appeal to the fish's predatory instinct and entice it into striking the bait. Lures are designed to fool carnivorous fish and elicit an aggressive strike, the force of which will alert the angler (fisherman) to yank the line to secure a hookset inside the mouth of a fish. Why a fish bites a baited hook or lure involves several factors related to the sensory physiology, behavior, feeding ecology, and biology of the fish as well as the environment and characteristics of the bait, hook, or lure. Lures are attached to the end of a fishing line and most are equipped with one or more hooks that come in various styles such as single, double, or treble hooks. Lures may be made of plastic or rubber designed to look like fish, crabs, squid, worms, lizards, frogs, leeches, and other creatures. Frog lures are designed to mimic the color and action of an actual frog. There are many different types of frog lures on the market used for fishing, such as topwater frog lures. Many frog lures are generally provided with two upswept hooks around a soft body with two legs that dangle. The frog lures are usually pulled from the head of the frog. Frog lures may have either tassel or realistic legs and slide over the surface of water, lily pads, or weeds without getting stuck when pulled by a line from the head of the frog lure. Frog lures are buoyant and may be hollow to help with sliding on water. Using frog lures creates disturbance and stillness on the surface of water to look natural and attract a fish, such as a lurking bass that preys on frogs. Others have attempted to design frog shaped fishing lures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,156,682 discloses a frog lure device. The lure has a diving “collar” disposed around an upper region of the lure body which causes the lure body to dive. When given a single pull followed by a rest, the frog lure responds by diving from a surface region of the water to a depth beneath the surface region, causing the resistance of the water to straighten the legs of the lure as it moves forward. When pulled, the lure is pulled from the head of the frog lure device. It can therefore be seen that a need exists for a fishing lure that floats and more accurately mimics the movement of an actual frog as that entices fish to bite, get hooked, and ultimately be caught. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a lure is disclosed. The lure comprises a head, a tail, a first channel extending inside the head to the tail, a pair of hind legs extending from the tail and including a first leg having a first foot, a second leg having a second foot, the first foot being connected to the second foot forming a foot body having a second channel. The lure has a line having a first end and a second end, and the second end is provided through the first channel and the second channel. The second end is connected to the foot body. In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a line-thru lure is disclosed. The line-thru lure comprises a head, a tail, a hook, a first channel extending inside the head to the tail, a pair of hind legs extending from the tail and including a first leg having a first foot, a second leg having a second foot, the first foot being connected to the second foot forming a foot body having a second channel. In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method of catching fish is disclosed. The method comprises: providing a lure resembling wildlife, the lure having a body, a pair of hind legs extending from the body and being connected at mutual ends thereof forming a foot body: extending a first end of a line through the body, through the pair of hind legs, and to the foot body: connecting a hook to the lure: casting the lure to float on a body of water expected to have fish; tugging the line to cause the distal end of the lure to bend the pair of hind legs and move the foot body towards the body: and untugging the lin