Abstract: A hook, fishhook, or fishing spear with at least one barb fixed to the hook, fishhook, or fishing spear with an epoxy that disbonds upon the application of an electric current. Components of the barb and the hook, fishhook, or fishing spear form a loop of electrically conductive material that carries a current induced by the application of a magnetic field generated by a magnetic field generator external to the hook, fishhook, or fishing spear. A current may be generated to disband the barb from the hook, fishhook, or fishing spear in order to facilitate the removal of the hook, fishhook, or fishing spear from an impaled fish.

Abstract: A mechanical hook assembly for catching fish. The hook assembly comprises a hook having an elongated shank, bend, and point. A spring-biased trigger resides adjacent the hook and comprises an elongated distal point guard, an intermediate latch, a proximal spring shaft, and spring. The spring normally urges the hook assembly into an open spread condition, such that the spring shaft of the trigger extends outwardly at an angle to the shank of the hook and in a direction opposite the bend. A catch is located beside the shank of the hook.

Abstract: An artificial fishing lure includes a substantially hollow body having front and rear ends, walls defining an internal firing chamber, and an escape notch formed with the hollow body at its rear end. A one-piece spring-biased hook assembly is located substantially within the firing chamber of the body in a loaded condition, and is adapted for sudden rearward linear movement from the loaded condition to a released fish-catching condition. A pivoted actuation lever has a proximal end joined to the hollow body, and an opposite hook-engaging end adapted for moving the loaded hook assembly into the escape notch of the hollow body, thereby releasing the hook assembly into the fish-catching condition.

Abstract: An artificial fishing lure includes a base assembly, a spring-biased hook assembly, a movable hook-setting post, a fixed retention member, and a pivoted actuation lever. The base assembly has spaced apart leading and trailing ends. The hook assembly is carried by the base assembly, and is adapted for sudden movement from a loaded condition to a released condition. The hook assembly has a proximal end and a pointed distal end adapted for piercing a fish. The hook-setting post is located adjacent the leading end of the base assembly, and is adapted for temporarily engaging the proximal end of the hook assembly in the loaded condition. The fixed retention member is located adjacent the trailing end of said base assembly, and is adapted for cooperating with the hook-setting post to temporarily hold the hook assembly in the loaded condition. The actuation lever is connected to the hook-setting post, and is adapted for moving the hook-setting post away from the hook assembly when actuated.

Abstract: A removable trigger mechanism for a spring-biased hook assembly includes a generally U-shaped swivel attachment portion having first and second spaced apart resilient surfaces cooperating to frictionally engage a first biasing element of the hook assembly. A hook-setting finger is formed adjacent the first resilient surface of the swivel attachment portion, and is adapted for temporarily holding a second biasing element of the hook assembly when in a loaded condition. An actuation lever is formed adjacent the second resilient surface of the swivel attachment portion, and is adapted for pivoting the attachment portion relative to the first biasing element of the hook assembly. When pivoted, the actuation lever simultaneously moves the hook-setting finger away from the second biasing element of the hook assembly in the loaded condition, such that the hook assembly is released for sudden movement from the loaded condition to an outwardly-flared deployed condition.

Abstract: A self-setting hook is disclosed that is easily made from one-piece of wire. The hook wire is bent to form a throat, and then coiled into a spring like section in the shank portion of the hook. At least one coil protrudes beyond of the other coils, forming a loop that engages a catch at the proximal end of the wire. The wire is bent to form both an eye and an arm with a catch at the proximal end. The catch engages the loop, and energy is released that is stored in the coil, setting the hook upon slight disturbance to the hook.

Abstract: A removable trigger mechanism for a spring-biased hook assembly includes a generally U-shaped swivel attachment portion having first and second spaced apart resilient surfaces cooperating to frictionally engage a first biasing element of the hook assembly. A hook-setting finger is formed adjacent the first resilient surface of the swivel attachment portion, and is adapted for temporarily holding a second biasing element of the hook assembly when in a loaded condition. An actuation lever is formed adjacent the second resilient surface of the swivel attachment portion, and is adapted for pivoting the attachment portion relative to the first biasing element of the hook assembly. When pivoted, the actuation lever simultaneously moves the hook-setting finger away from the second biasing element of the hook assembly in the loaded condition, such that the hook assembly is released for sudden movement from the loaded condition to an outwardly-flared deployed condition.

Abstract: A concealed hook fish lure is disclosed. In one embodiment, a lure body contains an interior body cavity wherein is placed a hook that is pivotally mounted on a bar with a spring biased to rotate the hook. In the non-deployed position, the hook is concealed and retracted within the lure up to the moment of the strike. At the moment of the strike, the fish compresses a hook trigger clip which releases the hook, which is then pivoted upwardly into the mouth of the fish, thereby facilitating the setting of the hook in the fish's mouth. The lure is useful in waters containing weeds and other debris, and provides improvements with respect to a simple mechanism for deploying the hook, and the ability to deploy hooks in multiple directions relative to the lure body. The hook may also be readily retracted to and cocked in its concealed position following a strike.

Abstract: A component used in a fishing lure is disclosed. The component includes a flexible cantilever having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is either connected to or capable of connecting to a hook and the second end is either connected to or capable of connecting to the fishing lure such that when a force sufficient enough to deflect the flexible cantilever is directly or indirectly applied to the flexible cantilever, the hook displaces with respect to the fishing lure.

Abstract: A fishing hook assembly includes a base, a central axis extending through the base, and a first, second, and third hook member moveably connected to the base. Each hook member includes a shaft connected to the base and extending therefrom, an arm connected to the shaft at a bend and forming an obtuse angle with the shaft, and an engagement portion connected to the arm and including an engagement point, wherein the arm and the engagement portion connect at an acute angle. The hook assembly is moveable from a first configuration to a second configuration.

Abstract: An artificial fishing lure includes a base assembly, a spring-biased hook assembly, a movable hook-setting post, a fixed retention member, and a pivoted actuation lever. The base assembly has spaced apart leading and trailing ends. The hook assembly is carried by the base assembly, and is adapted for sudden movement from a loaded condition to a released condition. The hook assembly has a proximal end and a pointed distal end adapted for piercing a fish. The hook-setting post is located adjacent the leading end of the base assembly, and is adapted for temporarily engaging the proximal end of the hook assembly in the loaded condition. The fixed retention member is located adjacent the trailing end of said base assembly, and is adapted for cooperating with the hook-setting post to temporarily hold the hook assembly in the loaded condition. The actuation lever is connected to the hook-setting post, and is adapted for moving the hook-setting post away from the hook assembly when actuated.

Abstract: An artificial fishing lure incorporates a spring-biased hook assembly adapted for sudden movement from a loaded condition to a released condition. A hook-setting member temporarily retains the hook assembly in the loaded condition. A compression trigger is adapted for tripping the hook-setting member upon application of an inwardly directed force: When tripped, the hook assembly releases for sudden movement from the loaded condition to the released condition.

Abstract: A non-snagging fish hook having a shaft with a barb at one end and an opening at another end for receiving a line is attached to a wire loop member. The wire loop member is a continuous length of flexible wire bent back upon itself at a place between its two ends to provide a first end having an open loop, a second end having said two ends, and two substantially parallel wires that extend from the first end to the second end. The second end is attached to the fish hook near the opening for receiving a line. The wire loop member is not in tension and does not engage the barb end of the fish hook. When a pushing force is applied, it resists with a progressively increasing resistance force.

Abstract: A fishing hook assembly includes a base, a central axis extending through the base, and a first, second, and third hook member moveably connected to the base. Each hook member includes a shaft, an arm, and an engagement member. The shaft is connected to the base and extends therefrom, and is generally disposed a first distance from the central axis. The arm is connected to the shaft. The engagement portion is connected to the arm. The engagement portion is generally disposed a second distance from the central axis. The hook assembly is moveable from a first configuration to a second configuration. In the first configuration the engagement portions are disposed adjacent the central axis such that the first distance is greater than the second distance. In the second configuration the shafts are disposed adjacent the central axis such that the first distance is less than the second distance.

Abstract: A fishing lure assembly (10) includes a first hook (26A), a bias (30) that urges the first hook (26A) in a first direction, and a latch (32). The fishing lure assembly (10) can also include an oppositely configured second hook (26B) that is urged in a second direction. The latch (32) can selectively inhibit movement of the first and/or second hooks (26A, 26B). The latch (32) can be biased in a third direction that is perpendicular to the first and/or second direction. Pressure on a hook section (43) of the first and/or second hook (26A) can cause the latch (32) to move in the third direction to release the first and/or second hook (26A, 26B).

Abstract: An improved automatic setting hook apparatus that deploys upon the application of generally opposing, lateral, inward forces generated by the inside of a fish's mouth. The apparatus may be manually placed in a cocked position and then released or set upon the application of the two opposing, lateral, inward forces such that a fish may be hooked without the necessity of a fisherman manually setting the hook in the fish's mouth. One embodiment may be an automatic setting hook apparatus comprising a single wire with at least one integral catch.

Abstract: A multi-layered iridescent reflective coating for a fishing lure and the method for applying the coating to the surface of the lure. The coating preferably comprises a base layer, an optical stack comprising at least 3 layers of refractive material, and a protective layer. The layers of refractive material are vacuum deposited on a lure pre-coated with an ultraviolet cured polymer base layer. The optical stack can be applied to painted lures, pre-colored lures, or undecorated lures. The substrate, or lure surface, does not affect the process but can yield varying iridescent effects, depending on the texture and color of the substrate surface. The relative thickness of each optical layer and its relation to the other layers in the optical stack combine to achieve a variety of iridescent effects. A protective layer having a low refractive index is applied over the finished optical stack.

Abstract: A fishing lure comprising a lure body having a connector for connecting a fishing line to the lure body and at least one hook device including a hook shank with associated attachment device and at least one hook tip shaft with associated barb equipped tip, which hook device is non-releasably secured to the lure body by the attachment device. The hook tip shaft, when the fishing lure is being drawn through water in a stand by state by the fishing line, is arranged to extend away from the direction of drawing the lure and out from the lure body and the barb of each tip is located on the side of the hook shank away from the direction of drawing the lure so that the barb is disposed behind, relative to the direction of drawing the lure, the hook tip shaft.

Abstract: A pair of mutually confronting fish hooks are spring-coupled at the shank ends thereof to define thereof a shielding loop which circumscribes the barbed and pointed ends of the hooks. Accordingly, the coupled hooks can be drawn through submerged obstructions without getting snagged on such. The so-coupled hooks are replacements for the barbed hooks of crankbaits, for example, and upon a fish striking the so modified crankbaits, the spring yields and exposes the barbed, pointed ends externally of the shielding loop. In an alternate embodiment, the spring-coupled or calipered hooks are confined within a sheathing, frog-simulating body, and in another embodiment, the hooks are sheathed in an expandable tube. Fish strikes, again, diminish the loop and dispose the barbed, pointed ends of the hooks at-the-ready for piercing the thin sheathing and lodging in the mouth of the fish.

Abstract: An active fishing lure that impales a fish in response to an initial fish strike. The disclosed tackle comprises an elongated, durable stainless steel or resilient plastic casing that may be externally disguised as bait. The casing houses a trigger, a compression spring and a torsion spring. The casing also partially houses the secondary hook when it is cocked. The secondary hook rotates between a cocked position and a triggered position. The primary hook is attached to the trigger. The trigger temporarily secures the secondary hook in the cocked position with a projecting tang. The secondary hook is released by a fish strike upon the primary hook. When the trailing primary hook is attacked by a fish the trigger is displaced linearly within the casing to unleash the active or secondary hook. The torsion spring forcefully rotates the secondary hook toward a triggered position where it impales the fish. In this position, the disclosed device prevents the escape of the fish.

Abstract: A fishing rig for live or artificial bait has a bendable member mounted between at least two hooks, particularly treble hooks, the hooks being mounted with respect to a leader such that when one hook is set in a fish, the bendable member bends upon a pull of the leader and the other hook moves toward the set hook. The bending of the bendable member forces the other hook into a set condition and enlarges the transverse width of the rig within the fish so that a double hooking action is guaranteed.

Abstract: An artificial fishing lure such as a surface plug of streamline form has a lure body with a front and rear end and mounts at least one hook for movement longitudinally by its shank in an elongated slot between a forward position relative to the front of the body and a rearward position thereof. A fishing line is attached directly to the at least one hook and a coil spring or rubber band biases the hook in the retracted position. When the fish strikes the lure body, the hook automatically moves forwardly against the biasing means to hook the fish while the fish has the lure body grasped in its mouth. A wire support member mounted within the slot and fixed to the body slidably supports a wire hook carrier for movement longitudinally parallel to the wire support member. The wire support member may comprise a cylinder in line with the longitudinal axis of the lure body with a compression coil spring carried within the cylinder.

Abstract: The subject invention is a novel device for catching fish. This device reduces the possibility of a fish stealing bait, and it securely holds a fish once a fish has been initially hooked. Advantageously, the novel device is effective whether or not the fishing line is being attended at the moment a fish is caught.

Abstract: A gaff for hooking a target such as a fish, an animal, or an object. In one embodiment the gaff has a handle, a hook, a spring mechanism connected to the hook, a tensioning device for stretching the spring, an automatic trigger actuable to release the spring and move the hook into the target, a manually actuable trigger, a safety device for preventing unwanted automatic actuation of the gaff, a weight scale and a fish scale. In other embodiments, gaffs according to this invention have one or more, but not all, of these aspects.

Abstract: A self-setting fish hook is disclosed that is automatically set in the fish by contact with the fish, the setting of the hook requiring no action from the fisherman. The hook comprises a latch assembly that latches the fish hook into a first bent position. The bending of the fish hook into this first position causes a stress in a spring member that tends to bias the fish hook back towards its unbent position. The latch is easily releasable so that upon a slight mouthing by the fish the hook will become unlatched, and the spring bias will cause the hook to set in the fish.

Abstract: A snagless fishing lure, wherein dual levers that engage a piston carrying a hook are pivotally connected on upper and lower sides of what may be a fish-shaped housing with the housing suitably constructed to conceal the hook when the piston is engaged with the forward end of the levers and the housing and piston are of suitable length and construction so that when both levers are depressed simultaneously a rubber band hooked between the piston and rear of the housing may propel the piston rearward to cause the hook to be ejected to catch the fish.

Abstract: A lure plug for fishing including a plug body made of wood or plastics and having a slot extending in a longitudinal direction of the plug body, a hook rotatably secured to the plug body between a position within the slot and a position exposed out of the plug body, a resilient body provided in the slot such that the hook is biased into the position within the slot, and an operating member movably provided in the slot. When a fish bites the lure plug, the operating member pushes the hook out of the plug body against a resilient biasing force of the resilient body. When the fish discharges the lure plug, the hook is automatically returned into the position within the plug body, so that the lure plug is effectively prevented from being picked up by obstcles.

Abstract: A fishing lure for trolling includes a pull member having a line attachment portion to which a fishing line can be attached, a body supported for pivotal movement relative to the pull member between first and second positions, the body and pull member normally being maintained in the first position when the lure is in use and being capable of pivoting to the second position when a fish strikes the lure, a hook part, and an arrangement which effects movement of the hook part relative to the body from a retracted position to an exposed position in response to movement of the pull member and body from the first position to the second position. The body has an arrangement which prevents aqueous weeds from snagging the hook part when the hook part is in its retracted position, and the hook part projects outwardly from the body when in its exposed position so as to be capable of hooking a fish.

Abstract: The fish-hook assembly comprises an elongated frame bar to be secured at its rear end to a fishing line. A trigger arm is pivoted at its center to an intermediate section of the bar and is biased by a first tension spring in counterclockwise rotation. A first upwardly-curved hook is pivotally secured to the bottom end of the trigger arm and extends forwardly and is slidably mounted in the front end portion of the frame bar. A second hook is pivotally mounted at the front portion of the frame bar for pivotal action about a plane parallel to that defined by the first hook. A second tension spring biases the second hook in counterclockwise rotation, that is forwardly when rearwardly positioned in set position where it is upwardly curved. The top end of the trigger arm defines a transverse tab engageable in a longitudinal slit made in the second hook for retaining the latter in its set position.

Abstract: This fish securing device has a relatively small diameter cylindrical axial assembly to which are hinged a number of fish securing arms. A spring loading mechanism contained within the axial assembly urges the hinged arms towards a closed fish securing position by means of an actuating linkage arm associated with each securing arm. A cocking and trip mechanism is actuatable upon tugging on a fish lure connected to one end of the axial assembly for releasing the securing arms from an open cocked position towards their closed position to secure a fish tugging on the lure. The device features an improved, compact, streamlined configuration whereby the spring loading mechanism is contained within the central tubular assembly and wherein the cocking and trippng mechanism and securing arm actuating linkages are disposed in a relatively protected position between the securing arms and the central axial assembly to minimize the possibility of damage or of entanglement with underwater growth, rocks or debris.

Abstract: A fish hook uses two hooks mounted to shanks which are pivotably connected together by a pivot pin. The upper ends of the shanks include fork members which mate with one another and in which the pivot pin is seated. The lower ends of the shanks include hooks which spread apart in parallel planes upon a fish bitting the fish hook.

Abstract: A fishing lure is disclosed having a V-shaped spring wire with two legs diverging rearwardly from an apex connectible to a fishing line. A trigger member and a sleeve are slidably mounted on one of the legs. A fishing hook is carried by the other of the legs. The trigger member has a looped catch portion releasably engageable with the rear end of the other leg to hold it in a "latched" position. The legs are resiliently compressible and can be squeezed together providing a contracted profile enabling the lure to be taken easily by a fish. When the fish takes the lure, the sleeve moves the trigger member from its latched position to a "released" position disengaging the other leg and enabling it to spring outwardly with the hook. Optionally, weed guard shield members in any suitable shape such as simulated butterfly wings, may be supported on the sleeve to protect the fishing hook.

Abstract: A head structure is provided defining a hollow cavity opening outwardly of one side of the head and the head includes line anchor structure thereon for attaching one end of a fishing line to the head structure. A pair of oppositely facing side-by-side self-shielding fishhooks are also provided including a pair of shanks yieldingly mounted at one pair of corresponding base ends within the cavity in laterally spaced generally parallel relation for movement of the other pair of ends of the shanks toward and away from each other. The other pair of shank ends include oppositely curved hook portions opening toward the first mentioned shank ends and the latter are telescoped within the cavity of the head structure and closely oppose opposite sides of the cavity. A resilient body is disposed within the cavity between portions of the shanks spaced slightly from the base ends thereof and yieldingly biases those shank portions away from each other.

Abstract: A spoon lure with spring loaded hooks operatively connected to a plunger extending axially along the lure. The hooks are loaded by pulling or pushing the plunger in a direction away from or towards the hooks against the force of the spring and they are locked into said loaded position by pushing a latch into a notch provided in said plunger. The hooks are protected by an appropriately designed back part of the lure when in loaded position. Releasing occurs through compressing of trigger means forming part of the spoon lure whereby the latch is released from the notch with following releasing of the spring resulting in thrusting of the hooks into acting position.