JIG FISHING LURE

Abstract

A jig-type fishing lure having a jig body with a hook extending from a rear portion of the body and a spinner-type fish attractant located forward of a front end of the jig body. A fishing line is attached to an attachment point located between the spinner-type fish attractant and the barb of the rearwardly extending hook.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. application Ser. No. 11/076,578, filed Mar. 9, 2005, now abandoned, and pending U.S. application Ser. No. 11/890,876, filed Aug. 7, 2007.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to fishing lures. More particularly, this invention relates to a jig fishing lure which incorporates a movable member at a location forward the location on the jig where a fishing line is attached.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Jigs are a popular type of fishing lure and are used to fish for a variety of fish species. Jigs are typically characterized as having a hook partially embedded within a jig body, typically a weighted body of lead. Prior jigs are known which incorporate spinners or propellers to add desirable fish-attracting effects. The present invention relates to a jig lure incorporating a movable member, such as a propeller or a spinner, in a manner which is believed to enhance fish attracting characteristics, particularly when the jig lure is vertically jigged.

In a preferred embodiment, the lure includes a hook having a bend adjacent a barb to define a rear end of the lure and a shank extending toward an opposite front end of the lure. A lure body is attached to a portion of the shank of the hook and a movable support member extends from the lure body toward the front end of the lure and generally away from the rear end of the lure. A movable member, such as a spinner blade or a propeller, is movably associated with the movable support member for moving during use of the lure to attract fish to the lure. The movable member is located forward of the lure body adjacent the front end of the lure. A line attachment member is located adjacent the body for securement of a fishing line to the lure. The line attachment member is located between the rear end of the lure and the movable member. In a preferred embodiment, the line attachment member is provided by an eye of the hook that extends from the lure body.

In another embodiment, the invention relates to a jig-type fishing lure having a jig body with a hook extending from a rear portion of the body and a spinner-type fish attractant located forward of a front end of the jig body. A fishing line is attached to an attachment point located between the spinner-type fish attractant and the barb of the rearwardly extending hook.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features of preferred embodiments of the invention will become apparent by reference to the detailed description of preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the figures, which are not to scale, wherein like reference numbers, indicate like elements through the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a jig lure in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention incorporating a propeller type movable member and illustrating attachment of a fishing line to the jig and the orientation of the fishing line such as when the jig lure is being raised upwardly during vertical jigging;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a jig lure in accordance with an alternate embodiment of the invention and illustrating attachment of a fishing line to the jig and the orientation of the fishing line such as when the jig lure is allowed to fall during vertical jigging;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a jig lure in accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention and showing a plastic bait incorporated on the jig lure;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a jig lure in accordance with a still further embodiment of the invention incorporating a spinner type movable member; and

FIG. 5 is a side view of a jig lure in accordance with a yet further embodiment of the invention incorporating a straight-shanked hook.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With initial reference to FIG. 1, the invention relates to a fishing lure 10 having a hook 12, a body 14, a line attachment member 16, a movable member 18, and a movable member support 20.

The hook 12 includes a barb 22, a bend 24, a shank 26, and an eye 28. The hook 12 is preferably a conventional hook of the type used to make jigs, such as a 1/0 Aberdeen style jig hook. The depicted hook 12 is a conventional jig hook and has a bend 30 in the shank adjacent the eye 28. The bend 30 is preferably made at an angle of from about 60 to about 90 degrees relative to the shank 26.

The body 14 is preferably a weighted body, most preferably formed of lead, tungsten, or the like, and formed by placing the hook in a mold to shape the lead to form the body 14 in a desired shape surrounding a portion of the hook 12. For example, the body 14 is preferably shaped to include a head 32 and a collar 34, with a portion of the shank 26 within the body 14 so that the eye 28 of the hook 12 extends free of the head 32 and the barb 22 of the hook 12 is posterior of the collar 34. Accordingly, when a jig hook is used, the line attachment member 16 is preferably provided by the eye 28 of the hook 12. However, in the event a straight-shanked hook is used or the body is formed such that the eye of the hook is not exposed, then the line attachment member 16 may preferably be provided as by a screw eye or other structure which provides structure to attach a fishing line 35.

The jig lure 10 has a rear end 36 generally corresponding to the bend 24 and a front end 38 generally corresponding to the portion of the movable member support 20 most remote from the bend 24. After the body 14 is formed, it is preferably colored as by painting or powder coating. The body 14 may be formed in a variety of shapes. Examples ofpreferred body shapes are common jig body shapes such as round, tube, pony, banana, shad, and football. The collar 34 preferably includes a barb 40 to help hold a plastic bait or the like.

The body 14 may also preferably include structure for inhibiting snagging of the hook 12, such as when the jig lure 10 is fished in water having weeds. For example, a weed guard 42 may be included as by positioning stiff fibers or the like within the mold during formation of the body 14. Likewise, a rubber skirt, bucktail, feathers, and the like may be incorporated into the head or an attractant, such as a plastic bait may be installed. In this regard, FIGS. 2 and 3 show alternate head shapes, with FIG. 3 showing a plastic grub 44 positioned on the hood 22.

The movable member 18 is preferably configured to move when the jig lure 10 is moved underwater. For example, when the lure 10 is pulled upwardly through the water or allowed to fall or settle toward the bottom of a body of water. Examples of preferred structures for the movable member 18 include a propeller 46. When the lure 10 is moved through the water, the propeller will spin or rotate about the movable member support 20 and emit flash from reflected sunlight and vibrations which are believed to attract fish to the lure 10.

The movable member support 20 is preferably provided by a portion of wire 48 having opposite ends 50 and 52. For example, the support 20 may be 19 gauge steel wire. The end 50 is preferably provided within the mold during formation of the body 14 and bent around the shank 26 of the hook 12 adjacent the bend 30 (FIG. 1). The wire 48 is preferably substantially straight or linear along its length and sized and located so as to extend substantially co-axial with the major straight portion of the shank 26 of the hook 12.

The wire 48 preferably extends out of a frontal portion of the body 14 a distance sufficient to enable mounting of the movable member 18, such as the propeller 46, thereto. The end 52 is preferably curled to serve as a stop to retain the propeller 46 from sliding off the wire 18. In addition, additional attractants, such as one or more preferably brightly colored beads 54, are preferably located on the movable member support 20. The beads 54 preferably range in size from about 2 to about 6 mm in major diameter and two of the beads 54 are preferably installed, one on each side of the propeller 46. It has been observed that this orientation of the beads 54 facilitates rotation of the propeller 18. The beads 54 may be of a variety of shapes, such as round and teardrop shapes.

With reference to FIG. 4, there is shown a jig lure 60 in accordance with an alternate embodiment of the invention. The lure 60 is substantially similar to the previously described lures, except it incorporates a slightly more elongate support 20′ and incorporates a movable member 18′ in the form of a spinner blade 62 mounted to the support 20′ as by a preferably metal clevis 64 rotatably mounted on the support 20′. The blade 62 is preferably shaped to correspond to conventional fishing blades, such as blade shapes referred to as Colorado, Indiana, Willowleaf, and Dakota blades.

FIG. 5 shows yet another embodiment of a jig lure 70. The lure 70 is substantially similar to the lure 10 described previously, except that it is made using a hook 12 that does not have an eye disposed at a right angle to the shank of the hook. Rather, the hook 12′ has a shank 26′ that is substantially linear and extends out of the front of body 14′.

The portion of the shank 26′ that extends out of the front of the body 14′ is preferably encircled about itself to form a loop 72, and thereafter returns to the linear orientation. The loop 72 provides attachment member 16′ to which fishing is attached. The portion of the shank 26′ located forward of the loop 72 serves as movable member support 20′ in the manner of the movable member support 20. It is preferred that a sufficient number of the beads 54 be used to space the propeller 46 sufficiently remote from the attachment member 16′ so as to inhibit interference between the propeller 46 and the fishing line attached to the member 16′. This orientation is preferred when fishing live bait such as salamanders or crawfish, so as to position the attachment member 16′ farther from the bait. The body 14′ is shown having a collar 34′ which does not include the barb 40. This is preferred when utilizing live bait with the lure 70.

The foregoing description of certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention has been provided for purposes of illustration only, and it is understood that numerous modifications or alterations may be made in and to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. A fishing lure, comprising:

an elongate lure body having a front end and a rear end;

a hook having a bend adjacent a pointed end and a shank extending from the bend generally away from the pointed end, the shank being relatively straight and extending along an axis into the rear end of the lure body so that at least a portion of the hook shank projects rearwardly from adjacent the rear end of the lure body;

an elongate support member substantially fixedly attached to and projecting forwardly from the front end of the lure body and generally away from the rear end of the lure body and the hook in general alignment with the axis of the hook shank;

a movable fish-attractant member mounted on the support member for movement with resect to the support member when the lure moves through water in a manner so as to attract fish to the lure; and

a line attachment member attached to and projecting from the lure body for securement of a fishing line to the lure, said line attachment member bein structurall se arate from said sus sort member at least S outside of said lure body and being spaced therefrom on said lure body, the line attachment member being disposed so as to provide a point of attachment of the fishing line to the lure generally between the front end of the lure body, from which the support member projects, and the rear end of the lure body, from which the hook projects.

2. The lure of claim 1, wherein the hook further includes an eye portion that extends outside of and away from the lure body to provide the line attachment member, said eye portion terminating an end of said hook distally of said pointed end and being integral with and extending from said shank portion of the hook disposed within the lure body.

3. The lure of claim 1, wherein lure the body is a weighted body.

4. The lure of claim 1, wherein the support member comprises a wire having an end extending forwardly from the front end of the lure body and on which the moveable member is rotatably mounted.

5. The lure of claim 1, wherein the support member comprises an elongate relatively stiff axle member extending from the lure body and the movable member comprises a propeller rotatably mounted on the axle member.

6. The lure of claim 1, wherein the support member comprises an elongate relatively stiff axle member extending from the lure body and the movable member comprises a spinner blade rotatably mounted on the axle member.

7. A jig-type fishing lure comprising a jig body with an elongate hook shank extending along an axis from adjacent a rear portion of the body to a hook bend and a spinner-type fish attractant rotatably mounted on a spinner support extending forwardly from adjacent of a front end of the jig body; the fishing lure further comprising a fishing line attachment member projecting from the jig body for attachment of a fishing line to the lure via the attachment member at a location generally between the spinner support and the hook and structurally separate from the spinner support externally of the jig body so that a taut fishing line attached to the attachment member and being used to retrieve the lure through the water in a manner so as to cause the spinner-type fish attractant to rotate on the spinner support will be prevented from interfering with rotation of the spinner-type fish attractant.

8. The lure of claim 7, wherein the spinner-type fish attractant comprises a propeller.

9. The lure of claim 7, wherein the wherein the spinner-type fish attractant comprises a spinner blade.

10. The lure of claim 7, wherein at least a portion of the shank of the hook projects from the lure body generally along a hook axis and wherein the hook has comprises a unitary member including an eye adjacent an end thereof opposite the pointed end and wherein at least a portion of the body of the hook is embedded within the jig body so that the eye extends out of and generally laterally away from the jig body relative to the hook axis to provide the fishing line attachment member generally on a side of the lure body in relation to the axis of the shank of the hook.

11. The lure of claim 7, wherein the spinner-type attractant is mounted on a wire extending forwardly from the body in a direction generally opposite the direction that the hook extends away from the body.

12. A fishing lure, comprising:

an elongate, substantially rigid, substantially unfoldable lure body having a front end, and a rear end which is longitudinally spaced apart from the front end;

a hook attached to the lure body and projecting from the rear end of the lure body, the hook having a bend adjacent a pointed end and an elongate shank extending generally toward the front end of the lure body;

a support member fixedly attached to and extending forwardly from the front end of the lure body generally away from the rear end of the lure and the hook;

a movable member rotatably supported on the support member such that when the lure moves through water, the moveable member rotates about an axis substantially coextensive with the elongate support member in a manner so as to attract fish to the lure;

a line attachment member attached to the lure body for securement of a fishing line to the lure body, the line attachment member being disposed so as to provide a point of attachment of the line to the lure body that is located generally between the rear end of the lure and the movable member; and

a fishing line directly connected to and extending from the line attachment member;

wherein when the fishing line is used to pull the lure body through the water, the front end of the lure body maintains its longitudinally space apart relationship with the rear end of the lure body.

13. The lure of claim 12, wherein the hook further includes a barb adjacent the pointed end.

14. The lure of claim 12, wherein the hook and the line attachment member are integral, the shank of the hook extending integrally through the lure body to the line attachment member, which comprises a loop or eye for attachment of the line thereto and forming a distal end of the hook and which is disposed generally on a side of the lure body relative to its front and rear ends.

15. The lure of claim 12, wherein the body is a weighted body.

16. The lure of claim 12, wherein the support member comprises a wire having an end extending forwardly from the body and on which the moveable member is rotatably mounted.

17. The lure of claim 12, wherein the movable member comprises a propeller rotatably mounted on the support member.

18. The lure of claim 12, wherein the movable member comprises a spinner blade rotatably mounted on the support member.

19. The lure of claim 1, wherein the support member is devoid of any structure for attachment of a fishing line.

20. The lure of claim 7, wherein the elongate support is devoid of a fishing line attachment member.