GB2476813A

GB2476813A - Fish hook

Info

Publication number: GB2476813A
Application number: GB1000261A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Anthony Jones; Carl Anthony Jones
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-01-08
Filing date: 2010-01-08
Publication date: 2011-07-13
Also published as: GB201015686D0; GB201009209D0; WO2011083328A1; GB2476845A; GB201000261D0; GB2478615A; GB2478615A8; GB2476845A8

Abstract

A fish hook formed from a wire, preferably a single wire. The hook comprises a shank portion 10 that has an attachment formation 20 to which a line can be connected. First and second hook portions 12, 12', are each formed as a respective end portion of the wire formed into a bend having an approximately U-shape and having a sharpened, barbed point 14, 16, 14', 16'. The attachment formation includes a helix formed in the wire by one or more turns formed in the wire. Embodiments may be rotationally symmetrical or mirror symmetrical and the axis of the helix may be varied to accommodate variations in the manner in which the hook is intended to be attached to a line.

Description

Fish hook This invention re'ates to a fish hook.

The basic arrangement of a fish hook has remained unchanged for many centuries.

While it is a very successful design, it is not without its limitations and problems.

The upward-directed point of the hook can be difficult for a bottom-feeding fish, such as cod or bass, to take, since its point will be above the sea or river bottom from which the fish will normally take its food. Once bait has been taken by a fish, it is not uncommon for the fish to partially or entirely swallow the hook. The straight shaft of a conventional fish hook makes its recovery in such circumstances difficult.

An aim of this invention is to provide a fish hook that overcomes or ameliorates the disadvantages of conventional fish hooks.

US-A-i 911 778 discloses a double-ended fish hook for which its inventor claims many advantages. However, he makes clear that his invention requires a "slip connection" between the hook and the line. This can result in the hook being displaced to one side of a connecting line, which can cause undesirable forces to be applied to a line when a fish is caught. It Will also be seen that the hooks disclosed in US-A-i 911 778 are considerably more complex to manufacture than a conventiona1 fish hook, since they cannot be formed from a single wire, and would therefore be comparatively costly.

This invention provides a fish hook formed from a wire comprising a shank portion that has an attachment formation to which a line can be connected and first and second hook portions, each hook portion being formed as a respective end portion of the wire formed into a bend having an approximately U-shape and having a sharpened, barbed point; in which the attachment formation includes a helix formed in the wire by one or more turns formed in the wire.

A line can be passed through the loop or each loop and optionally tied to secure the hook to the line. In this way, the disposition of the hook with respect to the line can be maintained as required by an angler.

A fish hook embodying the invention may be symmetrical about the attachment formation. It may be mirror symmetrical, such that the points of the hook portions point generally towards one another. Alternatively, it may be rotationally symmetrical, such that the hook portions are displaced from the shank portion in opposite directions.

The helix of the attachment formation will typically have an axis that is normal to or approximately normal to the shank portion. For example, the axis of the helix may be offset by 300 or less (for example, in the range of 50 to 100) from normal to the shank portion.

The axis of the helix may lie approximately in a plane that is occupied by or is parallel to a plane that is occupied by one or more of the bends of the hook portions.

Such an arrangement is particularly suited for attachment at the end of a line.

Alternatively, the axis of the helix may be approximately normal to a plane that is occupied by or is parallel to a plane that is occupied by one or more of the bends of the hook portions. This arrangement is particularly suited for connection to an intermediate part of a line.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are formed from a single wire. However, there may be alternative embodiments that are formed from several interconnected components. For example, a hook embodying the invention could be formed from two wire hook components interconnected, such as by interconnected screw threads or by brazing, with a central attachment component, which could be formed of metal or any other suitable material.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 to 6 show, respectively, first to sixth embodiments of the invention; Figures 7 to 10 show, respectively, the fifth, first, third and fourth embodiments of the invention carrying bait fish; Figure 11 is a plan view corresponding to Figure 8; Figure 12 shows a further embodiment of the invention; Figures 13 is a perspective view a baited hook similar to the second embodiment of the invention on the sea bed about to be taken by a fish; and Figure 14 shows the hook of Figure 13 being used to draw in a caught fish.

With reference to the drawings, each embodiment of the invention comprises a fish hook formed from a single piece of formed steel wire.

Each hook has a central shank portion 10 which, in the first to fourth embodiments, is generally straight. Opposite end portions of the wire are each formed as a i respective hook portion 12, 12'. Each hook portion 12, 12' is constituted by a respective end portion of the wire that is curved upon itself into a U-shape to form a bend of the hook. A free end of each hook portion is sharpened to a point 14, 14' and a barb 16, 16' is formed next to it, whereby a gape of the hook is defined between each point 14, 14' and the shank 10. Thus, it will be seen that each of the hook portions 12, 12' closely resembles corresponding components of a conventional fish hook.

Therefore, the hook portions can be subject to the wide range of variations in their configuration with which those skilled in the field will be familiar in their application to conventional fish hooks.

An attachment loop is formed centrally of the shank portion 10. The attachment loop 20 is formed by bending a portion of the wire into a helix. In each of the illustrated embodiments, the helix is formed so as to have approximately 1.5 turns, but one or more additional turns may be provided. It is formed as a close helix, whereby the turns of the helix are substantially in contact with one another.

The features described above are common to all of the embodiments of the invention that will be described here. Variations and additional features of the embodiments will now be described.

In the embodiment of Figure 1, the axis A of the helix that forms the attachment loop 20 is in a plane that is common to the shank portion 10 and the bends of the hook portions 12, 12'. It is offset by about 10200 to the normal of the shank portion 10.

This arrangement can allow the hook to be secured to an intermediate part of a line 30, as shown in Figure 8, where the line 30 passes through the loop, and the longitudinal position of the hook on the line is fixed by trapping it between two beads or crimps 32 that are secured to the line 30. This allows the hook to be connected hook to be centred on the line 30. Therefore, the shank portion 10 extends generally normally to the line 30 with the hook portions 12, 12' generally in the plane of the line and to opposite sides of the line 30.

The second embodiment is identical to the first, save for the arrangement of the attachment loop. In the second embodiment, the axis A of the helix that forms the attachment loop 20 is offset by about 102O0 to the normal of the shank portion 10 and is also similarly offset to the normal of the plane that is common to the shank portion 10 and the bends of the hook portions 12, 12'. In other words, as compared with the attachment loop 20 of the first embodiment, that of the second embodiment can be considered as being rotated by 90° about the axis of the shank portion 10.

This arrangement can allow the hook to be secured to an end portion of a line 30 as shown in Figure 10, where the line is knotted to the attachment loop 20. As before, the shank portion 10 extends generally normally to the line 30 with the hook portions 12, 12' generally in the plane of the line and to opposite sides of the line 30.

The third embodiment, shown in Figure 3, has individual elements that are generally similar to those of Figure 1. However, this embodiment is mirror symmetric about a centre plane of the shank portion 10. This means that the points 14, 14' of the two hook portJons 12, 12' point towards one another and the gapes open towards one another.

The fourth embodiment, shown in Figures 4 and 9, is to the third embodiment as the second is to the first. That is, the attachment loop 20 is rotated about the axis of the shank portion.

The fifth and sixth embodiments can be considered to be, respectively, modifications of the first and second embodiments. The fifth embodiment is shown in Figures 5 and 7, and the sixth embodiment is shown in Figure 6. As with those earlier embodiments, these are rotationally symmetrical about the attachment loop 20. The feature that distinguishes the fifth and sixth embodiments is that the shank portion has a respective cranked length 28, 28' next to each of the hook portions 12, 12'.

The sixth embodiment is a modification of the fifth as the second is to the first.

Figures 7 to 10 show how various embodiments of the invention can be connected to an intermediate part of a main line 30, and Figure 10 shows how a hook can be connected to the end of a main line. Any of the odd-numbered embodiments can be connected as shown in Figures 7 to 9, and any of the even-numbered embodiments can be connected as shown in Figure 10. These two arrangements of the connecting loop ensure that a hook embodying the invention can be connected to a line 30 in a wide range of configurations, while maintaining the centre of gravity of the hook coincident with the line, which ensures that the hook is brought quickly to its correct orientation when taken by a fish.

As shown in Figures 4 to 10, a hook embodying the invention can be used with a bait fish 40. The aim is to present the bait fish such that it looks to a swimming fish to be as natural as possible. In particular, the bait fish should be generally horizontal, something that is obtained neither by a conventional fish hook nor the hook of US-A-i 911 778. This also ensures that the scent trail that extends from the bait fish is advantageously broad. There are several ways to secure the bait fish 40 to the hook. One way is to start by filleting it from the tail to the gill. The hook positioned between the fillets and the bait fish is then wrapped in bait elastic to secure it on the hook. Alternatively, the bait fish 40 can be cut in half through the body. Each half is then threaded onto each hook portion so that the cut parts of the bait fish connect at the centre of the hook close to the attachment loop 20.

It will also be understood that a swimming fish may try to take the bait fish from either its tail or its head end. Embodiments of the invention place a respective hook portion 12, 12' close to each of the head and tail of the bait fish. To optimise the relative positions of the hook portions 12, 12', embodiments in which the shank portion 10 is straight, as in the first four embodiments, are particularly suited for use with a slim-bodied fish such as an eel, while embodiments with a cranked shank portion 10, such as the fifth and sixth embodiments. It will also be seen that when the hook is used at the end of a line 30, the bait fish 42 can reach close to the bottom of a river or sea where is can be taken easily by a bottom-feeding fish.

Figures 4 to 10 show hooks embodying the invention attached to a single main line.

However, they can also be used in many of the alternative rigs used by anglers, for example, on a side trace or in combination with a float, to position the hook on the bottom or spaced from the bottom of water that is being fished.

In the preceding embodiments, the bends of the two hook portions lie substantially in a common plane that is also occupied by the shank portion. However, the bends may be displaced from that plane by a small amount.

In order to further enhance the appearance of a bait fish, a modification, shown in Figure 12, can be applied to any embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the shank portion 110 is not straight, but instead is formed with a slight S-shaped curve when viewed in the plane of the bends of the hook portion. As can be seen in Figure 12, this imparts a curve to a bait fish secured to the hook, which is similar to the curve such a fish might adopt when swimming. In this embodiment, the bends of the two hook portions lie in planes that are parallel to, but space apart from, one another.

Figure 13 shows a hook similar to the second embodiment baited with a bait fish 40 and connected to the end of a hne 30. The hook is lying on the sea bed, and appears to an approaching swimming fish 42 to resemble a small fish upon which it might prey. As can be seen, the swimming fish 42 can attack the bait fish from either end, but the hook of the present embodiment ensures that it is likely to get caught in either case.

Once a swimming fish 42 has taken the bait and become hooked as shown in Figure 14, it will be drawn in by the line 30. Tension on the line 30 causes the hook to be drawn upwards. As can be seen in Figure 14, the fish 42 will be caught on one of the hook portions 12, but the other 12' will remain free. This means that it is virtually impossible for the fish 42 to swallow the hook, which is of significant assistance to an angler who is subsequently trying to remove the hook from the caught fish.

As with conventional fish hooks, embodiments will be provided in a range of sizes such that a hook of a size suitable for a species of fish being sought can be selected by an angler.

Claims

Claims i. A fish hook formed from a wire comprising a shank portion that has an attachment formation to which a line can be connected and first and second hook portions, each hook portion being formed as a respective end portion of the wire formed into a bend having an approximately U-shape and having a sharpened, barbed point; in which the attachment formation includes a helix formed in the wire by one or more turns formed in the wire.
2. A fish hook according to claim 1 that is mirror symmetrical about the attachment formation.
3. A fish hook according to claim 2 in which the points of the hook portions point generally towards one another.
4. A fish hook according to claim 1 that is rotationally symmetrical about the attachment formation.
. A fish hook according to claim 2 in which the hook portions are displaced from the shank portion in opposite directions.
6. A fish hook according to any preceding claim in which the helix of the attachment formation has an axis that is normal to or approximately normal to the shank portion.
7. A fish hook according to claim 6 in which the axis of the helix is offset by 3O or less from normal to the shank portion.
8. A fish hook according to claim 6 in which the axis of the helix is offset by 50 to from normal to the shank portion.
9. A fish hook according to any preceding claim in which the axis of the helix lies approximately in a plane that is occupied by or that is parallel to a plane that is occupied by one or more of the bends of the hook portions.
10. A fish hook according to any one of claims 1 to 8 in which the axis of the helix is approximately normal to a plane that is occupied by or is parallel to a plane that is occupied by one or more of the bends of the hook portions.
ii. A fish hook according to any preceding claim formed from a single wire.
12. A fish hook according to any one of claims 1 to 10 formed from several interconnected components.
13. A fish hook substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1, 8 and 11; Figure; Figures 3 and 9; Figures 4 and io; Figure 5, Figure 6, or Figure 12 of the accompanying drawings.