GB2588430A

GB2588430A - Fishing line retrieval tool

Info

Publication number: GB2588430A
Application number: GB1915379.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Zanelli Anthony
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2019-10-23
Filing date: 2019-10-23
Publication date: 2021-04-28
Also published as: GB201915379D0

Abstract

A fishing line retrieval tool comprises a frame or body 1 having an aperture 2 therethrough through which a fishing pole or rod can pass. The body is adapted to slide along the pole or rod and is attached to a flexible recovery line 8. The body may be provided with hooks to pull aside vegetation or a removable cutting blade 6 to facilitate the cutting of the fishing line to release it from an entangled hook. The body frame may be openable, e.g. with hinged or separable parts, for locating it around a rod and line, and may comprise a low-friction coating or a grooved roller 3 for engagement with the rod.

Description

FISHING LINE RETRIEVAL TOOL Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a fishing line retrieval tool. Background to the Invention A hazard with line fishing in lakes and rivers is the hook becoming caught in vegetation growing at the edges of the water. Some fish are likely to take refuge amongst or near such vegetation, encouraging fishermen to try to place their hooks and floats in these areas. There is a considerable risk of the hooks becoming tangled in the vegetation. While putting the line under tension to try to pull the hooks clear can be hazardous for the fisherman when the hook, or perhaps just the attached float, is freed, flying back towards the fisherman, the hazard is greatly increased where a fishing pole is used.

Fishing poles are typically constructed as tubular sections fitting one on the end of another to extend the reach into the region where the fish are locat-ed. An elastic cord runs through the pole, and a relatively short line, carrying a float and hook, is attached to the end of the cord remote from the user. The pole can extend to a considerable length, for example 16m, and there is therefore a considerable length of elastic cord which, if the pole is pulled away from an entanglement in an attempt to free the hook, can store energy causing the float to fly back towards the user at high velocity if the line breaks or the hook is released. Such events have been known to cause injury to the fisherman, or to others nearby.

If the pole is pulled upwards, rather than simply drawn back away from the hook location, there is a risk of failure or snapping of the pole. Since poles are constructed for lightness, the use of carbon-fibre reinforced plastics is common, leading to a high cost. Breakage is therefore to be avoided.

Summary of the Invention

According to the invention, there is provided a fishing line retrieval tool comprising a body having an aperture therethrough through which a pole or rod can pass, the body being adapted to slide over the pole or rod, and a flexible recovery line attached to the body. -2 -

The body has a mass sufficient to enable it to slide down the pole or rod when it is inclined downwardly away from the user and then to descend around the line at the end of the pole or rod into the water. Pulling on the recovery line when the body surrounds the line adjacent to the entangled hook causes the hook to be pulled in a different direction, which will usually be sufficient to free the hook. However, the body may be provided with protruding prongs or hooks to pull aside vegetation to assist in freeing the hook from engagement therewith. Alternatively, the body may be provided with a cutting blade mounted so as to face inwardly of the aperture so that, when the retrieval line is pulled, the blade to cuts the fishing line between the hook and the float to allow recovery of the float and attached line. The blade is suitably removably mounted within the body so as to permit its ready replacement.

Since a fishing pole is not used with a reel, the body may be slid over the pole from its distal end. However, in the case of a rod having a reel fitted, the body will be configured to be openable, for example adapted to provide a hinged portion giving access to the aperture from a side of the body to permit it to be located around the rod and line at a position beyond the reel along the rod. Alternatively, the body may comprise two portions which can be temporarily separated while the tool is placed around a rod and line, and then refastened together.

The body may be provided with a coating of a low-friction material, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), at least around the portion defining the aperture to assist it in sliding freely down the pole or rod. Alternatively, the aperture may be provided with one or more rollers or rotatable beads around the periph-ery thereof.

In a preferred embodiment, the aperture has mounted therein a single roller having a V-section groove therein runs along the pole or rod, the V-shape ensuring that the body is centred on the pole or rod as the pole or rod tapers along its length.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In the drawings, which illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention: -3 -Figure 1 is a perspective view of a fishing line retrieval tool according to one embodiment of the invention; Figures 2 to 4 are diagrammatic cross-sections of a fishing lake showing the use of the device illustrated in Figure 1; and Figure 5 is a perspective view of a fishing line retrieval tool according to another embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description of the Illustrated Embodiment

Referring first to Figure 1, the line retrieval tool comprises a generally rectangular frame 1 having an opening 2 therein in which is mounted a roller 3 having a profile that tapers from each end thereof towards a minimum at the centre 4. The frame has a weight 5 mounted at one end thereof and the opening 2 reduces in width away from the roller 3 towards the weight 5. A cutting blade 6 is mounted within the opening at the end adjacent to the weight 5 and projects inwardly of the opening 2. The frame 1 is also provided with a hole 7 therethrough adjacent to the roller 3, the hole serving for attachment of a recov-ery line 8, which is simply looped through the hole 7 and knotted.

The cutting blade 6 may be removably mounted in the frame, for example by being clamped between two layers thereof, so as to permit its replacement when blunted or damaged through use. The cutting blade 6 may, for ex-ample, be a craft knife blade, and may be simply sandwiched between two layers of the body which are screwed together.

Figures 2 to 4 illustrate the use of the tool with a fishing pole 20. The pole 20 has a line 21 extending from the remote end thereof, the line 21 carrying a float 22 and weights 23 and terminating in a hook 24, which is, of course, baited in use. The line 21 is connected to an elastic cord extending through the pole and secured to the user end thereof. In Figure 2, the hook 24 having become entangled in vegetation 25 on the side of the lake 26, the user has passed the tool over the end of the pole 20 in such a manner that the roller 3 rests on the upper side of the pole 20 and runs down the pole away from the user when the pole is angled downwardly away from the user, as illustrated, the free end of the recovery line 8 being held by the user. -4 -

When the tool reaches the remote end of the tool, it drops into the water, as shown in Figure 3, and descends past the float 22 and weights 23 with the line passing through the opening 2, until it reaches a position near to the point of entanglement of the hook 24. The user raises the pole 20 to bring the line 21 under light tension, as shown, and then pulls on the recovery line 8 so as to bring the cutting blade 6 into contact with the line 21, severing it adjacent to the entangled hook 24 and thus releasing it, as shown in Figure 4. The tool is then recovered by means of the recovery line 8.

Figure 5 illustrates an alternative configuration of the retrieval tool, com-prising a metal plate 50 having an aperture 51 therein and a plurality of wire hooks 52 attached to the plate 50 around the aperture. A hole 53 is also provided in the plate through which one end of a recovery line 54 can be knotted. It will be understood that the plate requires a mass sufficient to ensure that it can slide down an angled fishing pole under gravity, and is suitably formed from steel, coated with a low-friction plastics coating, for example PTFE, to assist the sliding action.

The tool is used in a similar manner to that illustrated in Figures 2 to 4, except that, when the tool reaches the entangled hook, the hooks 52 engage with the vegetation 25 to free the hook 24 from entanglement by engaging the strands of vegetation in which the hook 24 is trapped. Once the hook 24 is freed, the tool can then be recovered by means of the recovery line 54.

On an angling rod, the presence of the reel mounted thereon prevents the tool being passed along the rod from the end thereof adjacent to the user. The tool may therefore be formed with a hinged latchable opening gate so that the tool can be located on the rod beyond the reel, the gate being latched closed before the tool is used in essentially the manner described with reference to Figures 2 to 4. As an alternative to the latchable gate, the tool may be formed as two parts that can be separated and then engaged together around the rod beyond the reel.

While the tool is illustrated in the drawings as consisting of an essentially flat frame, it will be appreciated that the body may be of any shape with an ap- -5 -erture therethrough to allow the body to run along the downwardly angled pole or rod, carrying the recovery line with it.

While the fisherman using the pole or rod can use the tool single-handedly to recover the line, there may be some circumstances in which pulling the recovery line at an oblique angle to the pole or rod, i.e. by another person from a position to one side of the rod, may be required. -6 -

Claims

CLAIMS1. A fishing line retrieval tool comprising a body having an aperture therethrough through which a pole or rod can pass, the body being adapted to slide over the pole or rod, and a flexible recovery line attached to the body.
2. A fishing line retrieval tool according to Claim 1, wherein the body is provided with protruding prongs or hooks suitable for pulling aside vegetation to assist in freeing the hook from engagement therewith.
3. A fishing line retrieval tool according to Claim 1, wherein the body is provided with a cutting blade mounted so as to face inwardly of the aperture so that, when the retrieval line is pulled, the blade cuts the fishing line between the hook and the float to allow recovery of the float and attached line.
4. A fishing line retrieval tool according to Claim 3, wherein the blade is removably mounted within the body so as to permit its replacement.
5. A fishing line retrieval tool according to any preceding claim, wherein the body is configured to be openable to permit a rod to be located in the aperture.
6. A fishing line retrieval tool according to Claim 5, comprising an openable gate therein to provide access to the aperture.
7. A fishing line retrieval tool according to Claim 5, wherein the body comprises two parts which may be separated to enable the tool to be located around a rod and line.
8. A fishing line retrieval tool according to any preceding claim, hav-ing a coating of a low-friction material at least around the interior of the aperture.
9. A fishing line retrieval tool according to any of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the aperture contains at least one roller for engagement with a rod or pole in use.
10. A fishing line retrieval tool according to Claim 9, wherein the aper-ture contains a roller having a V-shaped groove therein engageable with a rod or pole, in use.