FISHHOOK REMOVAL DEVICE AND METHOD

Abstract

A fishhook removal device and method for removal of a fishhook from the mouth of a fish with minimal damage to the fish and minimal danger of the user becoming injured during removal of the fishhook, providing a fishhook removal device having a pliers body, two pliers handles, two pliers jaws, and a hooked rounded extension fixed to a pliers jaw, where, in use, the hooked rounded extension is placed into the bend of the fishhook while the fishing line is held taught from the direction generally forward of the fish, the fishhook removal device is twisted and pulled away from the fish, and the fishhook is removed.

Claims

1. A fishhook removal device for removal from a mouth of a fish of a fishhook having an eye with fishing line attached, a shank, a bend, and a free end having a point, the fishhook removal device comprising: (i) a pliers body having a front and a back, with two pliers handles toward the back and two pliers jaws toward the front, each said pliers jaw having an inner face and an opposite outer face, and having a plane of jaw travel; (ii) a hooked rounded extension fixed to one said pliers jaw on an outer face, extending frontwards and curving outwards and backwards in the plane of jaw travel, forming a hook adapted to, in use, engage the bend of the fishhook and place force upon the fishhook.

2. The fishhook removal device of claim 1, where said pliers body is made of metal.

3. The fishhook removal device of claim 1, where said pliers body is made of a plastic.

4. The fishhook removal device of claim 1, where said pliers body is further adapted to float on water.

5. The fishhook removal device of claim 1, where said hooked rounded extension has a diameter of from 4 mm to 6 mm.

6. The fishhook removal device of claim 1, where said hooked rounded extension has a diameter of from 3/16″ to ¼″.

7. A fishhook removal method for removal from a mouth of a fish of a fishhook having an eye with fishing line attached, a shank, a bend, and a free end having a point, the fishhook removal method comprising: (i) providing a fishhook removal device comprising: (a) a pliers body having a front and a back, with two pliers handles toward the back and two pliers jaws toward the front, each said pliers jaw having an inner face and an opposite outer face, and having a plane of jaw travel; and (b) a hooked rounded extension fixed to one said pliers jaw on an outer face, extending frontwards and curving outwards and backwards in the plane of jaw travel, forming a hook adapted to, in use, engage the bend of the fishhook and place force upon the fishhook; (ii) pulling the fishing line taught in a direction generally forward of the fish; (iii) placing said fishhook removal device on the fishhook with said hooked rounded extension against the inside of the bend of the fishhook; (iv) twisting and pulling away said fishhook removal device, thereby placing force against the fishhook; and (v) removing the fishhook from the mouth of the fish.

8. The fishhook removal method of claim 7, where said pliers body is made of metal.

9. The fishhook removal method of claim 7, where said pliers body is made of a plastic.

10. The fishhook removal method of claim 7, where said pliers body is further adapted to float on water.

11. The fishhook removal method of claim 7, where said hooked rounded extension has a diameter of from 4 mm to 6 mm.

12. The fishhook removal method of claim 7, where said hooked rounded extension has a diameter of from 3/16″ to ¼″.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Reference will now be made to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals, and wherein:

[0014] FIG. 1 is a top view of the fishhook removal device of the invention;

[0015] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the fishhook removal device of the invention;

[0016] FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the fishhook removal device of the invention in use before removal of the fishhook; and

[0017] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the fishhook removal device of the invention in use during removal of the fishhook.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Referring to FIG. 1, the fishhook removal device 10 provides a pliers body 2 having pliers handles 3 toward the back and pliers jaws 4 toward the front, and provides a hooked rounded extension 1 fixed to one of the pliers jaws 4, as shown and disclosed herein. The pliers body 2 can be made of metal or hard plastic, and the hooked rounded extension 1 can also be made of metal or hard plastic. The pliers body 2 and hooked rounded extension 1 can be made of the same material or of different materials. Using the same material for both can provide some advantages in the process of fixing the hooked rounded extension 1 to the pliers jaw 4 during manufacture. If a metal is used, a rustproof metal is preferable for the conditions of use. If a hard plastic is used, the pliers body might optionally be made to float if dropped in the water. The pliers body 2 has a flatter or broader plane in which the pliers jaws 4 travel.

[0019] Referring additionally to FIG. 2, the hooked rounded extension 1 has a rounded form in cross section, such as a thick wire. The hooked rounded extension 1 is fixed to one of the pliers jaws 4 as is appropriate for the materials used, such as welding or otherwise bonding one to the other. The hooked rounded extension 1 extends toward the front of the pliers jaw 4 and then curves away from the pliers jaw 4, in the plane of jaws travel, in a curve which forms a hook in the hooked rounded extension 1. The hooked rounded extension 1 has a fixed end, an intermediate curve, and a free end.

[0020] The dimensions of the fishhook removal device 10 generally correspond to the range of sizes of the fishhooks expected to be used. A typical fishhook has a shank with an eye at one end, a bend, and a free end leading to the point, with the distance from the bend to the point called the throat. The gap or gape is the distance between the shank and the free end, or roughly the diameter of the bend in a typical fishhook. Working prototypes of the fishhook removal device 10 were developed and tested for gulf redfish or red drum using hooks of generally a 1/0 hook size, having a gap of roughly 12 mm to 0.5″, which is a very common hook size. The gap size of slightly smaller, such as #1, #2, and #4, and slightly larger, such as 2/0, 3/0, and 4/0, fishhooks do not change very much from the roughly 12 mm to 0.5″ of the size 1/0 fishhook. The intermediate-curve portion of the hooked rounded extension 1 is meant to fit into the gap of a fishhook and, when twisted as treated below, apply a force in one direction to the shank of the fishhook and a force in the opposite direction to the free end of the fishhook. With a larger diameter of the hooked rounded extension 1, the shank and free end of the fishhook will make contact and apply force with less twisting motion required. But if the diameter of the hooked rounded extension 1 is made too large, placement of the hooked rounded extension 1 into the bend of the fishhook will become more difficult. For typical fishing using 1/0 size hooks or slightly smaller or slightly larger hooks with a gap of roughly 12 mm to one-half inch, a diameter of approximately one-third to one-half of the gap size, which is approximately 4 mm to 6 mm or 3/16″ to ¼″, is appropriate for the hooked rounded extension.

[0021] Referring to FIG. 3, the fishhook removal device 10 is used on a fish having in its mouth a fishhook 21 attached to a fishing line 22. In use, the user grasps the fishing line 22 with the hand not holding the fishhook removal device 10 and pulls the fishing line 22 taught in the direction generally forward of the fish. The user also places the hooked rounded extension 1 of the fishhook removal device 10 into the bend of the fishhook 21. If the fishhook is embedded in the upper part of the fish's mouth, then the fishhook removal device 10 is placed with the hooked rounded extension 1 pointing generally downward in relation to the fish. If the fishhook is embedded in the lower part of the fish's mouth, then the fishhook removal device 10 is placed with the hooked rounded extension 1 pointing generally upward in relation to the fish. Another way of stating the positioning of the fishhook removal device 10 is that the pliers body 2 is placed toward the jaw that is hooked, with the hooked rounded extension 1 facing generally toward the open mouth of the fish.

[0022] Referring to FIG. 4, in use, while the user maintains a taught pull on the fishing line 22, the fishhook removal device 10 is twisted and pulled away from the fish, as shown. The twisting motion is along the front-to-back axis of the pliers body 2, and is such that the pliers body 2 is pushed against the fish and the hooked rounded extension 1 is pulled away from the fish. Where the fishhook is embedded in the fish's upper mouth, the twisting will be counterclockwise, and where the fishhook is embedded in the fish's lower mouth, the twisting will be clockwise. The pulling-away motion is pulling in a direction generally opposite the direction of the point and the eye of the fishhook.

[0023] In use, with the hooked rounded extension 1 of the fishhook removal device 10 properly placed into the bend of the fishhook 21 and with the fishing line 22 being pulled generally forward of the mouth of the fish, the proper twisting motion of the fishhook removal device 10 will bring one portion of the hooked rounded extension 1 into contact with and exerting force on the shank side of the bend of the fishhook 21 while simultaneously making contact with and exerting force on the point side of the bend of the fishhook 21. The rounded profile of the hooked rounded extension 1 facilitates contact with the fishhook 21 and adapts to changes in the position and angle of the fishhook removal device 10 by creating a rolling contact between the fishhook 21 and the hooked rounded extension 1. The force exerted on the fishhook 21 by the hooked rounded extension 1 being twisted is a force tending to remove the fishhook from the mouth of the fish. The pulling-away motion also causes the hooked rounded extension 1 to exert force against the bend of the fishhook, where this force also tends to remove the fishhook from the mouth of the fish. With the combined twisting and pulling actions, the fishhook is removed from the mouth of the fish with a minimal amount of damage to the fish and with minimal danger of the user becoming injured during removal of the fishhook.

[0024] Many other changes and modifications can be made in the system and method of the present invention without departing from the spirit thereof. I therefore pray that my rights to the present invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.