Plastic minnow

Claim 2

An artificial weedless-type fishing lure comparable to and imitative of a live minnow and capable of being fished in a constantly upright animated position on the bottom of a body of water comprising: a body portion, forward end head portion and rearward tail portion, said body portion having dorsal, ventral, and side portions, the overall body, head and tail portions being made of compressibly resilient squeezably soft sinkable plastic material, a dorsal fin made of soft relatively buoyant floater plastic, a fishhook, the major lengthwise ventral portion of said body portion being molded with a longitudinal groove ranging from the head portion toward the tail portion, said groove being closed along its top, closed at its forward head end and opening through said ventral portion and also at the juncture of the tail and body portions and providing a pocket in which the shank and hook portions of said fishhook are protectively sheathed and concealed, said dorsal fin comprising an elongated insert having a portion thereof retentively fitted into a mortise-like cavity formed therefor in a median portion of said dorsal portion, the retentively fitted portion of said insert being adhesively and securely retained in said pocketing cavity.

Claim 3

The fishing lure defined in and according to claim 1, and wherein the upper half-portions of the respective sides are milled with criss-cross lines defining and representing fish scales.

Claim 4

An artificial weedless-type fishing lure comparable to and imitative of a live minnow and such that it may be fished in a constantly upright position on the bottom of a body of water comprising: an elongated body portion, a forward head portion and a rearward tail portion, said body portion having an upper lengthwise dorsal edge, a lower lengthwise ventral edge, and complemental side portions, the overall body, head and tail portions being made of compressibly resilient squeezably soft sinkable plastic material, a median part of said upper dorsal edge having an elongated cavity, an elongated dorsal fin made of buoyantly floatable plastic material and having a lengthwise basal portion telescopingly fitted and retentively seated in said cavity and an upper lengthwise portion projecting above said dorsal edge, the lower ventral edge having an elongated groove closed at a forward end, closed along an upper end, open at its lower end and opening through the ventral surface and open at a rear end adjacent said tail portion, a fishhook having a shank embedded in the head portion and terminating in an accessibly exposed line-attaching eye, said shank being provided at a rearward end with a return bend terminating in a laterally offset pointed barb, said barb being embedded in a vulnerable surface portion of one side of the body portion whereby to be projected when the body portion is squeezed by an attracted fish.

Claim 5

An artificial weedless-type fishing lure comparable to and imitative of a live minnow and such that it may be fished in a constantly upright position on the bottom of a body of water comprising: an elongated body portion, a forward head portion and a rearward tail portion, said body portion having an upper lengthwise dorsal edge, a lower lengthwise ventral edge, and complemental side portions, the overall body, head and tail portions being made of compressibly resilient squeezably soft sinkable plastic material, a median part of said upper dorsal edge having an elongated cavity, an elongated dorsal fin made of buoyantly floatable plastic material and having a lengthwise basal portion telescopingly fitted and retentively seated in said cavity and an upper lengthwise portion projecting above said dorsal edge, the lower ventral edge having an elongated groove closed at a forward end, closed along an upper end, open at its lower end and opening through the ventral surface and open at a rear end adjacent said tail portion, a fishhook having a shank embedded in the head portion and terminating in an accessibly exposed line-attaching eye, said shank being provided at a rearward end with a return bend terminating in a laterally offset pointed barb, said barb being embedded in a vulnerable surface portion of one side of the body portion whereby to be projected when the body portion is squeezed by an attracted fish.

Claim 6

The lure according to claim 3, and wherein said upper projecting portion has a longitudinal upper edge provided with graduated teeth-like top fins.

Claim 7

The lure according to claim 4, and eye means removably mounted on and constituting a complemental component of said head, said eye means being made of semi-hard floater plastic material, said eye means being buoyant and cooperating with said dorsal fin and assisting the same in maintaining the overall minnow in said upright position.

Claim 8

The lure defined in claim 5, and wherein said eye means comprises a shank passing through a bore provided therefOr in the head portion of said body, said shank having end portions provided with integral concave-convex button-like heads, the concave sides of said heads firmly abutting the respectively cooperable side surfaces of said head portion.