US 11,291,197 B1Granted

Trotline deployment apparatus

OwnerMichael W. Smithinventor

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Abstract

A trotline deployment apparatus for safely deploying a trotline from a watercraft, the trotline having a plurality of hooks each attached to the trotline via a trotter line and a swivel, comprising a trotline canister, and a support frame having an upper assembly and a base. The trotline canister has an interior space adapted to foldably store the trotline, an opening which allows the trotline to be pulled away from the interior space, and a guide slot which sequentially engages the swivels and prevents the trotline from becoming entangled. The trotline canister is detachably secured to the upper assembly via a retaining collar. A hook holder adapted to selectively enclose the hooks prevents unintentional contact with the hooks. The upper assembly further has one or more hook separator arms from which the hooks are suspended and separated to facilitate application of bait.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A trotline deployment apparatus for storing and deploying a trotline having a mainline with a mainline first end and a mainline second end, a plurality of trotters sequentially connected to the mainline between the mainline first and second ends via a plurality of swivels, each of the trotters is attached to one of a plurality of hooks adapted for fishing, the trotline deployment apparatus is adapted for use on a watercraft having a supporting surface, the trotline deployment apparatus comprising:

a trotline canister having a first end, a distally oriented second end, a hollow shell extending between the first and second ends, an interior space formed within the hollow shell which opens forwardly through an opening positioned at the first end, the trotline canister further having a guide slot extending from the opening towards the second end and is adapted to slidably engage each swivel of the plurality of swivels, the interior space is adapted to receive and contain the mainline whereby the guide slot is adapted to sequentially receive and engage the swivel of each trotter of the plurality of trotters between the mainline first and second ends such that the mainline folds within the interior space, the trotline canister is further adapted to allow the trotline to be deployed, by allowing the mainline first end to be pulled away from the first end while sequentially disengaging each swivel of the plurality of swivels from the guide slot;
and
a support frame having an upper assembly and a base, the upper assembly having a retaining collar adapted to receive and retain the trotline canister such that the first end of the trotline canister projects forwardly away from the upper assembly and the guide slot is oriented towards the supporting surface to allow the trotters and hooks to hang downwardly, the base is adapted to support the upper assembly in an upright position relative to the supporting surface, the upper assembly further has a hook separator arm positioned below and laterally separated from the retaining collar, the hook separator arm projects forwardly away from the upper assembly and is parallel to the trotline canister within the retaining collar, the hook separator arm is adapted to allow each trotter of the plurality of trotters to hang therefrom such that the hook separator arm contacts the trotter between the hook and the swivel.

A method for deploying a trotline from a watercraft floating upon a body of water, the watercraft having a horizontally positioned supporting surface, the trotline having a mainline with a mainline first end and a mainline second end, the trotline further having a plurality of trotters sequentially connected to the mainline via a plurality of swivels positioned between the mainline first end and mainline second end, each trotter of the plurality of trotters is attached to one of a plurality of hooks adapted for fishing, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a trotline canister having a first end, a distally oriented second end, a hollow shell extending between the first and second ends, and an interior space formed within the hollow shell which opens forwardly through an opening positioned at the first end, the trotline canister further having a guide slot extending from the opening towards the second end which is adapted to slidably engage each swivel of the plurality of swivels;
providing a support frame having an upper assembly and a base, the upper assembly having a retaining collar adapted to receive and retain the trotline canister, the base is adapted to support the upper assembly in an upright position relative to the supporting surface, the upper assembly further has a hook separator arm which is positioned below and is laterally separated from the retaining collar, the hook separator arm projects forwardly away from the upper assembly;
mounting the trotline canister on the support frame by inserting the second end of the trotline canister through the retaining collar such that the first end of the trotline canister projects forwardly away from the upper assembly;
loading the trotline canister by inserting the mainline second end into the interior space through the opening, sequentially engaging each swivel of the plurality of swivels within the guide slot and causing the mainline to fold within the interior space from the mainline second end towards the mainline first end;
attaching bait to the plurality of hooks;
attaching the mainline first end to an anchoring point, and moving the watercraft away from the anchoring point;
deploying the trotline by pulling the mainline outwardly through the opening using the movement of the watercraft, sequentially disengaging the swivels of the plurality of swivels from the guide slot from the mainline first end towards the mainline second end and causing the hooks to fall into the water.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.