WO2014172362A1

WO2014172362A1 - Fishing lure with changeable appearance and methods thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2014172362A1
Application number: PCT/US2014/034184
Authority: WO
Inventors: Aaron D. ZAUG
Original assignee: Zaug Aaron D
Priority date: 2013-04-15
Filing date: 2014-04-15
Publication date: 2014-10-23

Abstract

A fishing lure having interchangeable skins for altering the visual appearance of the fishing lure. The skins are adapted to adhere to the lure body by a low tack adhesive that secures the skin to the lure body during fishing. The skin is adapted to be removeable from the lure body by pulling the skin away from the lure body. Each of the skins is capable of being reapplied and removed from the lure body numerous times without affecting the ability to adhere the skin to the lure body. The interchangeable skins also capable of being applied to a commercial lure to change the existing visual appearance of the commercial lure, and removed therefrom. The interchangeable skins allowing the visual appearance of a lure to be changed without having to remove the fishing line from the fishing lure, such that a user can change its bait and not its lure.

Description

FISHING LURE WITH CHANGEABLE APPEARANCE AND METHODS THEREOF

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/811,881 filed April 15, 2013, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a fishing lure having a changeable visual appearance, in particular a fishing lure with one or more interchangeable film layers for altering the visual appearance of the exterior surface of the fishing lure, such as the color and/or markings.

BACKGROUND OF THE FNVENTION

Artificial bait or lures are a reusable and often more effective alternative to live bait. Fishing lures are typically shaped and colored to visually resemble the prey of the targeted fish, such as bait fish or insects, or otherwise made to have an appearance that is visually desirable of the targeted fish. Similarly, fishing lures are often more brightly or distinctly colored to distinguish the fishing lure in the underwater surrounding to increase the likelihood that the fishing lure will be noticed by fish. Fishing lures may also have markings, such as spots, stripes or color shading relating to make the lure more visually desirable. A related advantage is that fishing lures can be specifically colored or shaped to maximize the efficiency of the particular fishing conditions.

Fish feeding habits dramatically change according to environmental conditions including the time of day, time of the year, underwater structures or foliage, cloud cover and presence of other food sources. While optimized lures are often more effective than live bait during the appropriate conditions, the same lures are often substantially less effective when used outside the intended conditions. Accordingly, anglers frequently change lures during fishing to match the changing environmental conditions. Similarly, anglers often try a plurality of lures while fishing to test which types of lures are most effective or are of particular preference of the targeted fish on that particular occasion. The inherent drawback is that anglers must purchase many different types of lures to maximize their effectiveness regardless of the environmental or fishing conditions. The different fishing lures provides an angler with a large spectrum of different colors and/or markings. However, such a diverse spectrum of fishing lures can be relatively expensive. Also, anglers must store the plurality of lures and transport the lures to the fishing location or within the boat. A similar drawback is that the process of removing the current lure and retying the new lure onto the line is time consuming and reduces the time a lure is in the water thereby reducing the angler's actual fishing time.

Although artificial fishing lures provide numerous advantages to live bait, the same advantages require anglers to maintain collections of many lures and slow the fishing by requiring the anglers to maintain large collections of lures and retie a new lure onto the line each time a lure is replaced.

Accordingly, there is a need for a fishing lure that provides more time efficiency in changing the appearance, as well as, a fishing lure that can reduce the number of lures an angler needs in the tackle box while maintaining the ability to have a vast array of visual appearances, including color and/or markings, without the associated large investment in cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a fishing lure having a lure body and at least one interchangeable skin removeably attachable to the exterior surface of the lure body. The lure body defines the shape of the fishing lure and comprises an engagement structure for securing a fishing line to the fishing lure. Each skin comprises a thin film material having an exterior face and an interior face, the interior face having an adhesive for releasably adhering the interior face of the thin film to the exterior surface of the lure body.

In some aspects, the adhesive of the interior surface of the thin film material is a low-tack adhesive. In some aspects, the adhesive is water resistant and maintains the skin on the lure body during fishing. Each skin can be removed from the lure body and replaced with another skin by peeling the releasably adhered skin away from the lure body and subsequently adhering another skin to the lure body. In some aspects, each of the skins can be applied and removed from the lure body numerous times before the adhesive loses its ability to properly adhere to the exterior surface of the lure body. In some aspects, the skin can be applied and removed from the exterior surface of the lure body between about 2 times up to about 1000 times or more, in some aspects more than 2 times up to at least 500 times or more, and in some aspects preferably more than 2 times up to at least 100 times.

In some aspects, the adhesive can be dissolved in a solvent and sprayed or otherwise applied to the interior face of the replacement skin to reapply or replenish the adhesiveness on the interior face of the skin.

The exterior face of each skin can comprise a printed appearance, such that the skins can be removeably exchanged from the lure body to alter the visual appearance of the fishing lure. In some aspects, the visual appearance relates to the color and/or markings on the exterior face. In some aspects, the markings relate to spots, stripes, patterns, scales, color shadings and/or textural appearing markings. In some aspects, the markings imitate a real bait fish designed to mimic a fish's natural prey, such as a minnow, a chub, a sunfish, and the like.

In certain aspects, a single skin can be applied to the lure body, wherein the skin is sized to wrap around the exterior of the lure body such that the fishing lure can be viewed from multiple directions. In other embodiments, a pair of skins can be applied to opposing sides of the lure body, wherein the exterior images of the skins resemble the opposing sides of the bait fish to be mimicked by the lure. In yet other embodiments, a plurality of skins can be applied to the lure body allowing customization of various aspects of the fishing lures appearance such as the simulated belly area or spinal area.

In certain aspects, the lure body can comprise at least one visual alignment indicator for aligning and positioning the skin on the lure body. In this configuration, the visual alignment indicator can be aligned with a corresponding visual alignment indicator on the skin to position the skin on the lure body. Similarly, in certain aspects, the lure body can comprise at least one physical alignment indicator. In this configuration, the physical indicator comprises a raised or lowered surface that engages an edge of the skin to align the skin on the lure body.

In certain aspects, the lure body can be colored or otherwise have markings. In some aspects, the lure body may have one or more areas that are colored and/or have markings. For instance, the lure body may have an underbelly area that contains a color (e.g., orange or one or more other colors), marking (e.g., fish scales), or other visual appearance (e.g., color with spotted markings that are shaded), while the remaining portion of the lure body has no coloration. In another instance, the lure body may have the head and/or neck region of the lure body with a color, marking or other visual appearance. Still in other instances, the entire lure body may comprise one or more colors, markings, shadings or other visual appearances.

In certain aspects, the skin may be applied to the lure body of a commercial lure that is capable of receiving one or more skins to change the visual appearance of the existing lure. In some aspects, the skin may be applied over the existing visual appearance of the commercial lure to change the visual appearance of the commercial lure.

A lure, according to certain aspects of the present invention, can comprise a lure body and at least one interchangeable skin. In some aspects, the lure may also comprise one or more hooks connected to the lure body, such as one or more treble hooks. The lure body may also comprise an exterior and an engagement structure for receiving an end of a fishing line. In certain embodiments, the lure body is formed into a fish shape and textured to resemble a fish body. Each removable skin comprises an exterior face and interior face comprising a low-tack adhesive, wherein the low-tack adhesive releasably adheres the interior face of the skin to an exterior surface of the lure body.

In some aspects of the present invention, a method of changing the visual appearance of a fishing lure includes applying at least one skin to a lure. The method may further comprise removing one or more skins from a backing layer, each of the skins comprising a thin film material having an interior face having an adhesive material and an exterior face having a printed appearance, applying the interior face of each of the skins to an exterior surface of the fishing lure body, and applying pressure to the thin film to adhere the skin to the fishing lure. In some aspects, a separate skin is applied to opposing sides of the lure. In some aspects, a single skin is wrapped around at least a portion of the lure. In some aspects, the step of applying pressure to the thin film includes rubbing the thin film to remove any air bubbles trapped between the thin film and the exterior surface of the lure body.

The above summary of the various representative embodiments of the invention is not intended to describe each illustrated embodiment or every implementation of the invention. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art can appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the invention. The figures in the detailed description that follow more particularly exemplify these embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be completely understood in consideration of the following detailed description of various embodiments of the present invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure lis a perspective view of a lure body without a skin applied and a sheet of various skins having different visual appearances that can be applied to the exterior surface of the lure body for the desired visual appearance, the lure body in the shape of a fishing plug and each of the skins being removable from the lure body, according to certain aspects of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the lure body and sheet of various skins of Figure 1, this view illustrating a skin removeably adhered to one side of the lure body and a second skin partially removed from the sheet, according to certain aspects of the present invention.

Figure 3a is a perspective view of a skin being applied to one side of a lure body according to certain aspects of the present invention. Figure 3b is a perspective view of a lure according to certain aspects of the present invention, the lure having a lure body with a skin applied to opposing sides of the lure body, according to certain aspects of the present invention.

Figure 3 c is a perspective view of a skin being removed from one side of the lurebody, according to certain aspects of the present invention.

Figure 4a is a side view of lures according to certain aspects of the present invention, the lures being in the form of a spoon, each of the spoons having a removable skin applied thereto and the skin having a desired visual appearance, according to certain aspects of the present invention.

Figure 4b is a top view of the edges of the lures of Figure 4c.

Figure 5 a is a side view of each side of a lure according to certain aspects of the present invention, the lure in the form of a spinner with a skin having a visual appearance removeably applied to one or both sides of the spinner, one side of the spinner having a pattern while the other side of the spinner having a solid color, according to certain aspects of the present invention.

Figure 5b is a top view of the edge of the lure of Figure 5a.

Figure 6a is top view of a sheet of various skins according to certain aspects of the present invention.

Figure 6b is top view of a sheet of various skins according to certain aspects of the present invention.

Figure 6c is top view of a sheet of various skins according to certain aspects of the present invention.

Figure 7 is a side view of a plurality of fishing lures according to certain aspects of the present invention, each of the fishing lures having a different visual appearance by virtue of the skin that is applied to the exterior surface of the lure body and each of the skins being removable from the lure body, according to certain aspects of the present invention.

Figure 8 is a side view of a fishing lure body, the fishing lure body having an exterior surface having a texture mimicking the scale pattern of a bait fish, in some aspects the belly of the fishing lure body may be colored, and the fishing lure body capable of receiving a thin film layer that may be removeably adhered to the exterior surface of the lure body, the thin film layer allowing the texture to be shown when adhered to the lure body, according to certain aspects of the present invention.

While the present invention is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit the present invention to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIGS. l-5b and 7-8 a fishing lure 10, according to an certain embodiments of the present invention, comprises a lure body 12 and at least one interchangeable skin 14. The lure body has an exterior surface 13 to which the skin 14 can be removeably adhered.

In certain aspects, the lure body 12 is translucent or clear, but can be opaque and/or colored. In some aspects, the lure body 12 can comprise an existing commercial lure already having a coloring pattern, marking pattern and/or texture applied thereto. In some aspects, the texture of the lure body 12 mimics the appearance of a bait fish, such as the color, pattern, texture and/or scales of the bait fish.

As depicted in FIGS. l-3c, the lure body 12 can comprise a fish shape with texturing to resemble the texture of mimicked bait fish. In some aspects, the lure body 12 can comprise any shape and size, such as a torpedo, an insect, a frog or other conventional lure body shapes, such as a jig, a surface lure or popper, a spoon lure, a plug or crankbait, artificial flies, spinnerbait, swimbait, spinners or the like.

In some aspects, the lure body 12 has an engagement structure 18, such as a hook member, an eye loop, or other conventional structures, for receiving the end of a fishing line. The fishing line can be tied to or fastened to the engagement structure 18, allowing the fishing lure 10 to be cast into water for the purposes of fishing.

In certain embodiments, the lure body 12 can have a lip 20 or other feature for altering the travel of the fishing lure 10 through the water when the fishing lure 10 is reeled or trolled through water. In certain embodiments, the engagement structure 18 is positioned proximate the tip of the lure body 12 such that the lure body 12 can pulled through the water by applying axial force to engagement structure 18 from the fishing line.

In certain embodiments, the lure body 12 can further comprise a plurality of hook engagement features 22 for receiving hooks, such as one or more treble hooks 24.

The skin 14 of the present invention can comprise a film layer that has an adhesive on one side and a surface on the other side that is capable of being printed. In some aspects, as shown in Figures 1-8, the skin 14 comprises an interior face 15 that contains an adhesive and an exterior face 16 that contains the visual appearance. Each exterior face 16 comprises a printed image having a desired appearance, such as images mimicking the appearances of bait fish, or otherwise comprising colors intended to standout against underwater surroundings. In some aspects, the image mimics the side, belly and/or top appearance of a bait fish. In some aspects, the exterior face 16 comprises one or more colors, one or more markings such as spots, stripes, scales, or other discernible shapes or patterns, shadings, color hues, or other desired visual appearances for the fishing lure 10.

In some aspects, the film layer 14 is a flexible material that can have a pressure-activated adhesive on one side and finish on the other side that is capable of receiving printed graphics, including colors and/or visual markings thereon. In some aspects, the film layer 14 without an adhesive has a thickness of about 0.025 millimeters to about 2 millimeters, in some aspects about 0.05 millimeters to about 1 millimeter, and in some aspects about 0.05 millimeters to about 0.075 millimeters. In some aspects, the film layer with an adhesive on one side has a thickness of about 0.03 millimeters to about 2 millimeters, in some aspects about 0.04 millimeters to about 1 millimeter, and in some aspects about 0.05 millimeters to about 0.2 millimeters, preferably about 2-mils thick. In some aspects, the film layer 14 is comprised of a material such as Contra ltac™ Graphic Film from 3M.

As illustrated by the various skin examples shown in the figures, such as FIGS. 6a-6c, in certain aspects, the exterior face 16 comprises one or more colors chosen from chartreuse, green, orange, red, blue, violet, yellow, indigo, black, brown, tan, silver, white, purple or other desired colors. In some aspects, the exterior face 16 comprises different shades of the foregoing colors or shading, such as lightening or darkening thereof. In certain aspects, the markings of the exterior face 16 can comprise one or more vertical stripes, horizontal stripes, irregular stripes, spots, fish scales, geometrical shapes or combinations thereof. In some instances, the markings of the exterior face 16 can comprise one or more colors and/or markings to have a visual appearance of live bait, such as a minnow, chub or other fish species that are used as bait fish. While the figures to the present application illustrate skins and a lure body relating to the appearance of a minnow, chub or other fish species, the skins and/or the lure body of the present invention can also relate to other fish lures of other creatures, such as a frog, dragonfly, insect, artificial flies, crawfish, worm, nightcrawler, leach or the like. While the figures also present application of the skins to plugs or crankbait, and also spoon lures in Figures 4a-4b and spinners in Figures 5a-5b, the application of skins to a lure body can also relate to other types of fishing lures, such as jigs, surface lures, poppers, spinnerbait, swimbait, or the like.

In certain aspects, the exterior face 16 may comprise one or more reflective elements improving the visibility of the lure fishing 10 underwater. The interior face 15 further comprises a low-tack adhesive for releasably adhering the removable skin 14 to the lure body. In certain embodiments, the low tack adhesive comprises 3M CONTROLTACK adhesive or other water resistant, low tack adhesives. The low tack adhesive is capable of adhering the skin 14 to the lure body 12 during fishing while also allowing the skin 14 to be removed from the lure body 14 by peeling the skin 14 and lure body 12 apart to separate the skin 14 from the lure body 12. In some aspects, the removeable skin 14 can be repeatedly applied to the lure body 12, removed from the lure body 12, and reapplied to the lure body 12 without affecting the ability of the removeable skin 14 to be adhered to the lure body 12 for the purposes of fishing.

In certain aspects, a single skin 14 can be applied to the lure body 12, wherein the single skin 14 is sized to wrap around the exterior surface 13 of the lure body 12. As depicted in FIGS. l-5b and 7-8, in certain embodiments, a pair of skins 14 are applied to the lure body 12, with each of the skins 14 being applied to opposing sides of the exterior surface 13 of the lure body 12. In this configuration, the pair of skins 14 can resemble opposing sides of the bait fish or prey mimicked by the fishing lure 10. In yet other embodiments, a plurality of skins 14 can be applied to the lure body 12 allowing customization of various aspects of the appearance of fishing lures 10, such as the appearance of the simulated belly area or simulated spinal area.

In certain embodiments, the lure body 12 can comprise a first visual alignment indicator 26 that can be aligned with a corresponding second visual alignment indicator 28 on the exterior surface 13 of the skin 14 to position the skin 14 on the lure body 12. Similarly, in certain embodiments, the lure body 12 can comprise at least one physical alignment indicator 30 comprising a lowered or raised portion on the lure body 12. In operation, an edge of the skin 14 can be positioned against the physical alignment indicator 30 to properly position the skin 14 on the lure body 12. In certain embodiments, the physical alignment indicator 30 is sized to engage several skins 14 together.

While a lure of the present invention has been described above, a method of using the lure of the present invention can include providing a lure body and one or more skins. As illustrated in Figure 2, each of the skins can be peeled from a member 40 that to which each of the skins 14 are removeably adhered, such as a sheet. In some other aspects, member 40 may comprise a cylinder or other object with a surface that can have the skin be removeably adhered thereto. In certain aspects, the surface of member 40 that can have the skins 14 removeably adhered may include apparel, such as a hat, bill of a hat, shirt sleeve, pants and the like. The member 40 may also include a fishing or tackle box or other article that is easily accessible to the user. Upon removal of the skin 14 from the member, the skin 14 can then be applied to the lure body 12. In some aspects, the skin 14 may comprise a pressure sensitive adhesive such that the skin 14 can be pressed onto the lure body 12 to adhere the skin 14 to the lure body 12. In some aspects, as shown in Figure 3a, the skin 14 is applied to the lure body 12 and then air or one or more air bubbles located between the lure body 12 and the skin 14 is removed by applying pressure to the skin 14 with a finger or other object from a center location to the edge of the skin 12. In some aspects, the process of removing air bubbles is repeated until a desired amount of adherence is obtained between the skin 14 and the lure body 12. In some aspects, the skin 14 is applied to the lure body 12 and a rubbing pressure is applied to the skin 14 until one or more edges of the skin 14 adhere to the lure body 12, with air bubbles between the skin 14 and lure body 12 being removed by the rubbing pressure. In some aspects, the skin 14 is applied near the head region and then the applied pressure is moved towards the tail regions, such as shown by the arrow in Figure 3a. In some other aspects, the skin 14 is applied near the tail region first followed by the applied pressure towards the head region of the lure body 12.

In some aspects, as shown in Figure 3c, the skin 14 may be removeable from the lure body 12 such that another skin 14 with a more desirable or different visual appearance can replace the skin 14 removeably adhered to the lure body 12. In some aspects, the skin 14 is removed from the lure body 12 by peeling one end of the skin 14 away from the lure body 12 until the other end of the skin 14 is removed from the lure body 12. In some aspects, as shown by the arrow in Figure 3 c, the proximate end located near the head region of the lure body 12 is peeled away until the distal end of the skin 14 located near the tail region of the lure body 12 is removed from the lure body 12. In some other aspects, the skin 14 is removed from the head region first and then pulled away from the lure body 14 towards the tail region. In some aspects, the distal end of the skin 14 located near the tail region of the lure body 12 is peeled away until the proximate end located near the head region of the lure body 12 is removed from the lure body 12. In some aspects, a midline edge of the skin 14 is peeled away from the lure body 12 until the opposing midline edges of the skin 14 is removed from the lure body 12. In some aspects, a skin 14 is wrapped around the lure body 12 such that one edge of the skin 14 is peeled away from the lure body 12 until the opposing edge of the skin 14 is removed from the lure body 12.

The skin and/or skins 14 removed from the lure body 12 may be adhered to a member that is capable of storing or otherwise holding a skin 14 until it is to be reused. In some aspects, the interior face 15 of the skin 14 may sprayed with a replenishing adhesive or dipped in a solvent containing a replenishing adhesive before being applied to the lure body 12 and/or the member that is capable of holding the skin 14. In some aspects, two or more skins 14 are adhered to the lure body 12, with one skin 14 applied or at least partially applied over another skin 14 to provide the desired visual appearance. In some aspects, the skin 14 is applied to an existing commercially available lure body 12. In some aspects a first skin 14 is applied to a first side of the lure body 12 and a second skin 14 is applied to a second side of the lure body 12. In some aspects, a skin 14 is applied to a first side of the lure body 12 and wrapped around to a second side of the lure body 12. In some aspects, a gap exists between a first skin 14 and a second skin 14, such that a portion of the lure body 12 is exposed. In some aspects, a first edge of a first skin 14 overlaps with a first edge of a second skin 14 when the first and second skins 14 are applied to the lure body 12. In some aspects, a gap comprising the lure body 12 exists between a first edge of a skin 14 and a second edge of the skin 14, wherein the skin 14 is wrapped around the lure body 12. In some aspects, a first edge of a skin 14 and a second edge of the skin 14 overlap when applied to the lure body 12.

While the invention is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and described in detail. It is understood, however, that the intention is not to limit the invention to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A material layer adapted to be removeably adhered to a fishing lure to change at least a portion of the visual appearance of the fishing lure, the material layer comprising:

an interior surface having an adhesive, and

an exterior surface having a printed image providing a visual appearance;

wherein the adhesive on the interior surface is adapted to adhere the material layer to an exterior surface of a body of the fishing lure; and

wherein the exterior surface comprises one or more colors, one or more markings such as spots, stripes, scales, or other discernible shapes or patterns, one or more shadings and/or one or more color hues to provide a desired visual appearance of the fishing lure; and

wherein the adhesive on the interior surface is adapted such that the material layer is capable of being removed from the fishing lure.

2. The material layer of claim 1, wherein the material layer is capable of being repeatedly applied and removed from one or more fishing lures.

3. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims applied to one side of the body of the fishing lure.

4. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims, wherein a first material layer is applied to one side of the body of the fishing lure and a second material layer is applied to the other side of the body of the fishing lure.

5. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims, wherein the adhesive is adapted such that the material layer is pressure sensitive.

6. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims, wherein the adhesive allows the material layer to be applied and removed from the exterior surface of one or more lure bodies between about 2 times up to about 1000 times or more, in some aspects more than 2 times up to at least 500 times or more, and in some aspects preferably more than 2 times up to at least 100 times.

7. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims, wherein the material layer has a thickness of about 0.03 millimeters to about 2 millimeters, in some aspects about 0.04 millimeters to about 1 millimeter, in some aspects about 0.05 millimeters to about 0.2 millimeters, preferably about 2-mils.

8. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims applied to the body of a fishing lure having an existing exterior visual appearance, the material layer changing the exterior visual appearance of the fishing lure.

9. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims applied to a commercial lure, the commercial lure having a visual appearance on the exterior surface that is at least partially changed by the material layer being applied thereto.

10. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims applied to a lure chosen from a plug, a crankbait, a spoon, a spinner, a jig, a surface lure, a popper, a spinnerbait, and a swimbait.

11. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims, wherein the adhesive is reapplied or replenished to the interior surface.

12. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims, wherein the exterior surface is configured to mimic a bait fish.

13. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims, wherein the exterior surface is configured to have two or more colors.

14. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims, wherein the exterior surface is configured to have at least one stripe.

15. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims, wherein the exterior surface is configured to have at least one spot.

16. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims applied to a lure body, wherein the lure body has a texture and the material layer is adapted to translate at least a portion of the texture to the exterior surface.

17. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims removeably adhered to a member prior to being applied to a fishing lure, the member chosen from a sheet, a hat, a shirt, a pair of pants, a tackle box and a cylindrical member.

18. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims, the material layer adapted to be reapplied to a member after being removed from the fishing lure for storage and future reapplication to a fishing lure.

19. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims provided in a system comprising a fishing lure and one or more other material layers having different visual appearances.

20. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims provided in a package with a fishing lure and a plurality of other material layers, at least some of the other material layers having different visual appearances.

21. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims provided in a package with a fishing lure, a plurality of other material layers, and instructions relating to the application and removal of any of the material layers, wherein at least some of the other material layers having different visual appearances.

22. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims provided on a sheet with various other material layers, each of the material layers adapted to be removeable from the sheet for application to a fishing lure.

23. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims provided in the shape and size to be applied to the body portion of a fishing lure.

24. A fishing lure having the material layer of any of the foregoing claims applied thereto.

25. A method of applying the material layer of any of the foregoing claims to the fishing lure to change the visual appearance of the fishing lure, the method comprising:

removing the material layer from a member; and

applying the material layer to at least a body portion of the fishing lure.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising rubbing the material layer onto the body portion to remove at least a portion of the air bubbles between the material layer and the fishing lure.

27. The method of claims 25 or 26, further comprising applying a first material layer to a first side of the fishing lure and applying a second material layer to an opposing side of the fishing lure.

28. The material layer of any of the foregoing claims allowing a user to change the visual appearance of the fishing lure without also having to remove a fishing line from the fishing lure.

29. A fishing lure having an alterable visual appearance, the fishing lure comprising:

a lure body having an exterior surface; and

at least one skin comprising an exterior surface and an interior surface, wherein the interior surface has an adhesive;

wherein the interior surface of the at least one skin is applied to the exterior surface of the lure body such that the adhesive releasably adheres the at least one skin to the lure body; wherein the exterior surface has a first visual appearance; and

wherein the at least one skin is capable of being removed from the lure body and replaced with another skin having a second visual appearance.

30. A fishing lure system for providing a fishing lure having an alterable visual appearance, the fishing lure system comprising:

a lure body comprising an exterior surface;

a first skin comprising a first exterior surface and a first interior surface, wherein the first exterior surface depicts a first printed image and the first interior surface has an adhesive, wherein the first skin has a size and a shape to be applied to an exterior side of the lure body, and wherein the interior surface of the first skin is adapted to be applied to the exterior side of the lure body such that the adhesive releasably adheres the skin to the lure body; and

a second skin comprising a second exterior surface and a second interior surface, wherein the second exterior face depicts a second printed image and the second interior surface has an adhesive;

wherein the first skin is peelable away from the exterior surface of the lure body and removeable from the lure body such that the second interior surface can be applied to the exterior side of the lure body to adhere the second skin to the lure body and replace the first printed image having a first visual appearance with the second printed image having a second visual appearance.

31. The fishing lure system of claim 30, wherein the first skin is capable of being applied to a member for storage and future reapplication to the fishing lure or another fishing lure.

32. The fishing lure system of claims 30 or 31, further comprising a sheet comprising two or more skins, each of the skins adapted to be applied to the lure body and capable of being removed from the lure body for future reapplication.

33. The fishing lure system of any of claims 30-32, wherein at least a portion of the skins on the sheet having a different visual appearance.

34. The fishing lure system of any of claims 30-33, wherein each of the skins has a thickness of about 0.03 millimeters to about 2 millimeters, in some aspects about 0.04 millimeters to about 1 millimeter, and in some aspects about 0.05 millimeters to about 0.1 millimeters, preferably about 2-mils.

35. The fishing lure system of any of claims 30-34, wherein the visual appearance of the fishing lure can be altered without the need to remove a fishing line fastened to the fishing lure.