Inventor Hooked On His Product
Nine-year-old inventor Leigh Zink got the idea for his Lure Buddy device last year and has since developed a business selling it.
The Lure Buddy is a simple device, but one that solves a couple of problems for avid anglers.
It’s a piece of clear plastic tubing that clips to your belt loop. Anglers who don’t want to lug around a tackle box while they’re fishing can attach one or more lures to a small chain inside the tube — where the sharp barbs can’t catch on clothing or cause an injury.
And if they wade into a river to fish, it allows them to change lures without having to head back to a tackle box on shore.
Leigh says he came up with the idea because he’s had fish hooks dig into his pants. He developed the idea last year while participating in an inventors’ club at Northlake Woods Public School.
He investigated to learn if there were similar devices on the market and whether there were any patents for such a product.
Leigh experimented with reusing pieces of plastic bottles for the tubing. Eventually, he found that the most inexpensive tubing was the most effective. He found it at a Home Depot store and began producing his lure protectors.
The Lure Buddy has sold out at a store in Honey Harbour on Georgian Bay and was a big hit at a summer fair there as well. And two Waterloo shops are stocking the product.
Photo by The Record.
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