There have been different types and kinds of bait containers for storing perishable bait such as minnows, shrimp and worms. For example, reference is made to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 521,244; 2,137,397; 2,613,472; 2,968,887; 4,128,170; and 4,499,998.
While such prior known devices may have been successful in some applications, it has been difficult, if not impossible, to provide a live bait container that would provide a moistened, cool and healthy environment for live bait, such as worms. In this regard, worms generally require storage in a cool surrounding environment, such as dirt, with proper aeration and moisture to assure an environment for sustaining life of the bait being stored, so that it may be used as live fishing bait.
Conventional aerated live bait containers, whether made of various different materials such as wood, plastic, metal or elastomeric materials, are filled with moist dirt or other media for effecting a cool moist environment. However, rapid moisture evaporation problems on hot summer days frequently occur to cause a quick drying effect on the moist dirt, as dry ambient air passes over its surface. This evaporation process quickly removes moisture from the dirt or other media, resulting in the need to re-moisten the dirt to maintain the desired environment.
Methods have been devised to overcome the evaporation problem by either completely enclosing the storage container to minimize evaporation, or by providing cooling techniques to cool the ambient air temperature and thus to reduce evaporation. While these solutions provide some relief, for some applications, they do not substantially reduce the problem as they fail to provide proper aeration for the worms or other live bait to sustain a healthy environment.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a bait storage container device for worms or the like, to provide proper aeration with minimum or reduced evaporation to preserve a cool, moist environment for live bait.
A further problem with conventional live bait containers is that certain worms will usually travel to the cool, moist bottom of the container as the top storage media conditions dry out, thereby making it necessary for a person to perform the undesirable and time consuming awkward task of digging down into the dirt, to uncover and retrieve a worm for its utilization as bait. Moreover, by digging into the dirt, the soil is aerated which further accelerates the evaporation process.
It would therefore also be highly desirable to have a live bait storage container, which would permit easy access to the live bait such as worms, without substantially disturbing the environment of the storage media within the container.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds