Don't Get Hooked

Norbert Zebny was fishing with his grandkids one day when he realized the lures on his fishing rods dangled dangerously at their eye level.

Sure, Zebny could play it safe and snip off the lure each time he fishes instead of hooking it to a ring on his pole. But that means cutting off the leader, too, and each one of those costs about $1 to replace.

So Zebny, a veteran of the manufacturing industry, devised an ingenious plastic shield that snaps around the lures. Surprisingly, there's nothing quite like Lure-Guard on the market, and he's now got a patent for it in the U.S. and Europe.