Finger saver pliers

Claim 1

For use by a fisherman when he is called upon to dislodge and remove a fishhook from the mouth of a hooked fish, manually applicable and removable fish mouth opening finger protecting pliers comprising: a pair of structurally and functionally analogous lever units, each unit embodying a longitudinally bowed handle having a forward end provided with a longitudinally straight elongated tapering jaw, said units having like flatfaced median overlapping portions, crossed and pivotally connected with each other in a manner that said units are disposed in a common plane and are openable and closable in a well known clampable and releasable manner, and a substantially straight elongated forwardly tapering prong substantially commensurate in length with the length of the jaws of said units, said prong having a forward end capable of being inserted in the mouth of the fish in a manner to prop the upper jaw of the fish open while the lower jaw of said fish is simultaneously grippingly clamped and held by the closed jaws of said lever units, said prong having a rearward end fixed atop an adjacent coordinating handle, said rearward end of said prong being located and anchored rearwardly of but adjacent said pivotal connection, both of said jaws and said prong being interrelated and maintained in a common plane.